Florida used car, high selling vehicle with defective airbags and seat belts

BRANDON, Fla. – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a warning earlier this year after several people were killed in crashes where vehicles were discovered to have counterfeit or non-functioning air bags.

There was one victim a 23 year old mother from Florida.

In August, the I-Team reported how a man bought two used Volvos from the same used car dealership in Hillsborough County and discovered they had been in an accident.

Technicians discovered that both cars had non-functioning airbags and seat belts.

Volvo from used car lot — Santiago’s Volvo had been a rental car that suffered “disabling damage” and had multiple airbags deployed, according to accident reports obtained by the I-Team.

When the customer heard this, he took the vehicles back.

Now, I-Team investigator Adam Walser has tracked down the new owner of one of those Volvos and made sure he had it checked out by a mechanic to see if the safety equipment had been properly repaired before it was sold again.

We were able to identify the new owner of one of the cars as US Navy veteran Gilbert Santiago using the car’s VIN number.

“It was breathtaking”

Santiago describes himself as an easy-going boy.

“A bit relaxed and reserved. I don’t get too excited about too many things,” Santiago said.

When his Volkswagen Jetta pulled up from behind, Santiago shrugged and went over HGreg in Brandon, where he purchased a 2022 Volvo S60.

HGreg Brandon — HGreg sold the Volvo S60 twice. In both cases, owners discovered that the airbags and seat belt systems were not working. Photos from both mechanics show the same junkyard markings on an airbag that Santiago eventually replaced.

He used his insurance settlement from the earlier accident as a down payment for the Volvo, which he thought was safe.

“I’m trying to do the right thing by taking care of myself in this vehicle,” Santiago said.

What we told Santiago about his car and what we found out later upset him.

We met Santiago at Brazzeal Automotive in Tampa, where he agreed to have his Volvo’s safety systems checked by a certified mechanic.

We previously sent Santiago information he didn’t know about his car, including that it had been sold at auction after an accident in which multiple airbags deployed, according to a report.

Santiago said he was not told that the car had been returned to HGreg by another customer, who took it to a mechanic and discovered problems with the front airbag and seat belt pretensioner.

“It was mind-boggling to know that they knew this was a problem before,” Santiago said.

“Seat belts didn’t work. Airbag did not work”

Ron Egert bought the Volvo from HGreg last year.

“Seat belts didn’t work. Airbag did not work,” Egert said.

Egert said he signed a Carfax report given to him by HGreg, which showed a previous accident, but he said he was told it had passed multi-point inspections.

Carfax Egert — Ron Egert says he signed a Carfax report showing the airbag had deployed previously, but he says he was confident the car had been properly repaired.

The company advertised multi-point inspections for all used cars it sells on its website.

Egert took the car to the Sarasota Volvo dealer after his airbag warning light came on.

A technician discovered that the driver’s airbag was rusted and showed markings from a junkyard. The wires had been tampered with and the airbag was not suitable for the vehicle.

So Egert took it back to HGreg.

“I showed them the photos. And I said you take this car back. I’m going… this car is unsafe to drive. No one should drive this car,” Egert said.

The HGreg spokesperson said the company “only purchases vehicles through the most reputable auction companies” and “conducts a multi-point inspection,” including “a review of diagnostic indicators.”

She also wrote in a statement: “If, for any reason, HGreg believed that the vehicle’s airbags would not function as intended, HGreg would not sell them at retail.”

“Six thousand from my pocket”

But HGreg sold the car to Santiago months later.

He started having problems almost immediately.

“It was the airbag light that came on and told us to drive to the dealer immediately,” Santiago said.

He said the technician at the dealership told him that used salvage parts had been installed in his car.

That technician’s photo shows the same junkyard markings as the photo Egert’s mechanic took at another dealership several months earlier.

Santiago paid to replace several airbags and related components.

“Probably around six grand out of my pocket,” Santiago said.

Car replacements — Santiago paid more than $6,000 to replace the airbags after he said HGreg refused to pay for the repairs.

He said he contacted HGreg.

“And they said it passed their inspection. There was no indication that anything was wrong with it. So they can’t do anything,” Santiago said.

The Carfax shows that the airbag system was checked 17 days before Santiago purchased it.

airbag harnesses — Technicians at Volvo dealerships in Sarasota and Tampa both discovered taped air bag wiring. One technician wrote in his report that it had been “tampered with.”

Photos taken by Santiago’s technician show wires wrapped in electrical tape, like those taken by Egert’s technician, who wrote that “the wires to the airbag have been tampered with.”

‘There’s something in the wiring. It’s all recorded”

We asked Santiago to meet us at Brazzeal Automotive because his mechanic in Tampa found no problems with the seat belt tensioner that we learned about from Egert’s report from the mechanic at the Volvo dealership in Sarasota.

“Now it’s going through all the different modules in the car,” certified technician Chris Wallin told us as he hooked up a diagnostic tool.

“I don’t see any active codes,” Wallin said, which would normally indicate all safety systems were working.

But when Wallin opened the interior door panel, he discovered that the seat belt pretensioner system was not connected to the wiring harness, allowing it to activate.

“This should be connected to this,” Wallin said, pointing to wires wrapped in electrical tape. “This is the seat belt tensioner. And it looks like there’s something in it. It’s all recorded.”

Wallin pulled off the electrical tape to find a resistor.

Resistance found in the seat belt tensioner system. Master Technician Chris Wallen says the sole purpose is to trick the warning system into indicating that the seat belt system is working properly.

A resistor is a passive component in an electrical circuit. It can be used to control or limit the flow of electricity.

Wallin said they can be used in auto repair to troubleshoot electrical problems.

“What they did is just take a resistor that matches the resistance that the seatbelt pretensioner should have and just put it in the wiring harness to trick it into thinking it has a good pretensioner,” Wallin said of Santiago’s car.

Wallin said this was done intentionally, but it is unclear who installed the resistor.

Seat belt pretensioners, like airbags, must be replaced after deployment in an accident.

The resistor appeared to be the same resistor photographed by Egert’s mechanic at the Sarasota Volvo dealer a year earlier.

Wallin said the resistor was installed to prevent the seat belt system warning light from coming on.

“No other purpose,” he said.

Wallin said that because the seatbelt pretensioner was not connected, the car’s airbag and seatbelt systems would not work properly, even with new airbags.

“That seat belt is intended to tighten you in the event of an accident, so that you do not fly into the airbag. The airbags and the seat belt work together,” Wallin said.

“That’s something I need to get replaced and repaired right away because I’m putting myself in danger,” Santiago said.

After our interview, Santiago returned to the Volvo dealer in Tampa to have the repairs made. It cost him another $1,500.

“I hope HGreg takes responsibility and pays for some of the damage that I had to repair myself,” Santiago said.

HGreg’s response

We contacted HGreg on September 19 with a list of questions, but they did not answer them.

A spokesperson responded in an email: “Thank you for bringing the matter of Mr. Santiago’s purchase to our attention. We come into direct contact with the customer.”

More than a month after receiving that response, Santiago said he had not heard from anyone at the company.

“They need to be held accountable for that because we’re talking about people’s lives when they’re on the road,” Santiago said.

If you have discovered that your airbag or seat belt pretensioner systems are not working properly in a used vehicle you purchased in Florida, report it to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

You can check for free whether a used car has previously deployed an airbag contact Carfax via this link.

You can also email the I-Team at [email protected] if you believe a used car has been sold in Florida without functioning safety equipment.