Air bag recall. How can I tell if they have been replaced.

[bionoc]

I received the airbag recall letter in January and called Arnold Clark to arrange for the replacement on 27th March. I called the service centre 3 weeks ago to confirm the booking and asking to leave my car overnight so the they could start first thing.
When I arrived , the service assistant told me that the parts hadn't been ordered because I had booked online. I had booked by telephone and showed her my phone record. She went in to her office for a few minutes then came out and said that I should have called the dealership directly and that's why the parts didn't get ordered. I told her that I had confirmed the booking with her office three weeks ago. She went back to the office for another few minutes. When she came out she said that, yes, I had called but hadn't asked if the parts had been ordered.
I told her that this was simply incompetence and she disappeared one more time. When she returned she said that she had found a set of airbags for another customer and would use these.

How can I be sure that the airbags were actually changed? I'm suspicious.

 

[BTB 500]

How can I be sure that the airbags were actually changed? I'm suspicious.

AFAIK the recall is only for the airbag in the steering wheel. It will possibly vary from one model to another but on ours the whole middle of the wheel (including all the buttons) was obviously brand new. Which was nice, because the original buttons had some wear on them



They get the parts supplied by MB so there would be no real reason for them to pretend they'd changed it when they hadn't. Mine was done while I waited in about 15 mins.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Other than removing the airbag and checking it's date code I think you are at the mercy of the dealership.

This is a very serious safety recall and I would hope that any dealership would realise the implications of not changing the airbag then saying they had.

 

[bionoc]

AFAIK the recall is only for the airbag in the steering wheel. It will possibly vary from one model to another but on ours the whole middle of the wheel (including all the buttons) was obviously brand new. Which was nice, because the original buttons had some wear on them

View attachment 138779

They get the parts supplied by MB so there would be no real reason for them to pretend they'd changed it when they hadn't. Mine was done while I waited in about 15 mins.

Thanks. My wheel looks the same as before so I can't be sure.

 

[bionoc]

Other than removing the airbag and checking it's date code I think you are at the mercy of the dealership.

This is a very serious safety recall and I would hope that any dealership would realise the implications of not changing the airbag then saying they had.

I agree. I think I may end up getting it checked out.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Current recalls | Mercedes-Benz

Find out about the latest recalls and see if your Mercedes-Benz is affected.

www.mercedes-benz.co.uk

 

[SpikyMikey]

Thanks. My wheel looks the same as before so I can't be sure.

On my C Class only the airbag itself was changed - it came back with the same airbag cover/steering wheel centre it went in with (Sport wheel as below)

 

[tonysmb]

It's not possible to be absolutely certain without physically checking the airbag module, however, if you input your vehicle details into the MB online service-booking system, it should show the mileage last uploaded onto the system when MB undertook any work. Whilst not conclusive proof, it would indicate that the dealer updated the electronic system to state that they'd replaced it. Were you given a paper record for the change?

Whilst I'm not a great fan of *some* dealers, I would like to think that even the poor ones wouldn't be stupid enough to put on record that they changed such an important, and easily checkable in the event of an incident, component if they hadn't actually done it.

 

[190]

I received the airbag recall letter in January and called Arnold Clark to arrange for the replacement on 27th March. I called the service centre 3 weeks ago to confirm the booking and asking to leave my car overnight so the they could start first thing.
When I arrived , the service assistant told me that the parts hadn't been ordered because I had booked online. I had booked by telephone and showed her my phone record. She went in to her office for a few minutes then came out and said that I should have called the dealership directly and that's why the parts didn't get ordered. I told her that I had confirmed the booking with her office three weeks ago. She went back to the office for another few minutes. When she came out she said that, yes, I had called but hadn't asked if the parts had been ordered.
I told her that this was simply incompetence and she disappeared one more time. When she returned she said that she had found a set of airbags for another customer and would use these.

How can I be sure that the airbags were actually changed? I'm suspicious.

My air bag was replaced this week and the receptionist was the same waste of space. The first day was lost because they didn't have the correct parts to hand even after 5 weeks notice. As mentioned above the drivers air bag was obvious from the whole new centre pad and buttons. I can't see a way to tell if they did the passenger air bag.

