Smax airbag concern

[7seaterwanted]

Nearly bought a car today from a second hand car dealership.
A 2006 smax
I have no concerns about ANYTHING except this one thing..
The 'knee airbag', under the steering wheel, the cover is open. As if its popped off. The catch is broken because it wont just pop back on.

Rang a Ford dealer service centre and they told me step away, dont touch with a bargepole warning warning thousands to replace etc.

Spoken to 3 local garages, they said can vary from £200-£2000 to replace but they dont see it as a problem because there is no airbag warning light on anywhere, the airbag hasn't deployed, its just the cover needs replacing or fixing.

One local garage also agreed with fords and said to just walk away. The guy I spoke to in this garage, I know him and he hasn't long left working for Mercedes dealership.

Would you just walk away?

I went to the car sales and they said they will get their garage to look at it and fix the cover back on. But wouldn't get the garage worker to pop over to have a look while I was there, they are literally 10 seconds across the forecourt away. Said they would be busy right now. Didnt look busy there. That put me off straight away also.

Normally I'd be happy to just bum this car off but the rest of the car is mint and the price is great and it's a petrol which I want and they're like gold dust to find with the low miles it has so I cant stop thinking about it.

[Welshbeef]

Walk - there are thousands of themno point at all in taking a potential big risk

[Pericoloso]

Yep,walk.

[FredClogs]

It's a Ford, it's been used by a family, our smax of similar vintage has very few interior bits left in one piece.

[Glasgowrob]

anything else i'd say if the price is right go for it, but when it comes to safety related items walk away

concerns over the airbags is a big no no and unless you can get the car fixed checked and inspected by someone who really knows what their doing (ie not the aa inspection muppets or the ilk) then take another few weeks and or travel a bit further and buy another one,

[Novexx]

The cover is an integral part of the lower airbag module & not (or wasn't) available as a seperate item. The only adequate repair is replacement of the airbag module which should be somewhere in the region of £200>£250 - it's not an uncommon fault & a simple repair.

FoMoCo were out of stock of these at one point & if memory serves correct, advice on outstanding warranty repair vehicles was that they were to be handed back to customer / safe to use.

While replacement would be strongly advised, it is just a trim cover & giving the airbag module a good boot with or without the cover fitted would have the same result, so not an issue during normal use.

[7seaterwanted]

Novexx said:

The cover is an integral part of the lower airbag module & not (or wasn't) available as a seperate item. The only adequate repair is replacement of the airbag module which should be somewhere in the region of £200>£250 - it's not an uncommon fault & a simple repair.

FoMoCo were out of stock of these at one point & if memory serves correct, advice on outstanding warranty repair vehicles was that they were to be handed back to customer / safe to use.

While replacement would be strongly advised, it is just a trim cover & giving the airbag module a good boot with or without the cover fitted would have the same result, so not an issue during normal use.

Hi Novexx.

Thank you for replying.
If you dont mind me asking, how do you know this? Have you worked for them or just know this stuff?

So if the car sales guy has the garage guy to secure the flap shut, you'd not worry about it too much?

And then if we decided in the next year some time to get it changed (I think we could if it is only going to a couple of hundred), that would be better again.

Also....

Is it actually necessary to have an airbag there? Would it be ridiculous to consider having it deactivated/removed, if that's even a possibility?

Thank you

[Welshbeef]

7seaterwanted said:

Hi Novexx.

Thank you for replying.
If you dont mind me asking, how do you know this? Have you worked for them or just know this stuff?

So if the car sales guy has the garage guy to secure the flap shut, you'd not worry about it too much?

And then if we decided in the next year some time to get it changed (I think we could if it is only going to a couple of hundred), that would be better again.

Also....

Is it actually necessary to have an airbag there? Would it be ridiculous to consider having it deactivated/removed, if that's even a possibility?

Thank you

Can I ask - apart from costing you £ to fix why on earth would you want to remove any safety feature from a car?

[7seaterwanted]

Welshbeef said:

Can I ask - apart from costing you £ to fix why on earth would you want to remove any safety feature from a car?

Just wondering because if it's cheap cheap cheap to just remove it until we could afford to get it replaced, I think I may feel safer doing that if it's possible, rather than drive around with an airbag that Ford's have told me they think is at risk of false deployment?

Aahhh I Just don't know what to do :/

[Welshbeef]

7seaterwanted said:

Just wondering because if it's cheap cheap cheap to just remove it until we could afford to get it replaced, I think I may feel safer doing that if it's possible, rather than drive around with an airbag that Ford's have told me they think is at risk of false deployment?

Aahhh I Just don't know what to do :/

You have not bought it yet and the sticker price is low.

As said a number of times choose another one there are thousands of the buggers I know that’s what I found when I bought

[Novexx]

7seaterwanted said:

If you dont mind me asking, how do you know this? Have you worked for them or just know this stuff?

Worked in a dealership in a past life doing repair / warranty, have seen this particular issue several times.

7seaterwanted said:

So if the car sales guy has the garage guy to secure the flap shut, you'd not worry about it too much?

If memory serves correctly it's not possible to securely & permanently close the flap in an acceptable manner. The flap, just like a frangible dashboard panel is designed so that it opens in a specific manner when the bag goes bang. An activated bag transfers quite a bit of energy to the panel & if my knees were beside it I wouldn't be comfortable knowing that is was going to either open in an manner not as designed or hinder the operation of the bag - messing about with the panel could potentially be more dangerous than just leaving it as it is.

7seaterwanted said:

Is it actually necessary to have an airbag there? Would it be ridiculous to consider having it deactivated/removed, if that's even a possibility?

Who knows, but it's probably there for a reason (proximity of knees to dashboard support frame or steering column). It could in theory be removed & deactivated (from the vehicles perspective), but you would need to persuade the airbag control module that the bag is fitted & healthy - no reputable garage would do this for you & the ones that would / could will probably be looking for a good share or the cost of a proper fix. Doing this would make no sense on any level.


Bottom line is that the dash / knee airbrag module needs replaced without any fudging

[7seaterwanted]

Novexx said:

7seaterwanted said:

If you dont mind me asking, how do you know this? Have you worked for them or just know this stuff?

Worked in a dealership in a past life doing repair / warranty, have seen this particular issue several times.

7seaterwanted said:

So if the car sales guy has the garage guy to secure the flap shut, you'd not worry about it too much?

If memory serves correctly it's not possible to securely & permanently close the flap in an acceptable manner. The flap, just like a frangible dashboard panel is designed so that it opens in a specific manner when the bag goes bang. An activated bag transfers quite a bit of energy to the panel & if my knees were beside it I wouldn't be comfortable knowing that is was going to either open in an manner not as designed or hinder the operation of the bag - messing about with the panel could potentially be more dangerous than just leaving it as it is.

7seaterwanted said:

Is it actually necessary to have an airbag there? Would it be ridiculous to consider having it deactivated/removed, if that's even a possibility?

Who knows, but it's probably there for a reason (proximity of knees to dashboard support frame or steering column). It could in theory be removed & deactivated (from the vehicles perspective), but you would need to persuade the airbag control module that the bag is fitted & healthy - no reputable garage would do this for you & the ones that would / could will probably be looking for a good share or the cost of a proper fix. Doing this would make no sense on any level.


Bottom line is that the dash / knee airbrag module needs replaced without any fudging

Thank you very much for replying again. You've been a big help