Took my daughter's 2010 CRV in to a local (but chain) body shop in College Station to get hail damage repaired. They did a good job; however, they created a problem from what I can tell.

They had to detach the headliner and also work on the outside window trim to fix the damage. Now the airbag system is messed up (SRS light is on) as the rear airbag connectors...something went wrong here.

Allen Honda is telling me this happened due to the repairs and it will cost $1700 to fix.

I expect a fight from the body shop for this kind of money. What documentation do you think I need to prove this? I have the dealers report. What else?

That sucks.

Does the dealer report include technical reasons for why they believe the body guys screwed it up? So they actually did an analysis/investigation and are sure of what needs to be repaired, and it was something touched by the body guys?

If so, then that's all you would need, imo.

I doubt the body shop is going to budge, unfortunately.

Why can't the body shop fix their mistake? Most of that $1700 price they gave you was labor.

Got more info...and pictures from the dealer

When the body shop went to reassemble and put the interior headliner and panels back in; they must have disconnected the connector. Honda would not connect it back as they say that doesn't guarantee it will work. Technically, when it's been disconnected; it's damaged IN THEIR EYES.

The body shop will want to take the **** apart and just connect it. I should make them put it in writing that if the car is in a wreck and the airbag doesn't deploy; they are liable.

I don't think the body shop will do anything but hook it back together again, actually. Then they will hope the SRS light goes off.

DeWrecking Crew said:

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Why can't the body shop fix their mistake? Most of that $1700 price they gave you was labor.

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Honda says the entire ceiling airbag on the passenger side must be replaced. $900 part.

take it to aggieland automotive on brentwood

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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The way cars are nowadays, once you tear into something it will never be 'right' again. Stuff like that just aint designed to be taken apart and put back together.

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In your opinion, what's the difference in plugging a brand new air bag into the connector versus an unused and unaltered air bag into the same connector?

If this was a dome light or a gps antenna connection or something like that it wouldn't be any big deal. But because it's an air bag it's the liability issue that has everybody slamming on their brakes. I'd be tempted to have the body shop get the trim/headliner out of the way (at no charge obviously) and then give me a call and I'll come by to reconnect the airbag(s). Keeps them out of the liability loop and would get it handled relatively quickly. Just a thought.

DeWrecking Crew said:

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I've never heard of disconnecting a connector rendering anything on a car useless. If that was the case there wouldn't be a connector, it would be hard wired. If I were the body shop I would definitely call BS on that line of thinking. They can ohm out the airbag connector to make sure it hasn't been compromised.

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I think the logic is that they could have screwed up more than just the connection, at least that's the only thing that makes sense to me. But that could be the case even had the connection been done properly.

I'd plug it in, test continuity and go about my business.

i don't think that's the case here.

if i were OP, i'd go back to the body shop and just tell them the issue. my feeling is that they should not balk at making it right.

if the airbag light doesn't go off after it's back connected, then things are going to get more complicated. but start with the easy stuff first.

scd88 said:

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Took my daughter's 2010 CRV in to a local (but chain) body shop in College Station to get hail damage repaired. They did a good job; however, they created a problem from what I can tell.

They had to detach the headliner and also work on the outside window trim to fix the damage. Now the airbag system is messed up (SRS light is on) as the rear airbag connectors...something went wrong here.

Allen Honda is telling me this happened due to the repairs and it will cost $1700 to fix.

I expect a fight from the body shop for this kind of money. What documentation do you think I need to prove this? I have the dealers report. What else?

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Whatever you decide to do, don't lose sight of the potential impacts of your decision given the critical facts bolded above. Not the place to take any sort of chances to save a few bucks IMO.

scd88 said:

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DeWrecking Crew said:

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Why can't the body shop fix their mistake? Most of that $1700 price they gave you was labor.

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Honda says the entire ceiling airbag on the passenger side must be replaced. $900 part.

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I would go back to the dealer and take this information and...

DeWrecking Crew said:

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Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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The way cars are nowadays, once you tear into something it will never be 'right' again. Stuff like that just aint designed to be taken apart and put back together.

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In your opinion, what's the difference in plugging a brand new air bag into the connector versus an unused and unaltered air bag into the same connector?

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...ask them this question. Is the new one going to somehow be connected differently than the old one would have?

Vernada said:

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The Wonderer said:

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scd88 said:

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Got more info...and pictures from the dealer

When the body shop went to reassemble and put the interior headliner and panels back in; they must have disconnected the connector. Honda would not connect it back as they say that doesn't guarantee it will work. Technically, when it's been disconnected; it's damaged IN THEIR EYES.

