I had the recall repair done to the passenger side airbag on my 2008 Silverado in the last few months. The repair went smoothly, no problems at all since.
A few days ago, I was walking past my truck which had been sitting in garage (not running) for about an hour, and I noticed the passenger side airbag had deployed!
Has anyone heard of this happening- the airbag deploying , w/ engine off / w/ noone in the vehicle / w/o being in collision? Not only did the airbag deploy, but when it did, it broke up my dashboard.
The dealer said they discussed with GM and supposedly this has never happened before, which I find very hard to believe (considering the millions of vehicles involved in the recall)!
Well the truck's been at the dealer a few days (they said GM wanted to send someone to do an inspection to see what happened) and I havent heard anything yet.
Why dont they just fix the airbag and dashboard and be done with it (especially if it's such a rare event)? This feels off....why do I have this nagging feeling that they're going to try weasel out of fixing their mistake?

 

I can’t speak to the frequency of an event like this (first time I’ve ever heard of it as well), but I don’t think you should be worried about them trying to weasel out of fixing their mistake just yet (assuming it is their mistake to begin with).

Air bag operation is something most manufacturers take very seriously because of its potential to cause harm and, by proxy, the liability that comes with it.

If the dealer attempted to diagnose the reason for the deployment, it’s entirely possible they’re waiting on an engineer or other 3rd party to look at it as well as a means of confirming or rejecting their findings.

When you consider that air bags rely on miniature ordinances to inflate, it’s not surprising that determining the cause of the deployment can be a lengthy process.

As to your dash being destroyed - that’s what it’s designed to do. The air bag doesn’t help anyone if it goes off and slams a chunk of plastic or metal up the nose of the person it’s supposed to be protecting.

My recommendation is to be patient. Call them ASAP and ask for an ETA for repairs. If that time comes and goes without word, call again. Don’t pester them, just don’t let them forget about you either.

 

i have done the airbag recalls for other manufacturers. the recall is to replace the inflator. the potassium nitrate used as a propellant degrades in high humidity environments. This is the first one i have heard of. No idea of the cause. If gm balks, talk to your insurance company.