Airbags on the Ford Fiesta – where are they located and where can you buy them?

By Stuart Johnston

The previous-generation Ford Fiesta was fitted with two airbags. These are located in the steering wheel centre, and on the passenger side of the dashboard. The more modern Fiestas have six airbags, located in the steering wheel centre, passenger side of the dashboard, the side of the seats, and in the roof lining above the front passengers.

Unlike some overseas countries where replacement airbags are obtainable from various outlets, in South these items have generally only been available through manufacturer sources.

Airbag replacement is expensive

Airbag replacement in an accident-damaged car has been a major consideration for automotive repairers and car owners for some time. Often, in the case of more expensive models, a car may be written off as not viably repairable when the airbags are deployed, because of the cost of airbag and seat-belt tensioner replacement, as well as the associated electronic deployment modules and sensors.

Most commonly, airbag repairs are arranged through car dealerships, using OEM parts

Until about five years ago most airbag repairs were carried out through OEM (original equipment manufacturer) dealerships by their accredited body repair outlets. However, the cost of these repairs has always been high.

Cosmetic repairs to the dashboard are important too

Obviously this is a repair that needs to be carried out to a very high-standard, as with any safety-critical repair. Airbags deploying also cause cosmetic damage to the dashboard of a car, and, so, aesthetically, these repairs need to be done to an acceptable level too, so as not to devalue the car.

Airbag deployment is a bit unpredictable. In some cases, rather serious accidents on late model cars see no airbag deployment, whereas in other cases, airbags can be deployed if a car strikes a pothole with enough severity.

The bottom line is, they need to work as the manufacturer intended them to do, in the same fashion where they were tested for the NCAP or equivalent safety tests that new cars undergo before homologation for mass production.

Many other components need to be replaced after an airbag has been activated

The norm in this country is for airbag repairs to be channelled through dealerships and their attended authorised body shops. This means that the parts will be ordered through a dealer’s  spares franchise, direct from the manufacturer. The attendant triggering components and electronic control units are expensive, and these are normally replaced too.

 But more recently, alternative airbag repair outlets have come into being in this country, with attendant cost benefits to motorists unlucky enough to need this service.

Out-of-warranty repairs are available through private firms in South Africa.

About five years ago a Pretoria West firm called Airbag Concepts set up business to replace airbags that had been deployed in accidents for vehicles that are out of manufacturer warranty. Airbag Concepts  sources its replacement airbags and activators  from Europe and Japan, as well as parts for the associated airbags systems as need be.

But because of the knowledge they have gained about airbag systems, they can in fact repair control units locally, as well as the safety-belt tensioners that work in conjunction with airbag deployment. Airbag Concepts also source dashboard materials from Europe or Japan or Korea,  for the cars they repair. This material is identical to that used by the manufacturers, and their staff is trained to repair dashboards, steering wheel centres, seat coverings and roof linings so that the repair is indistinguishable from the factory part.

“We were the originators of this type of business in South Africa’” says Airbag Concepts founder and CEO Adrian Pretorius.

“Since then a number of competitors have also started up operations, using methods similar to ours. We are proud, however, that we have TUV approval for our work. We have also been in negotiation to get SABS approval for our work, but it is a very costly process, and this is not in place at this time.

Airbag Concepts gets most of its business from trade referrals, and currently does between 60 to 80 airbag repairs a month.

“The cost of airbag repairs can be huge and we offer significant savings over a factory repair. We guarantee our work, and in five years have had no comebacks.

“As an example of the savings we can offer, we can do a full airbag replacement package for a seven-year-old  FORD FIESTA for R12 500, which includes, a complete set of airbags for passenger and driver, the seat-belt tensioner replacements,  the control unit re-setting, as well as the steering wheel centre and dashboard re-covering.

“This compares to a cost of approximately R30 000 for the same job, if you were to use the manufacturer components and their associated repair outlets.

“We are seen as a cost-effective source for airbag replacement for cars out of warranty, and we have even been consulted by some new-car dealerships on our expertise in airbag sensors and deployment control units.

“And we are proud of our trim levels too, in replacing dashboard materials. We have repaired dashboards on such exotica as Ferrari 458s and Lamborghini Murcielagos, cars worth about R3-million to R4-million. These types of repairs are through word-of-mouth, indicating that we have some very satisfied customers out there.”