| sonko2010 |
Greetings,
Some of you have been reading about a salvaged 2005 EX-L that my wife and I are considering purchasing. The kicker is that the car is in Central America where my wife and I will be teaching next year. The school's mechanic has looked at it and given it the thumbs up including plugging it in to the computer and a friend recently took a few photos to help us decide.
The mystery comes in with the front leather seats. The car has about 19,000 miles on, but the seats look more worn than that. For a car that is supposed to have airbags in the seats, I am concerned that the seats may have been replaced. I am hoping you can take a look and give me your two cents. I have never owned a car with leather, so I am not sure how exactly it is supposed to wear. Thoughts?
Many thanks!
Chris
 
   |
|
|
| TheEaglePilot |
Your photo was probably too large to attach. But I can tell you that the Pilot's leather is not known for wearing well... esp. in early years.
Chris |
|
|
| deparson |
I am sure that new seats /w airbags would cost a ton of money from Honda vs. ones at the junk yard.
Check to see if they have been restiched/recovered indicating that the side airbags might be missing. Also insure they are connected to the airbag deployment wireing and that the airbag/SRS system is working correctly and not throwing any codes.
-D |
|
|
| sonko2010 |
Yes, exactly right. I am concerned that the seats may not have airbags in them. But the airbag light does go off after the car is started, which I have been told is an indication that the computer has verified that the airbags are present and ready to deploy.
So the million dollar question is: if there are no aribags in the seats, how could one fool the computer into thinking they are there, so the airbag light goes off as it should upon starting?
Also, how can I check the wiring and the codes you mentioned? Are the wires easy to access and see? Should I bring it back to the mechanic? Does the computer "know" if the airbags have been replaced?
I was not able to determine from the pictures that were sent if the airbag tag was present on the seam of both seats, but that could have been easily added, so that is probably not a good indication that the airbags are still there.
Thanks everyone!
Chris
|
|
|
| Medic721 |
Not sure about the honda but with the ford vans I used to work on all that was needed was to place the appropriate resistor across the 2 wires on the airbag connector and the system would 'see' an airbag.
-Mike. |
|
|
| dragoncoach |
| I know the car is salvage and probably is a good deal, but it seems odd the seats aren't original. Air bags and general safety are paramont when I consider purchasing a vehicle. You must also remember the car is in another country and no telling what was done to it prior to putting it up for sale. I'm vague on foreign law, but what would constitute a salvage title in that country? I personally would pass...too many unknowns. |
|
|
|
