Boss1989

I am curious how extensive it is to replace the passenger airbag. Just got the call that parts are in but I am a bit worried that it may be a tough job and the mechanics in the shop where I live will have a hard time completing the job. I think I am one of the first that have got this type of work done it sounds like as well so its not like they have done many before.

Boss1989

its on a 2008 Scion xB. Just worried they are going to mess up the dash or something else.

SupaFly

Chance mechanic will scratch your dash vs chance your airbag will shoot metal fragments like a shotgun blast at your passenger's face......

Is it really that hard a decision? Had mine done and have a hard time telling they did anything except for trace of airbag powder.

Greg S

iTrader: (1)

If you don't trust the dealer to do it you can pull everything yourself. It's really not a difficult job to pull the upper dash. I've done it at least 5 or 6 times and never had an issue. Disconnect the battery, pull the radio and instrument cluster trims pieces off, remove all the screws, take the a-pillars off, undo the 10 mm bolt from above the glove box, undo the harness to the airbag, and then the upper dash slides out with the airbag attached.

I'm having my airbag replaced on Monday but because of all the custom work I've done to my dash I'll be undoing everything before bringing it to them so all they need to do is swap the airbag and be done.

RichBinAZ

The Toyota mechanic did the job in about 1 hour (2 hour wait) and I have not seen any scratches or have any rattles (yet). It's free so have it done at a Toyota dealership and if they screw it up, they can fix it.
The only problem is the wait time... if you can drop it off, probably better.
Avoiding the inconvenience is the main reason I do all my own maintenance (cost is second reason). But recalls, nope, I'll take it in.

Boss1989

Thanks for the responses. I decided a few days ago to go ahead with it. I figured if they screwed something up they can fix it. I take it in Wednesday for the airbag fix. They said it would take a couple hours. Nice thing is I only live like 3 minutes from the dealer so I am just dropping it off.

2010SWxB

It'll be fine. Had my 2010 in for this back in May. Can't even tell they did anything to it. This was after my car sat for a year waiting for the part. Still miss the iA they loaned me for that year.

Greg S

iTrader: (1)

Got mine done on Monday and no issues, well aside from the fact that the service tech clearly falsified the check list portion of their work orders and didn't disconnect the battery to swap the airbag. Apparently everything on my engine and fluid checked out great. I'm pretty sure he couldn't figure how to get the hood open since it's held with 6 quick release hood pins and I know I have a coolant leak. And all my radio presets were still fine when I picked the car up so I know he didn't disconnect the battery, even though I did show the service adviser where the kill for the battery was. But hey, it's their paperwork, all i care about is that the airbag was replaced fine.

Boss1989

got mine back and it seems good.

XBroker

I'm getting correspondence here and there about a recall, but when I called Toyota they said neither of my 2 Toyotas were part of the deal. I have a 2011.

Any other late 2nd Gen owners having this happen?

Greg S

iTrader: (1)

You can go here, https://www.toyota.com/recall and enter your VIN to check if you are part of the recall. Pretty sure the 2011 was included in this as well.

XBroker

I checked there and called Toyota and even stopped at the dealership and asked them to look. Everyone says no recall on mine or my Camry. Camry is gone now anyway.

retlaw

Had the passenger bag in my '08 done at the dealer. Had to take it back for new squeaks in the dash and bulge in the dash at the windshield on the left side of the steering wheel. Still have some squeaks I didn't have before the change.

Greg S

iTrader: (1)

They didn't clip it in properly at the front edge of the windshield when putting the dash back on. Same thing happened on mine, I've just been to lazy to pull it back out and slide it in correctly. Which is really sad since it only takes me about 5 mins to pull the dash out.