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September 29, 2006
REBUILT CARS’ AIRBAG FAILURES FOUND TO CAUSE CRASH INJURIES
An in-depth investigative project at ConsumerAffairs.com entitled “Certified Dangerous: Used Cars’ Airbags”, has concluded that some rebuilders of used and junked cars are endangering occupants’ lives by failing to restore or replace the vehicles’ airbags which they were previously deployed or damaged. The report, which interviewed crash injury victims who said they believed their cars’ airbags were in working condition, also looked at the role of insurance companies in creating or permitting such defects.
The investigation “led us into a seedy world where unscrupulous individuals haphazardly rebuild severely damaged vehicles and then sell them as safe and ‘certified’ used cars, trucks, minivans, and SUV's,” the report said. “We learned these unsavory ‘rebuilders’ often disable the airbags when they put the wrecks back together. And in some cases, they don't even bother to replace the deployed airbags… These shady rebuilders conceal all signs of previous damage to the vehicles -- and their titles. Unsuspecting consumers who buy them have no idea they're getting a rebuilt wreck -- until it's too late.” The report points out that unlike new vehicles, rebuilt vehicles are not covered by federal vehicle safety performance standards governing airbags and other restraint systems.
Posted by MVHAP at September 29, 2006 12:54 PM