Overall it was a terrible experience with the job growing from 2 hours to 3 days. They will have disconnected the battery to do the job so it's best to check if everything has ben reinstated correctly. On the w204 and some other models the air plenum has to be removed to access the battery terminals. It's a little tricky to replace as you have to make sure the lower tabs are engaged before clipping it into place at the top. It was the first thing I checked when I got home and sure enough it had been done wrong which allows air to leak between the passenger compartment to the under bonnet area. It's a school boy sloppy error for a trained technician to make but there we are, they probably don't care as long as the fault isn't obvious to the average punter.

I was quite nervous about letting a dealer touch my car and I wasn't disappointed in that concern. The dealer was part of the LSH auto group.

 

[bionoc]

It's not possible to be absolutely certain without physically checking the airbag module, however, if you input your vehicle details into the MB online service-booking system, it should show the mileage last uploaded onto the system when MB undertook any work. Whilst not conclusive proof, it would indicate that the dealer updated the electronic system to state that they'd replaced it. Were you given a paper record for the change?

Whilst I'm not a great fan of *some* dealers, I would like to think that even the poor ones wouldn't be stupid enough to put on record that they changed such an important, and easily checkable in the event of an incident, component if they hadn't actually done it.

I'll try doing that. I didn't get a paper record of the work done but I can call and ask them for one.

 

[HB]

Mine came back with a completely new centre section on the wheel. Very easy to see. W212 Eclass.

 

[BTB 500]

My air bag was replaced this week and the receptionist was the same waste of space. The first day was lost because they didn't have the correct parts to hand even after 5 weeks notice. As mentioned above the drivers air bag was obvious from the whole new centre pad and buttons.

After my appointment I got a call to say they'd mixed up the reg. numbers and mine hadn't been done after all (I wasn't aware at that point that the steering wheel buttons would be replaced as well). I had to go in again - another 90 minute drive there & back.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Current recalls | Mercedes-Benz

Find out about the latest recalls and see if your Mercedes-Benz is affected.

www.mercedes-benz.co.uk

Put your VIN in hers and it’ll tell you if it’s been done

Edit: you know what's funny? Mine's been 'done', but if I use that link, mine says that the status is 'open'. I'll have to give them a call... Brentford were utterly useless from start to finish.

 

[grober]

Takata Corporation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-recalls-defects/takata-airbag-recall-everything-you-need-to-know-a1060713669/

 

[AMGeed]

On my C Class only the airbag itself was changed - it came back with the same airbag cover/steering wheel centre it went in with (Sport wheel as below)
View attachment 138792

On my pre face lift S204, the whole plastic centre of the steering wheel was changed along with the buttons.

 

[Tekman]

Had mine done changed all centre of wheel with buttons and also you can smell the new one W204

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

How can you tell? My steering wheel center looked pretty new anyway

 

[alzieboy]

I had the passenger air bag recall carried out on my E350 cdi Coupe by MERCEDES in Norwich last week.(22/03/2023) .
This week (30/03/2023). I had a letter from MB saying to book in the car for airbag recall .
I phoned MB Norwich who as usual didn’t know their **** from their elbow.
The airbag recall still states as open on the MB site.

As a footnote I was left waiting for the car to be finished sitting like a chump in the waiting area when the car had already been returned to the car park, service desk oblivious to the fact that car was ready for client collection .

Norwich MB need to have a big wake up call

Happy Days

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Yeah, mine's still left 'open' too. You can check on the site I posted above.

Either they're replaced with faulty airbags and need to do it again, or the system that confirms if it's done or not doesn't work and is confusing everybody.

 

[jayboy222]

I had the same issue. Received the recall letter for my wife's C180, booked it in and had the work done efficiently by MB Hertford. But when I checked the MB recall site a few months after, the status was still down as 'open'. Phoned the dealership to explain and they e-mailed me the invoice to show the work had been carried out under warranty. Though at the time they told me there was no paperwork available.