Chrysler-Bermar.com

When you buy a Japanese used car you need to make sure that the air bag in the car is working properly, especially if you find out that the air bag has previously been deployed.  There is currently a concern over air bag fraud and your used Japanese vehicle is not immune to this shady practice.  What happens is that unscrupulous auto shops will replace a deployed air bag with a dummy air bag and when your Japanese used car is in an accident with one of these dummy air bags, someone could get seriously hurt.

According to industry experts, one out of every 25 used vehicles that have been in accidents was found to have a dummy replacement air bag.  These air bags are traditionally stolen from another car or have been salvaged from a ruined car.  They may not match the one that was in your used Japanese car, if there is even one in the car.  Some consumers have found things in the air bag slot that shouldn’t even be there, such as paper towels, packing peanuts, or other items.  Most people have no idea that their air bag has not been properly replaced until they need it.

You can protect yourself and your Japanese vehicle very easily from air bag fraud.  The first thing you should do when you buy your used Japanese vehicle is ask for a Carfax history report.  The report will tell you whether or not the car has been salvaged or been certified as a junk car.  It will also tell you whether or not the car has been in an accident and if the air bag was deployed.  If you find out that it was you should have the vehicle inspected closely.  Even if the bag has never been deployed in an accident, you should have it checked out to make sure the whole system is working properly.

Even if cheap Mazda seems to be all right after reading a Carfax report, take it to an ASE certified air bag mechanic prior to buying the car.  They will inspect the entire system for you and pass or fail based on whatever they find.  Additionally, watch your dashboard lights.  Your air bag light should appear briefly when you turn your Toyota Ipsum on and then go out.  If that light remains on or flashes there could be a problem with the system that needs to be inspected.  If the light never comes on, that is also an indication that the bulb was removed and that the air bag could very well be missing.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 1:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.