The passenger presence sensor is failing or failed because every time someone sit in there the airbag turns on and off repeatedly every 2-3 mins and gives a service airbag warning and if no one is sitting in the passenger seat then it just stays on. Could be really dangerous if a wreck happens while it’s glitching in the off mode and could cause death. Multiple people have had this problem with the volts and there is even a thing you can by to completely bypass the airbag going off which shows how common the problem is if there is a solution to eliminate it in an unsafe/not factory manner
NHTSA complaint #11720796 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Front passenger seat sensor intermittently fails, causing the Passenger Airbag indicator to switch to OFF (even if a passenger is present) with an accompanying "Service Airbag" message on the dashboard and illumination of the service airbag light. This occurs usually driving above 25mph, but can happen stationary, and lasts for anywhere from 5 seconds to a minute (more commonly shorter). The issue appears some weeks more than others, usually activating most days a week but sometimes have a week or two where it does not happen.
NHTSA complaint #11676789 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
passenger presence detection system is malfunctioning, and causing a "service airbag" warning. This is a huge safety issue that could be detrimental or deathly in the event of an accident. This is a common issue among generation 1 volt owners, and should be considered for a recall or warranty coverage. The passenger presence detection system parts are discontinued, and even if I found the part the dealership cannot confirm for the pricey repair, that the airbag / sensor will not simply malfunction again -- which makes this a persistent safety concern and huge owner inconvenience to say the least.
NHTSA complaint #11644947 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Driver seat frame has a loud squeak during normal operation of vehicle. Driver seat is a critical safety item, and my concern is that the seat frame has a manufacturing defect.
NHTSA complaint #11629041 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
This issue has been reported extensively: NHTSA PE19013. The passenger seat sensor has failed leading to the airbag turning on and off rapidly while driving. This is available for inspection upon request. I worry about the safety of occupants in the car. If the airbag is turned off despite a passenger sitting in the seat that is a problem. The price of repair at a dealer is very high considering that this is a very clear quality control issue by GM that has been acknowledged by both GM and NHTSA. This warning light has turned on before and then went away for a long time. Now it has returned and after some research it is clearly an issue that many other 2012-2013 volt owners have experienced.
NHTSA complaint #11581443 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I have a 2013 Volt. Passenger Presence pad in the passenger front seat caused the "Airbag Service" warning light. It is very common. So many people have suffered from it. It cost over $1000. But it is not a recall.
NHTSA complaint #11574144 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The passenger side seat airbag sensor is malfunctioning. A message displaying “Service Airbag” comes up and the airbag light comes on. This happens numerous times during a typical drive (around 20 minutes) The airbag is turned off while the message and light is displayed. This issue has been occurring for about a year or two now. Starting around 90k miles, currently has 111k miles. I’ve done my research on this issue and many other Volt owners have this issue. Which is caused by a defect in the passenger side sensor mat in the seat that can fold over itself with normal use, causing the issue.
NHTSA complaint #11566665 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The airbag for the passenger seat is faulty and turns off and on, took it to the dealership and they said it was a $1000 to fix it. Said it was a bad wiring harness
NHTSA complaint #11540942 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Date above is approximate. The airbag sensor in the passenger side of the vehicle is faulty and causes a constantly cycling alarm when there is a passenger present. I believe this means that it is not accurately sensing the passenger and is turning the airbag on and off, making for a safety issue in the event of a crash. This is apparently a frequent issue and customers should not need to pay the $1,000 to fix the faulty sensor that could put a passenger at risk. https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/2013-passenger-presence-sensor-airbag-error.260945/page-2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGq_9T6om7g
NHTSA complaint #11513836 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
According to NHTSA's own filing - Action PE19013 - GM's response to the action was to "establish a cost reduction program". I have now had this exact problem diagnosed, and repaired at a cost of $1,133. Neither GM, nor the Chevrolet dealership where I had the repair done had any information or provided and discounts or cost reduction. Either NHTSA has lied in its report, or GM has lied to NHTSA in order to close this incident. I should have the cost of this repair "reduced".
NHTSA complaint #11511529 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The passenger presence sensor in the front passenger seat is malfunctioning and spare parts to replace it are not available from the manufacturer. The Chevrolet dealership has inspected and verified this issue, and the system is available for inspection upon request. This is the same issue that NHTSA investigated in the 2013 model described below. This sensor failure results in a check airbag signal and prevents the deployment of the passenger frontal and knee air bags, posing risk of serious injury to passengers. The PSS may develop a malfunction due to bunching of the sensor mat in the seat trench. The bunching of the sensor mat could cause the mat to repeatedly fold in the same location. Over time, the repeated folding can cause an increased resistance in the sensor mat. An increased resistance in the PSS sensor mat is detected as a fault in the air bag system diagnostic. If this fault is detected, a diagnostic trouble code will be stored in the air bag control unit and the air bag MIL will illuminate. Further, if the fault is detected, the passenger frontal and knee air bags will be suppressed in a crash of sufficient severity to warrant a commanded deployment regardless of the nature of size of the occupant of the front passenger seat.
