Safety Research & Strategies Investigates Missing “Standard” Safety Features

Since 2006, General Motors has allowed fleet buyers, including its largest buyer, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, to remove standard side curtain airbags from at least two popular models. These vehicles are eventually resold as used by Enterprise, GM dealers or other used car sellers nationwide and frequently advertised as having the front and rear side curtain airbag that was deleted when the vehicle was built – and with General Motors sometimes brokering the deal.

The practice has widespread repercussions ranging from the safety hazards in side-impact crashes to government star ratings that don’t reflect the crash performance of these altered vehicles, to reduced resale values, to liability for any crashes involving these de-contented cars.

Side impacts are the second most frequent types of crashes, and they often result in serious head injuries – the most common type of injury regardless of crash angle. In 2007, nearly 4,000 vehicles were involved in a fatal side-impact crash. In recognition of this safety gap, manufacturers began fitting side airbags with head protection or side curtains to many vehicles in the early 2000s.  These features allowed manufacturers to improve crash test ratings and real-world occupant protection. Safety experts, in turn, listed side airbags or curtains as must-have safety features.  Facing increased criticism that the side-impact requirements failed to address head injuries, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in September 2007 established new standards for head protection in side crashes that required manufacturers to phase-in installation of side airbags or curtains beginning this year.  The agency estimated that the new regulation – when fully implemented – would reduce fatalities, and prevent injuries and deaths caused by ejections in rollovers.

Despite the importance of side airbags as a safety feature, Safety Research & Strategies investigation has found that Enterprise Rent-A-Car and other fleet purchasers regularly took advantage of GM’s option to delete the standard side airbag in a significant number of 2006, 2007 and 2008 Chevrolet Impalas. These vehicles – minus the side airbags – are currently being advertised for resale by Enterprise and by GM dealers on a GM corporate Certified Used Car website, which matches buyers to GM dealers selling certified used GM products.  Often they are deceptively advertised as having standard side-curtain airbags – even though behind the trim in the roof rail area where the side airbag normally resides is a piece of corrugated plastic.

Beyond the fraudulent representation, federal and state crash data and used car sale records show that these vehicles are entering the consumer-owned U.S. fleet and are becoming involved in side-impact crashes, in which a side airbag would be expected to be deployed.

In preparation for a case against Enterprise, Patrick Ardis, a Memphis, Tennessee attorney specializing in motor vehicle safety cases, investigated the practice. His interviews with dozens of purchasers and used car sellers nationwide revealed that both had little or no awareness of the removal of the safety equipment. Consumers expressed shock and dismay that important standard safety features were absent from their vehicles.

“It’s hard to fathom how reckless it is to put a car into the marketplace without standard safety equipment,” Ardis said. “And there’s no way for the average consumer renter or buyer to know that it has been deleted. It’s not like the front bumper is missing from the car” said Ardis.

The Option to Remove Side Impact Protection

The models at issue are the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Chevrolet Impalas and the 2008 and 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt. In its 2007 and 2008 editions of the GM Competitive Comparison Workbook, a marketing tool for GM fleet salespersons, the automaker touts standard side airbags as a selling point of the 2007 MY Impala – especially compared to competitor vehicles:

“Impala has standard head-curtain air bags that add protection for front and rear seat outboard occupants. Head-curtain air bags are optional on Charger and Five Hundred.”

But in the same portion of the brochure, GM notes that fleet buyers have the option of deleting this standard feature. Other GM fleets sales documents show that eliminating the side airbag would reduce the total vehicle cost by $175 at Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price or by $145.25 for fleet buyers.

Similarly, GM offered fleet buyers the option to delete the standard side-curtain airbags in the MY 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt, even as it featured the Cobalt’s range of safety features:

“For 2008, Chevrolet Cobalt offers both coupes and sedans with added safety features as standard items. Its comfortable ride and long list of standard and available features make it particularly well suited to a wide variety of fleet customers.”

GM also gave fleet buyer the option to delete OnStar, its automatic crash notification system. GM describes it as “the world’s most comprehensive in-vehicle security, communications, and diagnostics system,” and touts it as standard on the full range of GM retail cars, trucks, and SUVs in the United States and Canada by 2007.  Automatic Crash Notification or ACN is considered an important tool, because the system notifies first-responders immediately to a crash and provides them with information on the severity of the incident.  This allows quicker response times and prepares medical professionals with key information about the needed medical intervention.  These actions are expected to notably reduce fatalities and reduce injuries.

