How to find out if the airbags have deployed

[Encinitas-John]

Hi all- I recently purchased a used 2010 Mazda5 Sport from Toyota of Carlsbad, a reputable dealer. Fast forward 2 weeks, I see the driver fender does not fit the front bumper perfectly, and the paint on the bumper and hood are in better condition than the roof. All this points to a front end repair, despite a clean Carfax.

My questions are:
1. Is it possible to find out if the air bags were deployed
2. Does the car's computer track airbag deployment
3. How would a mechanic go about getting to this info

Any help would be much appreciated. And, used cars buyers, learn form my mistake, look it over with a body repair mechanic if you suspect an accident.

Regards,
-John

 

[Premacy5]

That is tough to find. Technically the airbag have serial number and every manufacturer record that serial number during assembly process. But I doubt the dealer would be able to get that production data from Mazda unless they come with some court order/subpena.

Best bet is to find who is the previous owner and ask them. You might be able to find it from local BMV.

 

[Encinitas-John]

I was hoping the computer in the car would register an airbag deployment and a technician would be able to download the data. Guess this is not the case. Thanks for the info.

 

[flcruising]

The airbag computer must be replaced along with airbag deployment. Sounds like there was a fender-bender to me, probably nothing to worry about. May be time to get out some car polish and make that roof look as good as the front end. But if you want to do some more investigating, there are posts around here showing the simple removal of the front bumper.

 

[mazdaspeed41]

My 2cents.. Depending If ur Mazda5 was a fleet car or Personally owned, the accident may have not reported to an insurance for a claim and paid out of pocket. So then it would not show up on Carfax. All of the 5's I've looked at within a 50 mile radius have had paint repair some more than others.. but like Premacy said try to locate the original owner(s)..Good luck..

 

[lomatic]

It's also possible that the fender was repaired/replaced, and the to help the paint match, they blended the paint onto the hood/bumper. So, it's possible that if there was a repair, it may not have been bad and therefor wasn't reported.

 

[Encinitas-John]

Flcruisin- To your knowledge, do you know if the 5's computer retain an airbag deployment in it's memory which can be retrieved? Is the 5 running a Linux OS?!

Mazdaspeed41- love the avatar!

 

[flcruising]

Sorry, not sure of this. I would call up a local body shop and ask.

 

[meGrimlock]

if the collision required an airbag deployment the car would be in much worse condition than a bumper/hood paint job. my friend wrapped the front end of his RSX around a tree and did not deploy the airbag. there was no major damage other than the bumper cover/reinforcement and hood. i agree with the consensus, if the bumper/hood needed to be touched up or fixed out of pocket it probably wasnt reported.

check your owners manual if it includes a data recorder, the 2010 mazda 3 manual states that it does. you'd need a tool to grab the data from memory. in most cases the event recorder only saves the last 20 seconds of data prior to a crash and once the data is downloaded it could be reset before going back on the road.

just found this article:
http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/edr.html

By 2005, General Motors, Ford, Isuzu, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, and Suzuki were all voluntarily equipping all of their vehicles with EDRs, according to NHTSA.

these EDRs are not mandatory until 2013 and as of now, may or may not include airbag deployment.

 

[flcruising]

Good find meGrimlock.

I find it kinda funny you say he 'wrapped i around a tree', but the damage was superficial.

 

[meGrimlock]

i dont know the physics of it all but it was a skinny tree, and it seemed like the force of energy was concentrated enough to pull body around the tree but did not cause enough force to damage the frame (or the bumper reinforcement did its job and properly absorbed/distributed the forces to lessen the impact). it was a ~50mph crash so its kind of amazing. in his case a police report and an insurance claim were filed because the deductable would've been cheaper than paying out of pocket. sold the car only a year or so later.

 

[Wishmaster]

Sorry, was this a head on crash? Into a tree at 50mph? and the airbag didn't deploy!!?? And it only damaged the bumper cover, reinforcement and hood??!!

Anyway... it does take a pretty good knock to deploy an airbag... (it should definitely deploy if you're hitting something at 50 mph), but, for instance, I t-boned a guy while doing about 20 mph (his fault) = new bumper, hood, fender, air conditioner compressor, radiator, bunch of smaller parts, belts, hoses & fittings, etc, some body work and lots of paint = total of $7000 in repairs (his insurance) = airbags didn't deploy. From what I've heard, on a vehicle like this, if you're hitting something hard enough to deploy the airbags, it will be a write-off. The car could be a rebuild (nothing against rebuilds, some are still very good cars), but it would have a salvage title and they'd have to tell you and sell it as a rebuild, it would also show up in the Carfax.

 

[Silentnoise713]

Hi all- I recently purchased a used 2010 Mazda5 Sport from Toyota of Carlsbad, a reputable dealer. Fast forward 2 weeks, I see the driver fender does not fit the front bumper perfectly, and the paint on the bumper and hood are in better condition than the roof. All this points to a front end repair, despite a clean Carfax.

My questions are:
1. Is it possible to find out if the air bags were deployed
2. Does the car's computer track airbag deployment
3. How would a mechanic go about getting to this info

Any help would be much appreciated. And, used cars buyers, learn form my mistake, look it over with a body repair mechanic if you suspect an accident.

Regards,
-John

I dont know of or hear of any database so specific to airbag deployment. Just b/c it is clean on paper (Carfax), does not mean it is really. Since the car is so new, first thing I would look for is if the car has been registered out of state. It is a BIG red flag for me if was first registered in state X then transferred to some other state, especially southern states, and back again. This was from a few years ago so Im not sure if policies have changed but what I have learned (in the past) is that every state has its own DOT and different definition for totaled. There was a loop hole to allow the paper work to get cleaned and you will never know. It the accident was register to the insurance company then it should show but keep in mind NOT everyone has comprehensive or collision coverage and the deductable may be more that the cost of the damage so it does not get reported! In your case, I think the car was prob though a minor fender bender and the dealer got the car cheap and fix it hopefully with quality paint and details. Is there any history of it being a lease or fleet car? these tend to have minor fender benders or require refreshing.

My generally rule of thumb for buying used cars.
1) Cafax must be clean of any accidents major ones should be reported to insurance so it would show up, unless the car only have liability and the drive ran into a wall therefore he is at fault and would not have reported it b/c he has no coverage (duh). Car is still clean on paper (doh). Youre going to need some instincts (keen eye and a magnet) or a body guy to help you here.
2) Registration history must only show the same state where the car was first registed and where it is being sold.
3) Must not have more than 1 prior owner (luckily, I dont expect to sell it to myself -am 2nd owner of my car ).
4) Must be privately owned and not leased or used as fleet car.

Needless to say, it is very hard for me to buy a used car but I got REALLY lucky with my Mz5 purchase.

 

[Encinitas-John]

Hi- the car was originally registered in CA, then Missouri for a few months, then back to CA where it was sold to the dealer I purchased the car from. The paint looks new, but not perfectly new, a few scratches. Here's the car fax:
http://www.drnicolevane.com/CARFAX Vehicle History Report on JM1CR2WL0A0378384-All.pdf

I know about the branded titles and moving car out of state, should have waled away.

 

[Encinitas-John]

Thanks, Grimlock. Looks like getting the EDR data is more trouble than it's worth:
http://www.boothkoskoff.com/use_and_abuse_of_automobile_black_boxes.html

Here's a piece from Mazda re EDR on an unrelated subject:
http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/displayPage.action?pageParameter=FAQUnintendedAccel