How would you interpret this bullet point which.

Tiny
KENTHAO
  • MEMBER
  • 2009 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA
How would you interpret this bullet point which is found in the Mitchells estimating software in the p-page section for a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta:

Volkswagen-4 See Volkswagen (1990-12) application table
Replace after Deployment

-Headliner, door seals with weather-stripping, curtain air bag guides, grab handle brackets and A-, B-, C- & D-pillar trim (if equipped, If curtain air bags deployed)

Background Info: The driver side seat air bag module and driver curtain air bag deployed. The headliner is an obvious replacement. However, my question is do I have to replace both driver and passenger side weather-stripping, curtain air bag guides, grab handle brackets and a-, b-, c- & D-pillar trim if there are no damages. Or, do I replace the components on the side of the deployment and not on the side without deployment?
Wednesday, December 26th, 2012 AT 3:02 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,737 POSTS
There are two reasons those parts are listed in an estimating guide. One is to insure they don't get overlooked if there is damage that isn't readily obvious. It's easier to tell a customer some of the parts on the estimate weren't needed and the final bill is less than expected than to have to tell them more parts were needed than originally thought. The other is if any of those parts contain a crash or impact sensor. Those sensors may appear fine on the outside, but the concern is there could be a tiny arced spot where a spark occurred when contact was made, and in the event of another crash, that arced spot could prevent a good and solid contact from being made again and that bag won't deploy when it's needed. It's a liability thing. Electrically those sensors will still test okay during the system's self-test at engine start-up, but there's no way for it to know about the integrity of the contacts. Body shops will replace all sensors that tripped to avoid any liability or future lawsuits. Many do-it-yourselfers leave the old sensors in because the system will appear to be working correctly and they don't understand the reason they're being told to replace them.

They may also want anything replaced that has electrical connectors going to air bag assemblies. They can be burned from the burning rocket fuel and may not seat properly in the new assembly. Also, if there's anything less than a perfect connection, that circuit could test okay with the very small current during the system self-test, but it won't pass the high current when it is supposed to deploy.
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Wednesday, December 26th, 2012 AT 10:35 PM

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