I hope you would agree that the real focus here should be safety and liability, and not warranty. IMO, the goal should be on the proper installation of a good switch by an experienced installer who understands their responsibility and the potential liability of any negligence on their part. You can probably reduce your installation risk by hiring someone very experienced and trying to learn more about the install itself (I'm not the expert, but there are some other threads with more details I think).

Of course, you can eliminate the risk entirely by not letting the kids ride shotgun at all. BTW, I've got a 4-yr-old (and a 2-yr-old too young to ride in the S), and I hear the SAME thing from my wife. I also have the SAME concerns as you so I hear ya! My own policy is to not make it a regular thing, but if it's a top-down day, and I have to pickup or drop off my daughter at preschool, I deem it an acceptable risk.

As for your warranty, remember that anytime anyone not a Honda dealer touches your car, you risk (in theory) voiding your warranty. But in reality, I think one would have to do something willfully and knowingly damaging to your car to actually allow Honda to void any part of a warranty. The bottom line is that, given the universe of MAJOR mods that have NOT caused warranty issues, I just don't think this minor mod will cause any warranty problems.

Anyhow, good luck, drive safe and let's hope all this talk about children and airbag deployment remains just a friendly theoretical discussion!

 

I had sensible solutions (the owner came to my house both times) put the airbag switch in both my integra Type R and in my S2000. I probably should have just saved the $600.... my kids are not allowed to play with their heads near the dashboard, and the seat is always pushed all the way back....but.....sometimes better safe than sorry.

It would be hard to find a dealer to install a switch...... when it doesn't work they will get sued... if it does work and the airbag doesn't go off...they will be sued.... bla bla bla.

 

Terp, thanks for the thoughts!

Scot, this liability thing is at the root of the issue here. I'm sure you're 100% right that this is why Honda dealers have not installed aftermarket switches until (apparently) recently.

But, other manufacturers ship their cars with kill switches. It's legal, and clearly the liability thing is "worked out" in the industry or they wouldn't do it. Anyway, enough from me.

If any New Englanders have had a Honda dealer do the install for them, please PM me... Tnx!

 

What switch? That's a good question. Honda didn't tell me whose switch they use, and I didn't think to ask when I called. They have my NHTSA approval form right now. When I hear more or receive the parts and schedule the install, I'll follow up.

As for the warranty - my car is past the original 3 year warranty and into the HondaCare extended warranty (please let's not fragment this thread with a discussion on long term warranties...there are plenty of other threads on this topic). I'm more worried about my 2 year old daughter (and 3 week old son when he is old enough to face forward - no rides for him for a couple years) than I am the warranty.

More info coming!

 

Thanks j...

Well, my second attempt, with the dealer I bought the car from, has also failed (see below). It looks like you and pjk are lucky!

Note this reply from my dealer. Anyone know what lawsuit he's talking about??? I must be out of touch...

Hi Charles, I checked with the service dept, there have been several inquiries about it, but, unfortunately Brewster Honda won't do this. Leasing is actually ending in the states of NY, CT, and RI, because of a multi-million dollar vicarious liability lawsuit against Honda. Regards, Bob

 

IIRC, reading the NHTSA document, one of the checkboxes you select is a "release from liability notice":

Waiver. I understand that motor vehicle dealers and repair businesses may require me to sign a waiver of liability before they install an on-off switch.

If that is the case, they (dealers) should be able to cover themselves.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Chazmo
[B]jcavalie, pjk3, what switches did you use?

Terp, I totally agree with your 4th bullet; he lack of a defeat switch is my only seroius gripe with the car.

As for the 2nd bullet, I want this covered under Honda warranty because I don't want the service department invalidating other warranty work because this aftermarket switch is in place.

 

I didn't talk to AHM, but I might, pjk. I was hoping something had changed around here, but I think not.

If you could get the details from your guys at Team Honda, pjk, I would appreciate it. When I did my research, there were only a couple of possibilities with regard to the hardware, and (as others said earlier) they weren't Honda parts.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

 

From what I recall from business law many eons ago, no matter what you sign, a customer can not "waive" another's liability and thus their right to sue. In our litigous society, there is always potential liability for every action, and as you guys have found, conservative Honda dealers will not install these aftermarket switches. As I said before, this appears to be an installer by installer, or dealer by dealer, decision based on purely on legal risk vs. monetary gain.

I don't believe AHM would be able to help as currently the work and associated responsibility falls on Honda's dealers only. Until Honda supplies an OEM part and makes it standard-equipment, the risk of liability is squarely on the dealer's shoulders.

 

You might be right about that, Terp.

Ultimately, you can't blame a dealer (if that's where the responsibility lies) for being conservative about something like this.

But AHM *would* be able to help if they'd sanction a 3rd party component, like other manufacturers do with "factory-blessed" tuner shops. I guess that's what would be necessary. Like there's any likelihood of that ever happening...

Sigh... Maybe I'll take a drive down to Loooooosiana.