If you ’ve had anairbagreplaced lately , you already have it off the short response to this enquiry : They cost an subdivision and a leg ! Drivers could bear as much as $ 1,000 just to exchange an airbag , plus the costs of Labour Party and to revive a potentially damaged splashboard and/or windshield .

This might explain why many law enforcement delegacy are calling airbags " the new car stereos . " It ’s largely due to their growing popularity among automobile thieves . If you ’ve ever had your car broken into , you do it that feeling of anger and frustration that come over you when you see that gaping hole in your dashboard ; however , the thieving of an airbag reaches another level of ugly . Why ? Because you ’d never know your airbag is missing until the unfit possible time . If you are involve in a serious crash , that steal airbag could lead to a severe injury or even death .

While thieves can break into a machine and slip an airbag in less than two minutes , some airbags are stolen as part of a scam commit by unscrupulous repair store .

In this article , we ’re go to explicate how airbag scams work , why airbags are becoming such a democratic aim for thieves , and what can be done to prevent airbag theft .

The National Insurance Crime Bureau claims that thieves in the United States make off with about 50,000 airbags – worth about $ 50 million – each year . The numbers would be even high if not for older cars still on the route without airbags in them to slip [ source : State Farm ] . Why would stealer require an airbag in the first place ?

Airbags are expensive . The bag itself must be replaced , along with any damaged steerage bicycle and/or dashboard parts . The sensor and other electronics must also be substitute . It ’s also a very labor intensive job : An airbag has to be put in by a trained technician . For example , supplant both front airbags in a 1994 Ford Taurus cost roughly $ 1,800 , not including Department of Labor [ source : Moore ] . If the machine had side airbags , the cost would be even higher . Despite their cost , airbags are comparatively easy to remove , transport and store . The result ? A thriving black market for steal airbags . An unscrupulous mechanic can buy a stolen airbag illegally for $ 200 , then file the customer the full Mary Leontyne Price and bag the difference .

In fact , stealing airbags has become so lucrative that some muddied repair shops have fuck off into the number themselves . Instead of a thief break into your car and jerk out the airbag , which sometimes requires the little more than the remotion of just four bolts , mechanics can remove them at their leisure time while they " reanimate " your fomite .

In one version of the cozenage , " the pullout , " your onetime airbag is pulled out to bet as if it deployed in the accident ( even though it actually did n’t ) . Mechanics then put back it with a cheap bag they buy on the ignominious mart , or do n’t replace it at all . Either manner , they bill you or yourinsurance companyfor the full price of a unexampled airbag .

Another version of the cozenage , " the transposition , " happens when you ’ve been in an accident but your airbag did n’t actually deploy . Your original airbag is remove , and then another deployed airbag is put in its post . The mechanism handbill your insurance companionship for an airbag surrogate , but just put your one-time airbag back in . They might also trade your airbag and replace it with a cheap edition , or replace it with old rags or similar material . Without a thorough review by a qualified technician , it ’s impossible to tell if a actual airbag is still in place and functional .

set out a cheaper airbag installed in place of the original might be a scam , but is it really that bad ? oodles of airbags are for sales event on eBay , so used and undeployed airbags ca n’t be totally bad , right ? A used airbag can be a good mountain – if it match several conditions :

Of course , if the used airbag was instal as part of a repair shop scam , how many of those circumstance do you think the airbag actually met ? Likely none .

see how to prevent thieves from make off with your airbags on the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .

Preventing Airbag Theft

There are a few things you could do keep down the chances of your airbags being stolen . Many of them will help forbid railcar thievery in oecumenical : Park in a well - lit positioning , keep your carlocked , and do n’t leave valuables in plain sight . The use of a guidance wheel interlock twist , like " The Club , " could prevent memory access to the airbag in some elevator car .

How great is your risk ? The airbag smuggled market is just as drive by supply and demand as any other . Because airbags are special to specific railcar makes and poser , more coarse cars are in high demand . For example , the Honda Civic and Acura Integra are democratic fair game .

alas , fend off repair workshop scam can be even harder than avoiding thievery . Here are a few tips to make trusted your airbag is properly and safely instal :

One important thing to remember – never attempt to inspect or recompense an airbag yourself . If you accidentally deploy the airbag , it could have a serious injury .

Automakers and legislators could also help prevent airbag theft . Airbag organization intention could mix parts of the airbag into the fomite more thoroughly . Without the integral parts , the airbag would n’t bring , and removing them would be prohibitively difficult or time exhaust . alas , this would make airbags even more expensive and the already high labor price of airbag replacement would rocket .

A possible effectual remedy comes in the physical body of theNational Motor Vehicle Title Information System ( NMVTIS ) . This allows masses to electronically check the deed of conveyance on a car to see if it ’s been describe totaled in another country . While 34 commonwealth are part of the program , there are several other state where scam artists can ply their trade . Some res publica have police force that necessitate accident report to include selective information on airbag deployment , or outline the procedure mend shop must pursue when replacing them . Other law designed to battle airbag scam include the Motor Vehicle Theft Law Enforcement Act , a Union law passed in 1984 that created strong penalty for transport stolen cars or car share across country lines , and made such crimes prosecutable under racketeering laws [ author : Insurance Information Institute ] .

What ’s at stake in this fight against airbag larceny ? More than just higher policy pace or a healthy fixture nib . There have been several incidents in which people were badly injure or killed because of defective airbag refilling . In one case , a woman was injure and a passenger killed because their used car had been in a prior fortuity . The airbag had never been decent put back and was instead but pucker out of sight . In a 2005 accident , two teenagers were killed when improperly installed airbags , purchased on the Internet , failed to deploy [ source : National Safety Commission ] .

For more entropy on airbags and other related topics , please see the tie-in on the travel along page .

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