Car totaled air bags didn’t deploy

[Ashley Agnos]

Jurisdiction

Washington

Hey there. I'm not sure really what to do. Our car is totaled. We had a 2019 Nissan Sentra. A driver swerved and made a sudden illegal u turn. It was all caught on tape from the cameras at the stop light. We filed a police report. And the video is attached to police report. The problem is. Our air bags didn't deploy. And we've talked to Nissan and they said "oh well you know sometimes they don't activate the censors to deploy them" no. No way. There's no way the car shouldn't have deployed. My boyfriends back and neck is now injured from this. And the driver was uninsured. Thank goodness for our insurance and GAP but now we don't have a car. Nissan said they arnt helping us. And I find it beyond words that they arnt acknowledging the air bags not deploying. Can someone please help us. We have pictures of everything. We have our adjuster who totaled out the car. We have all the paperwork needed. Just Nissan is turning a blind eye.

 

[adjusterjack]

If you think Nissan is responsible for the injuries or the exacerbation of the injuries you'll need to consult a products liability attorney who can advise you of your options.

Otherwise, look to your Uninsured Motorists Coverage for compensation for your injuries.

 

[Ashley Agnos]

We're not looking to get compensated for injuries we're looking to sue Nissan for negligence of their air bag system. Our car is totaled. But now we don't have a car ? Why are we just assed out of a car like that ? But thank you so much I'll look into a product liability attorney

 

[adjusterjack]

now we don't have a car ?

You just said that your policy and GAP coverage took care of the car. You've given up your right to sue a third party for the car by accepting the money from your insurance company. Your insurance company now has the right to attempt to get reimbursement (subrogation) from elsewhere.

Suing Nissan isn't going to get you a car. Besides, the airbags not deploying didn't cause the accident or the damage to the car so Nissan is not responsible for the car

Going out and buying a car is going to get you a car. You do that the same way you bought the last car.

As for injuries, if your boyfriend is not interested in compensation for his injuries, that's up to him. Uninsured Motorists Coverage if he changes his mind.

 

[Zigner]

You should definitely speak to an attorney, but please keep in mind that air bags don't deploy in every situation. What (expert) evidence do you have that the air bags should have deployed in your situation?

 

[Zigner]

... the airbags not deploying didn't cause the accident or the damage to the car so Nissan is not responsible for the car

Excellent point - airbags aren't meant to protect the car.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

We're not looking to get compensated for injuries we're looking to sue Nissan for negligence of their air bag system. Our car is totaled. But now we don't have a car ? Why are we just assed out of a car like that ? But thank you so much I'll look into a product liability attorney

The airbags not deploying had nothing to do with the car being totaled. Had the airbags deployed you would still not have a car.

There are many crashes that will not deploy airbags. You could spend a few grand to have an expert look at your totaled car and see if there was an airbag failure but first, you need to know if you have any damages as a result of the failure and that isn't going to be free either.

You would probably be better off spending the money you would have spent trying to recover from Nissan and make a down payment on a new car.

 

[zddoodah]

And the driver was uninsured. Thank goodness for our insurance and GAP but now we don't have a car. Nissan said they arnt helping us.

Well...you're conflating two issues. The airbag issue has nothing to do with you not having a car. The airbags going off wouldn't have prevented the car from being totaled.

Did you have collision coverage? If so, it should pay you the fair market value of the car at the time of the accident, less the deductible. If you had uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, then that would cover the deductible. You mention gap coverage, so I assume that means you owed more on the car than it was worth such that you did not receive any money for the car. However, you're also not obligated on the car loan anymore, so you are in the same financial position you were in before the accident.

Again, the airbag issue has nothing to do with this, so it would be unreasonable to expect the manufacturer to do anything about this.

Your injured boyfriend may, if he wants, sue the manufacturer for products liability, and he should consult with a local personal injury attorney about this.

Can someone please help us.

Nothing in your post suggests you need help with anything (you didn't mention that you were injured). Again, your injured boyfriend can review his options with a local personal injury attorney.

We're not looking to get compensated for injuries we're looking to sue Nissan for negligence of their air bag system.

This sentence makes no sense at all. You're basically saying, "We don't want to do X, but we want to do X." If you're suing because the airbags didn't deploy when they should have deployed, then you have to plead and prove that you were damaged as a result, and your damages would be your medical bills and lost wages resulting from your injury(ies) (i.e., "compensation for [your] injuries").

Our car is totaled. But now we don't have a car ? Why are we just assed out of a car like that ?

Apparently, because you were upside down on your car loan (i.e., you apparently owed more on the loan than the car was worth). That's not a criticism of you or anything you did wrong. In fact, you were apparently smart in obtaining gap coverage so that you're not "assed out of a car" and obligated to pay the loan balance. You'll now have to go get a new car (or use the money you were using for the monthly payments to pay for alternate transportation).

 

[Ashley Agnos]

Well...you're conflating two issues. The airbag issue has nothing to do with you not having a car. The airbags going off wouldn't have prevented the car from being totaled.

