Airbag scams endanger lives
You bought a car with airbags. Smart move. But---will the airbags work properly in a crash? Or did a crook substitute rags where the airbags belong? How can you tell? What can you do to protect yourself and your family?
Tragic incidents involving airbag frauds are drawing new attention. Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety provided information to Reader’s Digest, published in a new report, due to hit newsstands soon, to alert consumers about an alarming rise in airbag scams. 1
According to public health officials, airbags are one of the leading advances in public health and safety of the last 100 years. The inflatable cushions are proven lifesavers, preventing thousands of deaths each year. Airbags also protect against tens of thousands of debilitating injuries, including paralyzing spinal cord injuries, facial lacerations, damaged vision, and traumatic brain injuries.
Today’s cars, SUVs, and pickups are designed to work with both airbags and seat belts. Neither provides adequate protection alone. Manufacturers have modified seat belts to work in conjunction with airbags. It is vitally important for airbags to be ready to inflate when needed, even when drivers and passengers are wearing seat belts.
Consumer demand for airbags is high. In response, auto manufacturers are rushing to install even more airbags than the government requires, including “side curtain” airbags for rear seats. They boast in ads about how many airbags they offer. But—what happens after a crash, when the airbags have inflated?
Unfortunately, many unscrupulous auto rebuilders, auto dealers, and “curbstoners” – unlicensed dealers -- cut corners and fail to replace airbags after they deploy in a crash. To make a quick buck, they are willing to jeopardize lives. Instead of paying $600 or more for a new, fully functioning airbag system, they stuff the space where the airbag belongs with whatever is handy. Crash investigators have discovered airbag compartments crammed with shop rags, cardboard, paper, plastic garbage bags, or old socks. Some crooks then add a fake airbag cover. Or they reseal the seam where the air bag burst open.
Some companies openly advertise fake airbag covers over the internet. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the owner of one company in Alabama pled guilty to selling over 4,600 counterfeit airbag covers that bore the GM logo, but lacked any airbag inside. They were purchased by individuals, body shops, and used car dealerships, to use in reconstructing cars after crashes.
That same company is still advertising fake airbag covers, but now the website says they have “no airbag inside” imprinted on them. However, it would be easy for an unscrupulous rebuilder or auto dealer to alter or obscure the imprint.
Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety worked to get a law passed in California making it a crime to rebuild a vehicle without replacing deployed airbags with fully functioning airbags—and not just any old airbags. They must meet the manufacturer’s specifications and any applicable federal safety standards. The California Highway Patrol also supported the legislation, which was enacted in 2002.
Tragically, the new law wasn’t enough to save the life of Bobby Ellsworth, a confident, outdoors-loving 18-year-old who graduated from high school in 2003. After graduation, over the summer, he worked as a groundskeeper at a golf course and in his off-hours went fishing. In July, Bobby was riding in a 1998 Dodge Dakota truck driven by his friend, Waylon Blocker. It was late at night and they were headed home to Jamul, California, on a curvy two-lane rural road. Suddenly the Dakota crossed the center line and collided head-on with a BMW with four people inside. The airbags in the BMW inflated. Waylon and all the BMW occupants survived.
Bobby was the only one in the crash who was killed. Paramedics and police officers who arrived at the crash scene were stunned to discover that the airbag compartments in the truck had been stuffed with paper. According to a forensic scientist with the Institute of Risk and Safety Analysis, Kenneth Alvin Solomon, PhD, if there had been an air bag in the Dakota, “it would have saved his life.” 2
Before Waylon’s parents bought it, the Dodge Dakota had already been in a severe crash. Both front airbags had deployed. The insurer, State Farm, decided it was not economical to repair the truck properly. So it paid off the claim and had the title on the truck branded, or stamped, with the label “salvage.” Then the junker was shipped to an auto auction and sold to the highest bidder. The rebuilder who bought the truck has reportedly been charged with wrongful death and gross negligence. However, he claims he didn’t know the air bags were missing.
Basically, the Dakota was declared dead. It was fit only to be dismantled, and its usable parts sold piece by piece. But like automotive “zombies,” millions of total loss vehicles keep rising from the dead, claiming more lives. Each year, insurers total an estimated 5,000,000 vehicles, then dump most of them back into the automotive marketplace—with no regard for who is harmed.
Many assume that insurers give totaled vehicles a decent burial by scrapping them. But the reality is that they are loathe to scrap wrecks. Instead, eager to recoup as much money as they can from the junkers, insurers typically pay off claims and take possession of the wrecks, particularly if they are late model vehicles. Then they arrange for the twisted heaps to be auctioned off at “salvage pools” to the highest bidder. Insurers usually get a cut of the proceeds. The higher the bid, the more dollars the insurers can recoup.