The body shop will want to take the **** apart and just connect it. I should make them put it in writing that if the car is in a wreck and the airbag doesn't deploy; they are liable.

I don't think the body shop will do anything but hook it back together again, actually. Then they will hope the SRS light goes off.

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They will never, ever sign this.

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No one in their right mind would. It's even silly to consider possibly thinking about maybe asking them something like that.

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Look, I get that they won't sign it. You can tell from posts I don't think they will do much about this whole issue.

You miss the damn point here and that's to push them to make this right. That's what I'm not sure on at this moment.

On one hand, it's just a connector- reconnect and move on. The dealer has created this sense of "damage" since it's an airbag and, quite frankly, I think they see some dollar signs here, too.

But, on the slim chance something has been adversely affected as it relates to the performance of the airbag....that's the big question. Add in the fact that we are talking about my 18 year old daughter and you see where the dilemma comes in.

scd88 said:

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Vernada said:

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The Wonderer said:

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scd88 said:

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Got more info...and pictures from the dealer

When the body shop went to reassemble and put the interior headliner and panels back in; they must have disconnected the connector. Honda would not connect it back as they say that doesn't guarantee it will work. Technically, when it's been disconnected; it's damaged IN THEIR EYES.

The body shop will want to take the **** apart and just connect it. I should make them put it in writing that if the car is in a wreck and the airbag doesn't deploy; they are liable.

I don't think the body shop will do anything but hook it back together again, actually. Then they will hope the SRS light goes off.

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They will never, ever sign this.

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No one in their right mind would. It's even silly to consider possibly thinking about maybe asking them something like that.

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Look, I get that they won't sign it. You can tell from posts I don't think they will do much about this whole issue.

You miss the damn point here and that's to push them to make this right. That's what I'm not sure on at this moment.

On one hand, it's just a connector- reconnect and move on. The dealer has created this sense of "damage" since it's an airbag and, quite frankly, I think they see some dollar signs here, too.

But, on the slim chance something has been adversely affected as it relates to the performance of the airbag....that's the big question. Add in the fact that we are talking about my 18 year old daughter and you see where the dilemma comes in.

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Reconnect it and sell it. If you won't have peace of mind, then get rid of it. If reconnected and sensor shows all is OK, then to the best of your knowledge, the thing is in working order.

I just have way less confidence in airbag technology than many here. Because front airbags can be hazardous under certain conditions / certain occupants, there are more overrides built in to the control systems. For that reason, airbags do not deploy in predictable fashion, making it very difficult to determine in a given collision whether they *should have* deployed. In turn it is hard to gage their overall effectiveness in improving safety (vs many other safety features in modern cars).

That line of reasoning probably applies more to front airbags than side, but even still... I'd reconnect, test, then never look back.

if you used your insurance to pay for it let them contact the body shop for you

reconnecting the airbag will remedy the problem if the light goes off

Jack Cheese said:

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I just have way less confidence in airbag technology than many here. Because front airbags can be hazardous under certain conditions / certain occupants, there are more overrides built in to the control systems. For that reason, airbags do not deploy in predictable fashion, making it very difficult to determine in a given collision whether they *should have* deployed. In turn it is hard to gage their overall effectiveness in improving safety (vs many other safety features in modern cars).

That line of reasoning probably applies more to front airbags than side, but even still... I'd reconnect, test, then never look back.

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Agreed

Between all the lawyers, the Airbag recalls, and general corporate greed, you are royally screwed. The body shop will likely just reconnect it and call it done and it will most likely work, but this is family you are talking about. The dealership is going to tell you the whole thing needs to be replaced because they can charge max dollars for it, and then turn around and resell the one they took out. All in all you are screwed, because that car will never pass inspections with the warning lights on, which means no registration, which means no sale either.

Any reason you took it to Caliber instead of Allen Honda for the initial repair ?

JP76 said:

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Any reason you took it to Caliber instead of Allen Honda for the initial repair ?

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Allen doesn't have a body shop as this all started as a hail claim.

scd88 said:

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Update:

Body shop plugged it back in but that didn't clear the code. Something to do with the pins.

Airbag will be replaced. Thanks for the responses, everyone.

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Is the body shop paying to replace the airbag?

Dunno. I'm not, so I know that. I'm sure they will try and run it through insurance.

scd88 said:

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Dunno. I'm not, so I know that. I'm sure they will try and run it through insurance.

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You know they damaged the pins when it was removed/re-installed.

dubi said:

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scd88 said:

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Dunno. I'm not, so I know that. I'm sure they will try and run it through insurance.

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You know they damaged the pins when it was removed/re-installed.

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I"m guessing the wiring harness pins

Quote:

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I"m guessing the wiring harness pins

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That is what I was referring too...