Did you have collision coverage? If so, it should pay you the fair market value of the car at the time of the accident, less the deductible. If you had uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, then that would cover the deductible. You mention gap coverage, so I assume that means you owed more on the car than it was worth such that you did not receive any money for the car. However, you're also not obligated on the car loan anymore, so you are in the same financial position you were in before the accident.

Again, the airbag issue has nothing to do with this, so it would be unreasonable to expect the manufacturer to do anything about this.

Your injured boyfriend may, if he wants, sue the manufacturer for products liability, and he should consult with a local personal injury attorney about this.



Nothing in your post suggests you need help with anything (you didn't mention that you were injured). Again, your injured boyfriend can review his options with a local personal injury attorney.



This sentence makes no sense at all. You're basically saying, "We don't want to do X, but we want to do X." If you're suing because the airbags didn't deploy when they should have deployed, then you have to plead and prove that you were damaged as a result, and your damages would be your medical bills and lost wages resulting from your injury(ies) (i.e., "compensation for [your] injuries").



Apparently, because you were upside down on your car loan (i.e., you apparently owed more on the loan than the car was worth). That's not a criticism of you or anything you did wrong. In fact, you were apparently smart in obtaining gap coverage so that you're not "assed out of a car" and obligated to pay the loan balance. You'll now have to go get a new car (or use the money you were using for the monthly payments to pay for alternate transportation).

We're not upside down on our car loan ? Everything is taken care of. I'm just trying to figure out why a company is able to get away with a car being completely crunched but air bags didn't deploy and now we're assed out of a car ? We literally JUST bought the car a few months ago ? So progressive and gap covered the value of the car ... but nothing more

 

[adjusterjack]

I'm just trying to figure out why a company is able to get away with a car being completely crunched but air bags didn't deploy and now we're assed out of a car ?

You're not getting it. The air bags had NOTHING to do with the car damage. Nissan isn't "getting away" with anything.

 

[Ashley Agnos]

You're not getting it. The air bags had NOTHING to do with the car damage. Nissan isn't "getting away" with anything.

Ok

 

[Zigner]

We're not upside down on our car loan ? Everything is taken care of.

GAP insurance pays the difference between what the car is worth and what you actually owe. The only reason to have GAP insurance is because you're upside down on the loan. Of course, if there is a situation in which GAP insurance must pay out, then you're no longer upside down on your loan because it's paid off.

I'm just trying to figure out why a company is able to get away with a car being completely crunched but air bags didn't deploy ...

AGAIN, not every collision causes the airbags to deploy.

...and now we're assed out of a car ?

Talk to the guy who hit you - that's not Nissan's fault.

We literally JUST bought the car a few months ago ? So progressive and gap covered the value of the car ... but nothing more

Were they supposed to cover something more? You've been made whole, which is exactly what was supposed to happen. Now, you can go get a new car with a new loan and be right back where you were.


(I understand that I'm repeating what others have said, but it seems like the information needs to be repeated in whatever way helps you to understand.)

 

[Ashley Agnos]

Got it

 

[zddoodah]

We're not upside down on our car loan

Then why did you write this: "Thank goodness for our insurance and GAP"? If you weren't upside down on the car loan, then you should have received money via your collision and/or uninsured motorists coverage, and you can use that to buy a new car.

I'm just trying to figure out why a company is able to get away with a car being completely crunched but air bags didn't deploy and now we're assed out of a car ?

I wrote at least twice in my prior response (and others wrote the same) that the airbags not deploying have nothing to do with the car being totaled. Let's pretend that the airbags did deploy. Your car would still be totaled, right? If that's right, then the reason you don't have a car is because some clown without insurance caused an accident. What's so hard to understand about that?

We literally JUST bought the car a few months ago ? So progressive and gap covered the value of the car ... but nothing more

Uh huh...were you thinking your insurance would cover more than that?

Let's say that you bought the car for $30,000. For the sake of discussion, let's say that you paid a $10,000 down payment and financed the remaining $20,000. Because you were smart, you carried collision and un/underinsured motorist coverage and gap coverage.

As most adults understand, cars (whether new or used) lose value the moment they are driven off the dealer's lot. Therefore, let's assume that the car you bought for $30,000 was, at the time of the accident, worth $25,000. And let's assume that you made payments to reduce the loan balance to $19,000.

The car was totaled, which means that it would have cost more to repair it than it was worth. Therefore, your collision and un/underinsured motorist coverage would pay the following: (1) $19,000 to the lender to extinguish your liability under the loan; and (2) $6,000 to you for the difference between the car's value ($25,000) and the loan balance ($19,000). Gap insurance would not come into play because you weren't upside down on the loan.

You now don't have a car payment and have $6,000 in cash. Take the $6,000 to a dealer and use it as a down payment to buy a new car. You will then have a car and a car loan, which is exactly what you had before.

And, one more time: none of this has anything to do with the airbags not deploying. Got it?

Also, and I hope this doesn't sound condescending, but you might want to see if a local community/junior college offers any sort of basic financial literacy class that you could take.