NHTSA complaint #11501176 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The passenger presence sensor module has developed a fault. The service airbag soon warning pops up when a front seat passenger gets out of the seat. I can manually recreate the problem by pressing down on the seat bottom cushion and then when I release pressure the warning reappears and then goes away after 10 seconds. I will now need to replace the module and get the vehicle reprogrammed, or find a junkyard seat and hope it doesn't have the same problem. You really should have required GM to do more on this issue when you investigated it! From what I understand, there is not a 'cost reduction program' for having the dealer replace this defective part. This seems to be a very common problem that has perhaps gone underreported, but is obviously going to happen given the design of the sensor pad where it develops a fatigue failure.
NHTSA complaint #11499347 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The service airbag request keeps showing up and I was told it was the Passenger presence module and sensor. This puts people at risk of the airbag not deploying correctly.
NHTSA complaint #11490967 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The vehicle’s service airbag warning light is illuminated. The dealership diagnostic indicates that the passenger seat sensor needs to be replaced. Based on my research, this was also an issue with the Volt’s 1st Gen models.
NHTSA complaint #11442195 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Our 2014 Chevy Volt began to rarely give an audible chime with a: "Service Airbag" message on the Driver Information Center display, as well as the "Passenger Airbag" overhead panel display showing "On"-"Off"-"On", spontaneously back in 2018. Again, this was rare, but concerning. This became somewhat more common in the months that followed and is now a common annoyance on every drive. Because of personal circumstances, as well as the Coronavirus Pandemic, we have not driven this vehicle much over the past couple of years, and we have not taken the car in for service. It has not yet been inspected by any other entity other than myself. The alarms happen whether the passenger seat is occupied or not. I have read on the GM-Volt online forum that this is likely caused by a defective passenger detection pad in the passenger seat, but I have personally checked the seat wiring harness and connector, and they appear to be nominal. Obviously, having an inoperative passenger airbag system is a significant safety concern. We ordered the car, and it was delivered new in December, 2013. There has never been a spill, leak, or any damage to any of the seats or airbag system of this vehicle. We intend to report the problem to our dealer, "Bob Steele Chevrolet" in Cocoa, FL within the next week. Our car is readily available for inspection at any time.
NHTSA complaint #11439362 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
THE PASSENGER SEAT OCCUPANCY SENSOR FAILS WAS FAILING. THE CHECK AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT WOULD COME ON WHILE DRIVING WITH A PASSENGER IN THE VEHICLE. THIS WOULD DISABLE THE AIRBAG (WHEN THE CHECK AIRBAG INDICATOR LIGHT INDICATING THAT THE PASSENGER AIRBAG IS ENABLED SWITCHES TO OFF.) THIS IS A DANGEROUS FAILURE. IF THE CAR KNOWS THAT THE SENSOR HAS FAILED THEN THE 'SAFE' CONDITION SHOULD BE TO DEPLOY THE AIRBAGS OR THE 'SEAT OCCUPIED' CONDITION SHOULD BE 'LATCHED TRUE' UNTIL THE VEHICLE STOPS. (A PASSENGER CANNOT SUDDENLY DISAPPEAR WHEN THE CAR IS MOVING AT 35 OR 40 MPH). THIS HAPPENED REPEATEDLY IN 2020 AND 2021. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO DEALER TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE - WAS TOLD THAT THE ISSUE WAS RESOLVED. SHORTLY AFTERWARDS THE ISSUE STARTED AGAIN. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE DEALER APRIL-2021 AND I WAS TOLD THAT THE SEAT OCCUPANCY SENSOR HAD FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED.
NHTSA complaint #11413551 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
THE PASSENGER AIRBAG SEATBELT SENSOR FAULTY AND GIVES NOTICE ON DISPLAY. INTERMITTENTLY STOPS TURNING ON PASSENGER AIRBAG WHEN SOMEONE IS SITTING IN IT. I HAS BEEN DOING THIS FOR ABOUT 3 YEARS AND DOES IT EVERYTIME WHILE DRIVING. I HAVE SEEN HUNDREDS OF POSTS ONLINE WITH THE SAME ISSUE. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I HAVE FILED THIS SAME COMPLAINT WITH NO RESPONSE.
NHTSA complaint #11383019 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT AND PASSENGER AIR BAG. WAS TOLD BY A DEALER THAT IT WAS THE PASSENGER DETECTION SENSOR NOT WORKING AND NEEDS A 1,000 DOLLAR FIX TO REPLACE THE SENSOR. AIR BAG SYSTEM WILL NOT ENABLE WITH FULL SIZE PASSENGER IN FRONT SEAT.
NHTSA complaint #11378608 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
THE SERVICE AIRBAG MESSAGE APPEARS RANDOMLY WHEN IN MOTION. THE CHEVY DEALER STATES THAT THE PROBLEM IS THE PASSENGER PRESENCE SYSTEM. THE ESTIMATED COST TO REPAIR IS $1,300.
NHTSA complaint #11374312 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.