NHTSA Complaint #11384058 — 2009 PONTIAC SOLSTICE

PASSENGER AIRBAG INDICATOR LIGHT ALWAYS ON. DRIVER INFO DISPLAY ALWAYS INDICATES "SERVICE AIRBAG" (WITH ALERT TONE) EVERY TIME I START THE CAR. I BELIEVE THIS IS RELATED RECALL 17V061000 FOR FAILURES IN THE PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG SENSOR PPS MAT. SOLSTICE REPAIR WAS ADDED REINFORCED TAPE. CTS REPAIR FOR SAME ISSUE WAS TO REPLACE THE SENSOR. MANY SOLSTICE/SKY OWNERS ARE COMPLAINING THE RECALL REPAIR JOB FAILED A YEAR AFTER THE FIX, RESULTING IN NEED TO REPLACE THE SENSOR MAT. AS THE PPS MAT IS AN FMVSS MANDATED SAFETY FEATURE, IT SHOULD BE [AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN] REPLACED ENTIRELY, NOT JUST REPAIRED WITH REINFORCED TAPE. GM INDICATES THE RECALL REPAIR WAS ALREADY PERFORMED, SO I WILL HAVE TO PAY NEARLY $800 TO HAVE THE SENSOR REPLACED IN ORDER TO CLEAR THE FAILURE INDICATORS. THIS IS UNREASONABLE. ONE CANNOT EXPECT REINFORCED TAPE TO PREVENT AN UNKNOWN FATIGUE CONDITION ON AN 8-10 YEAR OLD SENSOR. REPLACEMENT WITH A DIFFERENT DESIGN AS IN THE CTS IS THE ONLY CERTAIN SOLUTION AND NHSTA SHOULD NOT HAVE ALLOWED GM TO USE REINFORCED TAPE.