Anyone experienced an airbag warning light after reclining the front passenger seat?

[Borris]

I recently fully reclined the front passenger seat in our Beach. This is a front seat design feature that any owner might at some point wish to take advantage of. Unfortunately, when I next turned on the ignition, hey presto, the airbag warning light was showing.

I took it in to the dealer today and they told me that what had happened was that the wiring connector for the seat airbag had pulled out. Anyone else had this? I'm sure I read that several owners have but have been unable to find any reference to this particular cause so far. I did think about having a look before taking it in to them but even if I had found this issue I wouldn't have been able to reset the warning light without the special diognostics gadget.

If you can't recline the seats without it causing a fault then IMO, it isn't fit for purpose!

 

[VW Guru]

Hi @Borris o have seen this on a few calis over the years it’s just down to the wiring being incorrectly routed from factory. It’s not that common but it does happen. Hopefully your dealer has moved the wiring to allow more freedom of movement and not just clipped it back in

 

[Perfectos]

Hi Borris

This is the one about changing the connector

Dreaded Air Bag Light

My airbag light has come on and I'm pretty sure it's the front passenger side and is the the swivel seat issue. A couple of years back I took the passenger seat out and gave the airbag leads a wiggle and reset at a garage and this did the trick for a couple of years. I think I need a more...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Hope that helps

 

[Perfectos]

Air Bag Warning Light - Any suggestions!

Hello I have a T5 Cali. 12 plate. My airbag warning light keeps coming on when I swivel the passenger seat. It clears on a diagnostic - and I am taking it in to my independent VW garage next week to get it looked at. However they don't deal with many california's - so I wondered if anyone had...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[Blueeyedboy]

Hi Borris
We had the same problem some years ago and it kept coming back on. Airbags were replaced under warranty until a new technician said it’s the poor wiring clips. He advised us to wait until warranty was about to expire and the cut clip off and put a more secure clip which held wires firmly. Job done and we never had anymore problems.

 

[Borris]

Thanks everyone for your comments. They've all been very helpful.

It's now been fixed but there's some talk of the work not being covered under the extended factory warrantee that I purchased when new. I certainly don't see why a customer should pay to rectify a design or factory fault. We shall see.

 

[motacyclist]

We didn’t even have to recline the seat in our original (2010) 5.1 Cali for the airbag light to come on. But, dealer replaced the harness under the seat FOC even though it was well out of warranty.

 

[Borris]

We didn’t even have to recline the seat in our original (2010) 5.1 Cali for the airbag light to come on. But, dealer replaced the harness under the seat FOC even though it was well out of warranty.

Whilst the vehicle is now just over three years old, I purchased, when new, the two year Factory Extended Warrantee which according to VW's online blurb clearly states, "Extended warranties offer you exactly the same level of cover as the original manufacturer warranty". I am therefore not expecting to have to pay for this fix. However we shall see what transpires.

 

[WelshGas]

Whilst the vehicle is now just over three years old I purchased the factory extended

The problems in the past were commonly associated with rotating rather than reclining the passenger seat.

 

[Borris]

Thanks WG.

IMO, whether it be caused by rotating or reclining the design should be fit for purpose and not present issues like this. What raised my hackles was being informed that the remedial work is not covered under the extended warrantee and that therefore I would have to pay. In fairness to the dealer they were sympathetic and are currently looking into it so watch this space.

IF, by implication, VW are now saying that you should be careful not to fully recline the seat as this sort of issue might occur then they should either place a mechanical stop on the seat reclining mechanism to prevent it happening or modify or reroute the wiring harness to provide the same end. The hand book makes no mention of this issue and gives no warnings.
Therefore it has to be manufacturing issue either in the length of the wiring harness used in this location or in the way it has been routed. As such it should be covered under the warrantee, extended or otherwise.

 

[Perfectos]

VW statement regarding the extended warranty “Exactly the same” either means exactly the same or it does?

If the latter applies then VW are knowingly mis selling an “insurance” policy which is fraudulent?

No one would buy an extended warranty if the wording was “we may cover you if VW agree st the time of your claim” !!!

surely voice or working in VW,s statement “Exactly “ cannot be misconstrued in any other way?
“Exactly” means completely and entirely ?

Or the VW statement is clearly and blatantly mis selling of an insurance product ?

The extended warranty is a binding contract direct with VWUK and is tied to the vehicle for the duration of cover (transferable to new owner)

Maybe the OFT or CAB would be interested to clarify the statement with VWUK ?

If the remedial would have been covered within the original manufacturers warranty, then by default VW cannot charge you during the Extended period,

in this instance the issue and remedial measures relate to a potential safety issue, due solely to a design flaw and I dare say that VW would be skating on very thin ice if they try to make you pay !
More over you could claim that this issue is a known fault potentially affecting 1000s of vehicles, which should be subject to a safety recall check ?


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[Perfectos]

Apologies for the spelling above auto correct! I cannot edit the post as I’m using Tapatalk


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[Perfectos]

Supreme Court confirms extended warranties can be regulated insurance products

The Supreme Court has confirmed that extended warranties on consumer goods can be "contracts of insurance" falling under the regulation of the…

www.lexology.com

Supreme Court confirms extended warranties can be regulated insurance products

Therefore falling under FSA authorisation!


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[Perfectos]

Extended warranties

Find out how we deal with complaints about extended warranties.

www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

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[Robin Brooke]

Does anyone know how to reset the warning light ourselves?

I've had this problem on a T5 SE 2015 persistently for several years, paid to have the wires extended, still same problems.

Thanks for ay info!