Passing Sub-Standard Safety on to the Consumer

An examination of used Impalas offered for sale on Enterprise’s website, EnterpriseCarSales.com, shows that the auto rental company sells more than 100 Impalas throughout the country at any given time. While some of these vehicles were equipped with the standard side-curtain airbags, the majority of the 2008 models were not.  In a number of cases, their website states that the vehicle is equipped with the standard safety features including “F&R Side Airbag.”

The status of the side airbag on the 2006 – 2008 Impala can be determined by Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), the General Motors vehicle build sheet; or by the Regular Production Option Code (RPO) contained on a sticker in the trunk.

The VIN is a unique 17-character vehicle identifier, containing a long string of code that shows the manufacturer, the model year, the assembly plant where the vehicle was manufactured and other model features information. VIN position 7 represents the restraint system.  Impalas without “standard” side curtains bear a “5” in that seventh position; Impalas with the standard side curtain airbag have a “7” or “8” in that seventh position.

GM build sheets, available through GM dealers, also provide specific vehicle equipment information. Specific build sheets show that fleet vehicles with the deleted side curtain airbag have an option code “AK5 – DELETE HEAD CURTAIN SIDE IMPACT AIR BAGS.”

RPO codes in the Impala are contained on a label under the carpeting in the trunk.  Like the build sheet, the AK5 designation on these vehicles will indicate that the side curtain airbags were deleted. An examination of a salvaged 2007 Impala originally sold to Enterprise revealed that the space normally occupied by the side curtain head bag was filled with corrugated plastic.

Enterprise, which sells its used rental cars under the slogan: “Haggle-free buying. Worry-free ownership,” doesn’t mention that this standard safety feature is missing and sometimes advertises the vehicle as having a side airbag, when they were never installed in that vehicle. For example, a 2008 Chevrolet Impala, listed for sale at $14,044 by Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Metairie, Louisiana, advertises front and rear side airbags among the vehicle’s main features. But the VIN number shows that side airbags was actually deleted from that Impala.

OnStar, GM’s signature safety feature, depicted in broadcast ads featuring the voice of an anonymous OnStar operator who saves a stranded or injured motorist, is also frequently deleted, according to the RPO codes on some used Impalas on the Enterprise website.

While GM fleet sales books show that the standard side curtain airbags can be deleted from 2008 and 2009 Chevy Cobalts, SRS examined used car sale records for nearly 100 of these vehicles and found none with the side airbagss deleted.

GM Certified Used Cars

General Motors markets its newer used vehicles through its GM Certified Used Car program. To qualify, a vehicle must be 2004 or newer, with less than 75,000 miles. They are only available through GM dealers, who buy them from a variety of sources – including fleet sales and auctions.

The program is advertised to consumers as: “Choice. Quality. Peace of Mind” The program promises that GM Certified vehicles come with a 100, 000-Mile/5-Year Powertrain Limited Warranty; 12-Month/12,000-Mile Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty; a 117-point inspection; and a vehicle history report. “If you’re looking for a great used vehicle, there’s no better choice than GM Certified Used. These cars, trucks and SUVs from trusted brands like Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac and GMC offer the quality you can trust,” the brochure reads.

The website allows potential buyers to connect to dealers’ websites, where particular vehicles are offered for sale. The sale are part of the GM Certified Used Car website and to GM’s individual vehicle marketing materials – including specifications for the Impala and Cobalt claiming that side curtains are standard – with no mention of the potential that the safety features may have been deleted.

Like the Enterprise used car website, GM Certified is selling 2007 and 2008 Impalas with no side airbags, but advertises some of the vehicles as being equipped with this standard safety equipment. For example, an advertisement by Paul Masse’s GM dealership of East Providence, Rhode Island shows a 2008 Chevrolet Impala 4-door sedan LS for $13,989, a former Enterprise rental car. Among the standard safety equipment listed is:

“Air bags, dual-stage frontal, driver and right-front passenger and head curtain side-impact, front and rear outboard seating positions (Head curtain side air bags are designed to help reduce the risk of head and neck injuries to front and rear seat occupants on the near side of certain side-impact collisions. Always use safety belts and the correct child restraints for your childs age and size, even in vehicles equipped with air bags. Children are safer when properly secured in a rear seat. See the vehicles Owners Manual and child safety seat instructions for more safety information.)”  But the VIN and RPO code indicate that this vehicle never had a side head-curtain airbag.

