passenger air bag module

[bradw]

Does anyone know of a problem with the passeger air bag module? My vibe is in the shop for the 2nd time to replace this part. Both times GM sent the wrong part. The dealer was able to find out yesterday that they are no longer shipping that part.

[zionzr2]

Welcome to Our Vibedom!!! Tell us a bit about your vibe. Year, Model, color, mods, miles, did you get used, are you under warranty still?I have not heard of or remember seeing that anyone else here has had that issue. I hope it gets resolved quickly and correctly for you. Keep Us Posted!andWe all love photos! Please share when you get a chance.

[bradw]

I suppose GM not shipping the modules is a new development. I was hoping someone here might know something.The car: 06 Base, Auto, Moon & Tunes, color: Stelth, aftermarket leather. No other mods.I bought the car new a year ago. Put 28K miles on it already (in Texas it's a long way to anything). No problems till now with the air bag thing.

[bradw]

For anyone interested, I have an update, sort-of. It is the curtain bag module that's faulty not the passenger bag as stated before. GM did admit that the modules are faulty and that is why they have quit shipping replacement parts. No ETA on the new ones.

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by bradw »For anyone interested, I have an update, sort-of. It is the curtain bag module that's faulty not the passenger bag as stated before. GM did admit that the modules are faulty and that is why they have quit shipping replacement parts. No ETA on the new ones. Yayyyyyyyy toyota! Sorry to hear of your troubles my friend. Definitely let us know when the dealer notifies you of the part's arrival.I've had issues with GM sending the wrong part before. I had to have the PCM in my G6 (GT) replaced, and the idiots at SPO sent a PCM for a GTP.

[ColonelPanic]

Yikes, so they won't replace the module? That's a wee bit of a safety concern if I don't say so myself! So, ALL of the modules in existance are defective, that's why they can't replace them? If they were all defective, I'm sure we would have more people here with the same problem... There aren't many here who have the curtains but yours is the first I recall hearing that has had issues with them.It's a shame that they apparently just want you to drive around with an air bag that won't function. Having side and curtain air bags make such a difference when you get t-boned.

[bradw]

I think GM has only recently stopped replacing the modules that have failed. I don't think the curtain bag controller on every Vibe is defective, just a higher percentage than should be. I suspect that when GM figures out a fix there will be a recall. In the mean time I'm driving a loaner and the Vibe sits at the dealership.What I don't get is why GM just quit replacing the units. The SRS system should detect when the module fails. So there shouldn't be deploy failure in a crash.Situation right now is my car sits until GM fixes, and none knows how long that will be. I will definitly post any updates.

[zionzr2]

if it has been or needs to sit long 30+ days I'd start combing through the Lemon laws. And talking to the financing people about it too. Not fair to be paying for a vehicle while it can not be used and it no fault of your own.Good Luck to you!I hope it all works out for you and soon!

[bradw]

Thanks Zionzr2. I hadn't thought of checking into that. I have always associated the Lemon Laws with vehicles that need multiple and/or major repairs when the car is still relatively new. At this point I not that worried since I have the dealer's car.

[bradw]

Update:It's been a couple of weeks now and still no change. My Vibe is still parked at the dealership. GM still does not have an estimate as to when they will have a fix.I have been able to find out that it is a common problem for all of the Vibes with curtain bags. And no Vibes are currently being produced with curtain bags. Can't even special order them.

[Jahntassa]

Have you talked to GM Corporate customer service? Also, did you talk to whoever is doing the financing?I'd also start looking into whatever government agencies that might be helpful, BBB or the auto safety guys (can't remember their names). I don't think GM should be able to hold your car hostage because of a safety issue that they don't seem to be trying to fix.

[NewNeptune]

Yep, I'd start looking into lemon laws. The morning that your car goes over the 30 day cumulative (keep in mind, every time you took it in counts) limit for the lemon law (at least that is how it is in AZ) I would file a complaint with the BBB and simultaneously try to contact the zone manager to get your car bought back.

[ColonelPanic]

It's cool that GM is providing transportation in the meantime, if I were in a situation where safety devices were malfunctioning, I sure as hell wouldn't want to drive the car. But IMHO, what GM needs to do is buy the car back so you can go out and buy something that has side air bags that will actually work when you need them to. Personally, I'd begin the lemon law process. The car certainly has been out of service long enough to qualify for it, bigtime. Anybody know if various other Toyota models such as the Corolla or Matrix are having the same problems, and are side air bags currently available on those?bradw, I feel for ya... I hope you can get some sort of resolution soon!

[bradw]

I have been in contact with Pontiac customer service. They assigned me to a specialists and gave me a case #. I have been talking to this person about once a week. However, she is giving me the same information the dealership gives me because they are talking to the same district manager. I tried to convince her to pull out her company directory and try to track down the engineering dept that is working the problem. She wouldn't do it. She claimed she only had access to the district manager.A little good news for me. The my service manager convinced the district manger to reimburse me for some car payments when this is over with.As for the lemon law thing. I looked it up and there is a provision in it that states if the dealership cannot or will not repair a safety related issue I can make them buy the car bought back. I don't relish the thought of going through the hassle that would be required to do it. I'm going to at least give them until the end of January before I start that dicussion with them.

[bradw]

Good news! I got my car back. GM finally started shipping the airbag modules again. Turns out that there wasn't a design flaw that made them quit shipping these things. It was a contract dispute with the manufacturer. Probably the case of the big guy beating up on the little guy for better pricing.