The issue of reuse of non-deployed airbags from salvaged vehicles returned to the spotlight at the Collision Industry Conference in Phoenix in April with a panel discussion that included information on a program being developed to certify such airbag modules. 

With no automaker, U.S. insurer or collision repair association advocating use of salvaged undeployed airbag modules, the issue hasn't been discussed much at CIC since the fall of 2000 when a company announced its plans to develop a certification process. However, participants in the panel discussion in Phoenix raised a number of points that indicate it could be a issue of much debate in the coming months:

Panelists discussed both the pros and cons of using non-deployed salvage airbags -- opinions that were about equal on both sides and often contradictory. The practice could lower repair costs, thus preventing some vehicles from being totaled, but could also increase salvage values, resulting in more vehicles being totaled. A certification program for salvaged modules would add to the cost of those units, but their availability might also provide competition that would force automakers to lower the prices of new modules.

Herb Lieberman of Lakenor LKQ Auto Salvage in Santa Fe Springs, California, said one New York auto recycler that is part of the LKQ Corp. sold $1.2 million worth of non-deployed salvaged airbags in 2002. A New York state law, however, now prohibits sale of non-deployed airbag modules in that state. But Keith Manich of Entela, Inc., the Michigan-based company that tests non-OEM parts for CAPA, said his organization is currently working with the state of New York to develop a program to certify salvaged airbag modules. That program, he said, will include guidelines for the removal, identification, inspection, storage, sale and shipment of the modules.

Several panelists and CIC participants questioned whether such a program would ever ensure that auto recyclers would consistently deliver the exact module needed. They pointed to the problems the CIC committee found with used parts ordered as part of demonstrations at CIC meeting during the past several years. Last December, for example, identical parts were ordered from three salvage parts providers and brought to CIC in Dallas, Texas; none of the three exactly matched the year, make, model, condition or completeness as ordered or specified on the invoice.

Getting OEM info

Accessibility to OEM repair information also continues to be a topic of discussion within the industry and at CIC. In a presentation for the CIC OEM Committee on how Ford Motor Company takes collision repairs into account when designing vehicles, Steve Nantau, collision repairs supervisor for the automaker, said his company now has collision repair manuals available for many of its models - and expects to have manuals for all models by the end of this year.