Air Bag On-off Switch problems of the 2008 Buick Lacrosse

The car's air bag light by the speedometer has been illuminating intermittently at various speeds whether there is a passenger in the passenger seat or not. The passenger seat air bag on/off light near glove compartment turns to off when the speedometer air bag light illuminates. In June, I took the car into an independent mechanic to get the problem fixed. Unfortunately, the computer doesn't store a code for this problem. The mechanic tried to improve the connection to the passenger seat and "relearned" the computer; however, the problem still occurs. Mechanic said it "might" be a $1,000 fix which involves part of the passenger seat cushion itself! it cost me $100 to find out this much and attempt a correction, but $1,000 is ridiculous; especially for a "maybe" fix. I see others are having this problem, too. I've already had the ignition switch key fix at the dealership. I also already had the problem with the headlights turning off as we were driving down the road; our independent mechanic fixed that and I'm still waiting for the gm reimbursement on that. Hoping we can get gm to fix this air bag problem before it causes injuries.

A few days after purchasing a 2008 Buick Lacrosse from the local dealer, the dashboard air bag light came on. Didn't think much about it until it happened several more times, so I headed to the dealership for help. They instructed me not to put anything in the front passenger seat because the car would sense the weight and think there is a person there. So I didn't, but I did notice the indicator above the radio that senses a person in the passenger seat didn't turn red during this time. Then the game began. I would put my lunch box in the seat on the way to work, sometimes the air bag light would come on, sometimes it wouldn't. And, I found there is a delay in the switch, when adding or removing the lunch box. Sometimes after removing the lunch box the air bag light would stay on, or just come on when it wanted to. Found out how to fix that problem also, albeit temporarily. Take your fingers and firmly push 4-5 times along the stitching in the center of the seat. Will take a few seconds and the light may, or may not, go out. Or, a quick stop to grab a drink will reset the light. The problem is, from what I understand, if you get in a crash while the light is on there is a pretty good chance your airbags will not deploy. As a matter of fact, I owned a 1994 Ford aerostar van which I took to the dealer when the air bag light came on. They would not let me drive the van, for fear the air bags would not work in a crash, and gave me a loaner while they fixed the problem. I did notice Buick has service bulletins on the air bag problem, stating "problem could be caused by loose, missing, or broken connector position assurance (cpa) retainer. " (sb-08-09-41-002c) can't imagine what would be the hold-up in fixing the problem, just hoping I am not the first statistic.

The passenger side airbag sensor fails repeatedly (airbag warning light comes on and passenger airbag indicator switches to off) when an adult is sitting in the passenger seat and seat belt is secured. It began happening on rare occasions, but has progressed to every time I have a passenger in the vehicle. It usually persists for about 20 miles or so, and then reverts back to normal. The dealer investigated and said the replacement part was well over $1,000 and that did not include the labor. It seems this is a fairly common issue with this make of vehicle, and with the exorbitant cost of a replacement part, gm need to make some accommodations for the owners of affected vehicles to have the repairs done at a reasonable cost.

Air bag registered as off when a person was seated in the front passenger seat. Sensor was replaced and after 18 months the same problem is recurring. The air bag will be on then switch off and on all while a person is sitting in the seat and not doing anything other than sitting. Current mileage for 2nd recurrence is 46,150. Also the low beam headlights are going off for no apparent reason at night while driving down the road. High beams must be used when this occurs. The passenger door lock will not open or lock when the remote is used or the door lock button on the door. The hood will also not stay up as the hydraulic lifters do not hold.