BRANDON, Fla. — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a warning earlier this year after several people were killed in crashes where vehicles were found to have fake or inoperative airbags.

a sacrifice A 23-year-old mother from Florida.

In August, The I-Team reported A man bought two used Volvos from the same Hillsborough County used car dealership only to learn they crashed.

Technicians discovered that the airbags and seat belts in both cars were not working.

WFTS

When the customer learned about this, he took the vehicles back.

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

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

“It was mind-blowing”

Santiago describes himself as a laid-back guy.

“A little relaxed and shy. Not too many things shake me too much,” Santiago said.

When his Volkswagen Jetta was rear-ended, Santiago shrugged and headed back to the car. HGreg Bought a 2022 Volvo S60 in Brandon.

WFTS

He used the insurance settlement from the previous accident as a down payment on what he thought was a safe Volvo.

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

What we told Santiago about his car and what we learned later shook him.

We met with Santiago. Brazzeal Automotive He agreed to have his Volvo’s safety systems checked by a certified mechanic in Tampa.

WFTS

We previously sent Santiago information about his car, which he didn’t know was sold at auction after a crash according to a report stating that multiple airbags were deployed.

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

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

“Seat belts were not working. Airbags were not working”

Ron Egert bought Volvo from HGreg last year.

“The seat belts didn’t work. The airbag didn’t work,” Egert said.

Egert said HGreg signed off on the Carfax report showing him a previous accident, but was told he had gone through multi-point inspections.

Ron Egert

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

Egert took the vehicle to the Sarasota Volvo dealership after the airbag warning light came on.

A technician discovered that the driver’s airbag was corroded and had signs from the junkyard. The wiring had been tampered with and the airbag was not suitable for the vehicle.

So Egert took him back to HGreg.

“I showed them the photos. And I said you’re going to take this car back. I’m leaving… it’s not safe to drive this car. No one should be driving this car,” Egert said.

A spokesperson for HGreg said the company “purchases vehicles only through the most reputable auction companies” and “conducts a multi-point inspection” that includes “examination of diagnostic indicators.”

He also wrote in a statement: “If for any reason HGreg believes that vehicle airbags will not function as intended, retail sales will not be made by HGreg.”

“Six thousand came out of my pocket”

However, HGreg sold the car to Santiago months later.

It started having problems almost immediately.

“The airbag light came on and it said go to the dealer immediately,” Santiago said.

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

The technician’s photo shows the same junkyard markings as the photo Egert’s mechanic took at a different dealership a few months ago.

Gilbert Santiago, Ron Egert

Santiago paid for the replacement of multiple airbags and related components.

“I’m probably six thousand dollars out of pocket,” Santiago said.

Gilbert Santiago

He said he contacted HGreg.

“And they said it passed their review. There was nothing to indicate it was wrong. So there’s nothing they can do,” Santiago said.

Carfax shows the airbag system was checked 17 days before purchasing the Santiago.

Ron Egert, Gilbert Santiago

Photos taken by Santiago’s technician show wires wrapped in electrical tape, similar to photos taken by Egert’s technician, who wrote that the wiring to the airbag had been “tampered with.”

“There’s something wired there. “It’s all taped.”

We asked Santiago to meet us at Brazzeal Automotive because his mechanic in Tampa had not discovered the problems with the seat belt pretensioner that we learned from Egert’s report from the mechanic at the Volvo dealership in Sarasota.

“All the different modules in the car are now being examined,” certified technician Chris Wallin told us as he connected a diagnostic tool.

“I don’t see any active code,” Wallin said; This would normally indicate that all security systems were working.

However, when Wallin opened the interior door panel, he found that the seat belt pretensioner system was not attached to the wiring harness, allowing it to be opened.

“This should be installed here,” Wallin said, pointing to wires wrapped in electrical tape. “This is the seat belt pretensioner. And there seems to be something wired there. Everything is taped.”

Wallin peeled off the electrical tape to find a resistor.

WFTS

A resistor is a passive component in an electrical circuit. It can be used to regulate or limit current flow.

Wallin said it can be used to troubleshoot electrical problems in automotive repair.

“What they did was take a resistor that matched the resistance the pretensioner was supposed to have and kind of pushed it into the wiring harness to make it believe it had a good pretensioner,” Wallin said of Santiago’s car.

Wallin said this was done on purpose, but it is unclear who set up the resistance.

Like airbags, pretensioners must be replaced after they deploy during a crash.

The resist appeared to be the same one photographed by Egert’s mechanic at the Sarasota Volvo dealership a year ago.

Ron Egert, WFTS

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

“It has no other purpose,” he said.

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

“This seat belt should keep you tight in the event of a crash so you don’t fly into the airbag. Airbags and seat belts work together,” Wallin said.

“This is something that needs to be replaced and repaired immediately because I’m putting myself in danger,” Santiago said.

After our meeting, Santiago returned to the Tampa Volvo dealership to get the repair done. This cost him another $1,500.

“I hope HGreg takes responsibility and pays some of the damages I had to fix on my own,” Santiago said.

HGreg’s reply

We contacted HGreg on September 19th with a list of questions but they did not respond.

A spokesperson responded in an email: “Thank you for bringing the acquisition of Mr. Santiago to our attention. “We will connect directly with the customer.”

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

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

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

You can check whether the airbag has previously deployed in a used car for free. Contact Carfax using this link.

If you believe you are selling a used car in Florida with non-functioning safety equipment, you can also email the I-Team at [email protected].