The Implications

The most serious consequence of deleting implications for such sales is to safety. An examination of 2007 crash data in Florida shows 302 side-impact crashes involving 2007 and 2008 Impalas without side airbags.  Enterprise-owned rental Impalas without side-impact airbags accounted for 21 such crashes.  Many of the other bagless Impalas were owned by state and municipal entities. Federal crash data revealed five side-impact crashes involving 2007 and 2008 Impalas without the side-curtain airbag in which seven occupants were fatally injured.  Two of the fatal crashes involved rental cars, two were police vehicles and one was privately owned.

The second serious consequence is consumer fraud and reduced vehicle values. Buyers considering a used Impala from Enterprise or through the GM Certified Used Car program are being misled via myriad sources that these vehicles have a side airbag. Every major crash-test rating and consumer buying guide lists front and rear side impact airbags as standard safety equipment on the 2007 and 2008 Impala. In 2006, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety praised the 2006 Impala’s performance in side-impact crash tests—in part—because of the side airbags:

“Impala and Avalon are star performers: The side structures of these two cars performed reasonably well in resisting intrusion from the striking barrier during the crash test. Both cars are equipped with standard curtain-style side airbags designed to protect the heads of people in both front and rear seats. In the test of the Impala, intrusion into the occupant compartment was minimized by the strong pillar between the front and back doors. The side airbags deployed from above the window frames and inflated between the heads of the crash test dummies and the intruding barrier.”

“This is why side airbags with head protection are critical,” Lund points out. “Without them, people’s heads are vulnerable to being struck by the front ends of striking vehicles or trees and poles.”

Both the Impala and Avalon earn acceptable ratings for side structure. Nearly all injury measures on heads, chests, and other body areas of the test dummies were low.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has similarly subjected the Chevrolet Impala to side-impact tests with a side airbag and gave the vehicle four stars for rear side impact protection and five stars for front side impact protection.

The 2006 to 2008 Chevrolet Impala is listed as having standard side-impact airbags at MSN autos; NHTSA’s consumer website Safercar.gov; and nearly every other consumer vehicle buying site – including GM’s.  This would lead any consumer to reasonably assume that the Impala it buys from Enterprise would be the same as a used Impala purchased from any other source.

The deletion of standard side airbags may also affect an unknown number of victims who may have been injured in one of these vehicles before General Motors filed for bankruptcy. Under the terms of the July 10 sale of GM to the governments of the U.S. and Canada and a health trust owned by the Auto Workers Union, the new GM agreed to assume liability for vehicles built by the old company, if the incident occurs after July 10, when GM exited bankruptcy. But the old GM retains the liability for all current and pending claims. If the incident occurred before July 10th, it is considered a pending claim, even if it has not yet been filed. That means that any individual injured in an Impala with a deleted side airbag, whose crash occurred before July 10 2009, would not have any recourse against GM – not for allowing the deletion of standard safety equipment; not for advertising these vehicles as having this feature and not for brokering a sale of a side-air-bagless Impala for one of its dealerships.

Of the five known fatal side-impact crashes in 2007 and 2008 Impalas that occurred before July 10th. The victim families in these incidents would have no legal recourse against GM.

(General Motors had sought the same freedoms from all product liability that Chrysler received in its bankruptcy, but was taken aback by the highly publicized efforts of consumer advocates and attorneys representing defects victims to retain their rights to seek compensation via the state tort system. There were news reports about the victims GM was leaving behind and television advertisements opposing GM’s move to shed all liability. Twelve state attorneys general from Connecticut, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Vermont, Illinois, California, Kansas and Ohio objected to the sales, arguing that the bankruptcy court overstepped its legal authority in granting the elimination of successor liability.)

Investigation finds Enterprise Rent-A-Car sold Chevy Impalas without standard side air bags [Kansas City Star, 08/15/2009

Responses to SRS investigation