Airbag Faulty After 5 Years

[charlesmucciolo]

I own a 99 rx300 with 134,000 miles and the dashboard airbag light began flashing - no accident, just an abrubt stop while backing out of the driveway. Dealer says that the diagnostics show a faulty relay so the unit on the steering wheel needs replacement for $384. My contention is that although I am out of the airbag warranty (6yr or 70k miles) due to the mileage I have, the airbag should be replaced free of charge since it is not a mileage affected device or part. Is this a reasonable argument or am I barking up the wrong tree?

[SW03ES]

Sounds like a perfectly reasonable argument to me. The air bag module especially as a safety feature should last if not the life of the vehicle, then a significantly longer period of time than 5 years. Push it all the way to Lexus corporate and threaten to file a complaint with the NHTSA. My guess is they'll choose to eat the $384 part to avoid the hassle.

If you can't get anywhere with them and its just the actual module that is bad look around at wrecking yards and ebay, you can find one cheaper.

[SKperformance]

Has your vehicle EVER been in an accident?

If it has at any point in time and not repaired by lexus then you may have to eat it.