OT: Feedback welcomed on car problem

Hi all, I am looking for feedback from owners of Vauxhall Astra MK 6 "J" cars, 61 plate onwards and hope that member of this group will have the answer.

I'm having a dispute with my dealer regarding the passenger airbag lights on the right hand side of the centre console which are supposed to indicate the status of the passenger airbag. There is a switch inside the door on the drivers side which switches off the passenger airbag if a child seat is fitted in the front and there are 2 lights to the right of the centre console.

1 light "The light should come on when the ignition is turned on and stay on for approx' 4 seconds. If the light does not come on, stays on for longer than 4 seconds or comes on while driving, there is a fault with the passenger airbag." This is on page 107 of the manual.

My light comes on with the ignition but it takes over a minute to go off. My dealer says that the light is supposed to stay on all the time and they showed me this happening, albeit on a 60 plate car. Who is right?

If there are any Astra MK6 "J" owners out there with a 61 plate or later car, could you please have a look next time you use your car and see if the airbag on light stays on or turns off after 4 seconds with the airbag switch in the on position.

I very much appreciate any help with this!

Reply to
Ilene D'over
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With such a specific question, perhaps you'd be better off asking in a forum like this !

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C

Reply to
Andy Cap

getting answers a long winded frustrating process if you aren't asking about pimping etc.

There seem to be a lot of very helpful people on this newsgroup so, worth a try.

Reply to
Ilene D'over

Or Mr Cheerful over in uk.rec.cars.maintenance

Reply to
newshound

Does it matter? If your light goes out after a minute or more then it's not working according to the printed manual, and it's not working according to what the dealer says should happen.

Reply to
Jeremy Nicoll - news posts

It obviously does matter to the OP doesn't it? Surely a simple request for help shouldn't be treated in such a way.

If you can't help, don't bother responding!

Anyway, I have a 12 plate Astra and I just checked mine. The light I think you mean i.e. the left one of the 2, goes out after 4 seconds on mine. The right one i.e. the "off" light, does the same if the switch is set to off.

This sort of suggests that the manual is right and the dealer is wrong. If the car you saw was different, they must have changed something since that model.

Reply to
Frank Dibbs

You've missed the point. According to what the OP described the airbag is not doing what the dealer says it should do (and demo-ed on another car). So there should be no problem having the dealer fix that problem.

It's immaterial whether the manual is right or not.

Reply to
Jeremy Nicoll - news posts

You've missed another point. If the dealer is happy to state that black is white does (s)he really want them fixing the problem? I'd suggest a different Vauxhall dealer (it'll have to be a main dealer on that age of car).

This might help you:

Though I'm really only going from the plugs in his column in the torygraph.

Andy

Reply to
Andy Champ

+1

Very knowledgeable professional people over on that group

Araf

Reply to
Arfa Daily

Yes, "She" is really seriously considering another dealer but the choice is limited where I live. I have "had to" use this dealer for many years and have never been totally happy with their service department.

Thanks for the link.

Reply to
Ilene D'over

No, it is not immaterial! There is a point to settle here. I believe the dealer is wrong and the manual is right hence my original statement "I'm having a dispute with my dealer". Whether or not there is a fault is another matter.

Reply to
Ilene D'over

Thanks for the suggestion.

Reply to
Ilene D'over

Why not contact the manufacturer? It was many years ago, but a local Ford dealer lost their franchise because of a poor service department.

Reply to
charles

d dealer lost their franchise because of a poor service department.

I second that.

We have done that a couple of times. Once when our new car leaked (rain wa= ter) through the bulk head into the passenger compartment. The dealer fixe= d it but because they had to pull out the entire dashboard it squeaked and = rattled. Lots of return trips later and it was still squeaking and rattlin= g. After 11 months of complaining to Vauxhaull customer servies they gave = us a brand new car.

The most recent one was (different car) the dealer telling us that both rea= r shocks were leaking and that it wasnt covered under the warrenty (classed= as wear and tear). Mazda customer services agreed that one leaking would = be wear and tear but both leaking at the same time was very unusual and agr= eed to replace. The dealer had supposedly called Mazda to check befor spea= king to us!

Cant hurt to try them.

Reply to
AlanC

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Reply to
Kaiyan Zheng

Thanks Frank, that's all I needed. No response from "uk.rec.cars.maintenance" at all so, armed with your observation, off to the dealer today.

Reply to
Ilene D'over

A lot of this stuff nowadays is software-configurable. Now that may not be = the case with safety warning lights, which may be hard-wired, but generally= it isn't a wire between a switch and a bulb any more - there's a microproc= essor in the middle that decides what to do.

It's also pretty common for the explanation in paper manuals to only be a l= oose and simplistic approximation to what really happens in the software. Y= our vehicle may also have had software configuration changes during routine= servicing.

The only sure way of investigating this is the plug-in diagnostics - and so= meone with a good understanding using it. Unfortunately that understanding = isn't necessarily as prevalent as it should be.

If the dealer isn't helping, have a google for an owners discussion forum f= or your particular car. The level of expertise in these forums can be high,= including people with their own copies of the plug-in diagnostics.

Reply to
dom

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