NHTSA Complaint #11702565 — 2014 BUICK ENCLAVE

The "Service Airbag - Passenger" warning light suddenly appeared on the console of my 2014 Buick Enclave. Once I arrived home, I Googled what the light indicated and I also sorted through mail I had recently received from Buick that notified me of a recall. Convinced that I needed to resolve the issue promptly, I contacted the dealership we purchased the vehicle from and they informed me to come in so they could hook the diagnostic machine to the car to determine the codes. I went into the dealership early the following morning (work order initiated at 8:21AM). I explained the situation again, and was told that they'd perform a complimentary diagnostic test to determine the issue. The service advisor listed "Safety Recall - Driver Front Airbag Inflator May Rupture" [I did notify them that the warning light indicated it was the passenger side airbag]. At 9:00 AM I received a text message "To review the inspection and approve the recommendations": CUSTOMER STATES SERVICE AIRBAG MESSAGE CHECK AND ADVISE [Other]: DIAG, NEED 1.5HR DIAG TIME TO TEST CIRCUITS RELATED TO PASSENGER AIR BAG FOR CODE B0021 PASSENGER SEAT SIDE AIR BAD DEPLOYMENT LOOP. (NEED TOI REMOVE SEAT TO TEST)$389.93 -- yes, I approved. But when questioning why there was a charge for the resolving the recall issue, I was told, "It's a different issue than the recall." Then I was told they'd need to remove the seat to get to the wires/connectors for the airbag and that cost would be $519.90 BYPASS THE AIR BAG CONNECTOR UNDER THE SEAT BY SOILDERING THE 4 PIN CONNECTOR TOGETHER. INTERBNAL FAULT IN CONNECTOR CASUING HIGH RESISTANCE. Also add $44 Shop Charge. The "free recall repair" cost us $957.46 (I did ask for the military discount since this was totally unexpected and immersed with the planned costs for the holidays). I feel like this is unfair and inappropriate to charge customers for a service that should have been covered. I would have never come into the dealership had it not been for the recall