2006 sonata passenger seat airbag sensor recall

I brought my car to dealership after receiving the recall notice and i
experienced the twilight zone. i mentioned to the service manager
that the described problem (the passenger side airbag sensor working
intermittently i.e. the warning light that the passenger airbag will
not deploy) applied to my car. He indicated that it has to
malfunction in his presence for them to do anything about the recall.
This makes no sense at all and is a lawsuit in the making. I mean,
give me a break.....the problem is intermittent. What do you all
suggest that I do. The dealer is JM Hyundai in New Rochelle, New
York. My understanding is that defective sensors (in fact the entire
passenger seat) has to be sent to California for repair and a rental
car provided for a week because that is what it will take to complete
the roundtrip. I wonder if the seat will be flying in first class.

 

The dealer is actually doing exactly what the recall requires them to do.
The terms of the recall specify that the reprogramming *is not* to be don
on all cars and that it is to be done to remedy problems with classifyin
small-stature adults as large occupants.

While I think there are several problems with this approach, there'
nothing any dealer will be able to do about it. The dealer is bound b
law to follow exactly the instructions in the recall bulletin.

The point behind having the dealer witness the actual problem is to hav
the dealer verify that the passenger is seated correctly. Seatin
position can affect whether the system recognizes the passenger as a larg
or small occupant. Front seat passengers should be seated fully back an
centered in the seat with legs resting on the seat bottom. The seat bac
should be reasonably close to vertical (not to the point of bein
uncomfortable, of course).

 

When my wife hits the brakes in a panic just before we crash, my upper torso
will be thrown forward by inertia away from the seat back and I will also
instinctively brace my legs, which will lift my legs from the front of the
seat bottom. You are basically saying, therefore, that my airbag will not
function???? What the hell kind of Korean philosophy is that???? I also
will, in all likely hood, pivot on my feet, lifting my body mass at least
partially off of the seat, making it appear to the computer that I am
lighter than I really am or maybe even fool it into thinking I'm not even
there!!! Great!!!

 

Won't happen.

Watch the light and see how long it takes to sense the passenger has left
the seat. More time than it takes to crash.

 

Well, that makes me feel a lot better................ Thanks, Edwin.

 

Actually, the system senses the difference immediately. There's a delay i
reaction time to compensate for the passenger perhaps adjusting position
or even for the bracing Grant describes