beat up 02 accord coupe
 

Hey guys,

So I have this interesting situation. Right now I'm driving an 01 Sentra SE, recently though my brother got into an accident in his 2002 Accord V6 coupe, and now it's just sitting in my driveway back home (I am at school right now), because he can't afford to repair it, pay for it, and his license is suspended. Now, it was a heck of a lot nicer car than my sentra and he offered to give it to me. However, from what I know, it needs a new bumper, left front fender, and new headlights cosmetically, and there isn't anything mechanically wrong with it as far as I know. HOWEVER, it had all its airbags deploy, including the side airbags in the seats.

The bodywork is easy enough to replace, even the driver and passenger airbags don't see so bad, but I'm curious about the side airbags. I've found a couple of sellers on ebay actually selling the side airbag module on ebay, but these things were imbedded in the seat and I don't know whether that's a repair that I'd be able to make myself. Mostly, I'm curious about what it would cost to get the dealer to do those for me, or whether it would be cheaper to sew up the seats/replace them in which case would it still be possible to clear the airbag light?

I'm just kinda curious about my options here, I really don't want to invest a fortune into this car. I just want something that's a little nicer than my sentra for the next couple of years until I get out of college.

Any advice is greatly appreciated,

Thanks

RE: beat up 02 accord coupe
 

I would definitely get it checked out at a body shop to see if there was any frame damage. Have them look at it to give you an estimate, but don't get any work done. As for the airbags, I don't know if I would trust eBay for those. You might be able to pick up the airbags and covers plus seats froma junkyard, try car-part.com.

I guess I would be more cautious buying a car that was in a crash, but since it would be yours free, that might be a different story.

Before you think about fixing a crashed car, how did your brother drive it? I mean, if he has a suspended license, did he speed a lot? That could mean a lot of bigger issues down the road if he trashed the engine.

With airbags, panels, painting and lights you will most likely be investing $2k - $3k in this car.

RE: beat up 02 accord coupe
 

I think if the accident was severe enough to set off the airbags, it's probably severe enough to bend the frame. So add some more money for straightening.

You didn't say where you live, but I think in some states it's illegal to sell usedairbags. (I don't mean deployed, I mean from a car that's otherwise junked.) So you may have trouble finding them at a junkyard.

Still, if you get it for free.... ???

RE: beat up 02 accord coupe
 

He's only had it for a bit over a year, put less than 10,000 miles on it since he got it. I took a quick glance at it when I was last home, I didn't see any frame damage on the car. Painted after-market replacement panels aren't too expensive for the car. All the cosmetic damages can be deal with for around $600 if I do the installation myself.

I'm just really curious about the side airbags, because personally, I can live without em. I would get the front airbags fixed, I just don't want a light on for the side airbags.

I know the car was in good mechanical condition when he got it and it recently passed the emission test, he got his license suspended for DWI and possesion.

RE: beat up 02 accord coupe
 

You're not going to be able to see frame damage. You'd have to take it to a shop that can straighten frames. Still, the airbags will cost you a pretty penny to replace. The steering wheel isn't too difficult to replace, but the passenger one is going to be a pain.

Not to intrude, but was the DWI/suspended license because of the accident?

Also, replacement OEM headlights are about $100 a pop, it might be cheaper to go aftermarket on those.

RE: beat up 02 accord coupe
 

No, the DWI/posession and license suspension are not due to the accident. The accident is an entirely different incident in itself.

RE: beat up 02 accord coupe
 

The only thing I know about airbags is I wouldn't touch them myself. Far too dangerous. I just recently listened to a speaker at one of my claims adjuster meetings talk about how dangerous they are. Apparenlty the side airbags in most vehicles are deployed by a small gas "tank" similar to a co2 cartridge. However it is pressurized at 3000 PSI!
I actually need to do a write up on the stuf that speaker said so all the members in the forum can read a little about it. I'll do that when I have some free time at work.
I would also be kind of worried about the frame damage. it seems most places can get the frame as close as possible to how it was before the wreck, but they usually cannot ever get it perfect. many times you will experience a shimmy/shake at certain speeds because of this. Plus a carfax will always show the vehicle was totalled & repaired with frame damage. But then again...you are getting it for free. I don't think I would sink any more that $2,500 into it for repairs though.

RE: beat up 02 accord coupe
 

Jon, I'd really be interested in that stuff. I very skeptical that pressurized gas would be used (for speed of deployment). I think the side bags are still pyrotechnic like the front ones. Still not something you want going off in your face.

RE: beat up 02 accord coupe
 

I thought it was that way too, but the guy who spoke on it at the seminar said most of the side curtain airbags were pressurized gas. I don't really know what his qualifications were, other than he has been a claims adjuster for about 40 years and he went throughlots of researchwith accident reconstructionists, other auto damage appraisers, and fire dept/safety people.
Since he didn't show any pictures or provide any proof, I am still a little skeptical about the "gas cartridges." I may do some more research on them before posting that thread. But like you said, if it was still the pyrotechnic kind, getting hit with one would be about like a 12 gauge shotgun shell blast (minus the lead). A 12 gauge slug provides around 3000 ft lbs of muzzle energy, so maybe that is where he got the 3000 figure and he got confused. Im gonna try to research....

RE: beat up 02 accord coupe
 

OK after doing some breif research, I am pretty sure I either misunderstood him, or he misunderstood someone else and gave us misinformation. it looks to me like the "gas cartridge" concept was researched when airbags were coming into existence, but the idea was rejected for worry of the canister being punctured or simply leaking the gas out. It looks to me like the airbag system ignites a solid propellant,which burns extremely rapidly to create a large volume of gas to inflate the bag.