Hi everyone,,
Looking for some help/advice here.
I am looking at purchasing a 2008 Civic EX.. It is a salvaged title vehicle and the current owner has disclosed that the SRS light has come “on” & off on 4 separate occasions in the last 6 months. I don’t know the history of this car, but he assure me that the airbags are in place.
-----My question is: Does this indicate that the airbags may actually NOT deploy in a case of an accident?----- Many posts and internet research that Ive done guide you through “resetting the light” process, however, because of life/safety I am more interested trouble- shooting the issue..
Can anyone tell me (from knowledge or experience) if this is just a matter of resetting light and the airbags will actually deploy. My other concern is that maybe the airbags were replaced but the sensors were not. I am new to these newer 06-current Civic models and any help/advice is greatly appreciated.

 

Baseline question:

Have the airbags ever deployed?

If so, I wouldn't trust the safety system of this specific vehicle, no matter how meticulously new bags have been put back in there.

 

My answer is "yes" airbags were deployed. I was told car had "passenger side damage". I assuem (curtain and passenger bags deployed). Beign that the case and if they were replaced than it could be a matter of simply resetting the code right?
I figured (2) senerios:

Senerio A) If I go through the "reset process",, and light goes away than that tells me that the system did its "check analysis" and all is good.. Is this a safe assumption?
Senerio B) If I go through the "reset process",, and light DOES NOT go away than that tells me , that there is a bigger issue like replacing one of the sensors..
Is that a safe assumption?
Any help feedback is appreciated..
This car looks immaculate, low miles, I had it fully inspected by tursted bodyworks friend and he felt job was done at high grade professonal level body shop.. But there is that lingering safty issue...

 

From my experience, for the airbags to deploy, there has to be quite significant body damage. (I've had my engine in the passenger seat without the airbags going off, before.)

If I were you, I'd sell the car. Hammering the body out, only does so much. Ultimately, as long as you are aware of the consequences, and realize that you have a weakened vehicle, safety-wise, it is on you.

But that's off-topic.

I think you just have to reset it and hope for the best. There is no way to really tell what will happen, until you get into a crash. Similar to how a parachutist has no way of knowing whether his parachute will properly deploy until he pulls the ripcord.

 

my civic had 3 airbags deployed in it and the damage was relatively light.

i've heard that the airbags won't deploy if the srs light is on, not sure if this is true or not. my guess would be that it depends on what the error is, and that they can still deploy even if the light is on.

 

Hmm...interesting. I've been in two accidents where the car was totalled...one from the front and one from behind, and neither time did airbags deploy.

 

Intermittent SRS failures will be stored as an SRS code(s). I would not buy the car without seeing what SRS codes are stored and giving this more thought and research on the stored codes.

 

well, obviously the airbags won't pop from a rear end collision. wana put up some pics of the car hit in the front? i'm just curious, i've seen you mention this accident a few times.

 

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of it. I pretty much Dale Earnhardt'd into a wall, swung around, bounced off, hit the rear on the same wall, and somehow ended up perfectly lined up in the other lane.

Most of the damage was front driver's side of the car. The headlight was completely gone, and the front wheel was pinned beneath the fender.