A mangled car worth only $2,000 as scrap can easily sell for $8,000—to a shady rebuilder or auto dealer who knows he can cut corners on the repairs and give it a cosmetic fix, then turn around and foist it off on an unsuspecting car buyer for the full Blue Book value of $12,000 or more.
According to Consumer Reports, “Insurance companies, which own the piles of twisted metal after they pay off a total-loss claim, have discovered they can get more bucks for the bang-ups if they sell the wrecks at salvage auctions. The practice has fed a thriving industry that rebuilds severely damaged vehicles---craftily enough to hide their traumatic pasts yet cheaply enough to turn a sizable profit.” 3
Consumer Reports estimates that “insurers recover about $1 billion per year from the salvage sale of wrecks five or fewer model years old and $2.5 billion annually from wrecks of all ages.” 4
How can you find out if a vehicle was in a crash, before you buy it or allow your family to ride in it? It should be easy, but—it actually takes some serious sleuthing.
Insurers store data on insurance claims in a vast database called CLUE, or “Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange.” It is a veritable gold mine of potentially life-saving information. Insurers have access to CLUE and use the data in their rate-setting and underwriting decisions. But they have resisted sharing claims histories with the car-buying public.
Private database services like those offered by Carfax and Experian (AutoCheck) too often fail to provide accurate data on rebuilt wrecks. One of the main reasons: there is usually a time lag between when a vehicle is totaled and when its checkered past appears in private databases. During that time, it can change hands several times and end up in your driveway.
Another problem: some dealers alter reports to erase unfavorable information, then show them to car buyers, giving them a false sense of security.
In 1996, Congress required the U. S. Department of Justice to issue regulations to require insurers and junkyards to provide data on totaled vehicles to a national database system, known as the National Motor Vehicle Titling Information System, or NMVTIS. Then that data is supposed to be available to the public, at cost.
But 12 years later, the regulations have still not been issued. When insurers do have to comply and provide the data, that will help curb frauds involving salvage vehicles.
Until the insurers have to provide up-to-date data, what can you do?
First, make sure you have any used vehicle thoroughly inspected by your own, independent mechanic BEFORE you agree to buy it. If the seller balks, or tries to talk you out of getting your own inspection, walk away. Don’t be pressured into a dangerous deal.
Where can you find a qualified, reliable mechanic? A good place to check is Car Talk’s Mechanics Files, at: http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/find.html The Mechanics Files is based on input from other consumers like you, who post comments praising or complaining about the service they receive.
It costs about $100 for a thorough inspection. That $100 will be the wisest, most important expenditure you will make in the entire transaction. Arrange with the seller to take the car to your own mechanic for the inspection, so he can hook the vehicle up to sophisticated diagnostic equipment.
Second, check an online service such as Carfax or AutoCheck to see if the history reveals a prior crash or flood damage. But—keep in mind that their databases have loopholes, and are not a substitute for getting your own independent inspection.
When you turn on the ignition, no dashboard light comes on to report that the air bag system is working properly, or the light stays on more than a few seconds
The air bag cover is a different color than the other interior components
The air bag cover lacks the manufacturer’s logo
Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle are missing, or the wires have been disconnected
The vehicle shows signs of having been in a crash—visible paint overspray, tires that wear unevenly, wheels that are out of alignment, doors that don’t shut tight, body panels that don’t match or fit flush with each other, loose parts, unusual welds in the unibody or frame
Note: it takes an expert to ensure that the air bag is the right one for the vehicle, and is fully functioning
Immediately take your vehicle to a reputable repair shop and have them inspect it and, if necessary, replace the air bag with an air bag system that meets the manufacturer’s specifications. Insist that the repair shop give you a copy of the receipt for the air bag. If you still have any doubts, find another mechanic to double-check that the air bag is the right one and has been properly installed.
CARS is working to expose air bag frauds and get the national database on totaled vehicles completed. Let us know if you find out your vehicle has a fake air bag. Here’s where to contact CARS:
1 “Airbag Scams: Dashboard Danger. Airbag scams are on the rise. Here’s what you need to know.” By Mandy Matson. Reader’s Digest, February, 2008.
2 “Airbag Scams: Dashboard Danger. Airbag scams are on the rise. Here’s what you need to know.” By Mandy Matson. Reader’s Digest, February, 2008.
3 “Wrecks in disguise,” Consumer Reports, January 2002, page 28.
4 “Wrecks in disguise,” Consumer Reports, January 2002, page 31.