Airbags are pieces of high technology that are compact and in demand for modern cars. This makes a target for thieves and overall fraud, especially with the ease in which thieves can unload the airbags online via sites such as EBay.

If the airbag in your car or light truck deployed, your insurer might have paid to have a brand new replacement installed. But investigators in several states say in some cases, refurbished or stolen airbags were sold as new.

Dishonest body shops install used or stolen airbags, but bill insurance companies for the price of new ones.

But it’s not just money in the form of rising auto insurance rates that consumers should be worried about with refurbished or stolen airbags. Salvaged airbags might be damaged, or otherwise unsafe.  Refurbished airbags sometimes deploy at less than full force, or not at all. In some cases, technicians have installed empty airbag covers or airbags filled with useless material that won't help passengers survive an accident.

"As far as we know, every insurer in the United States insists on a replacement, OEM [original equipment manufacturer], new airbag," says Kim Hazelbaker, senior vice president at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). "Do we think they're paying for salvaged and stolen airbags? Yes, but not knowingly."

Hazelbaker says there's "tremendous revenue potential" for a repair shop to acquire airbags that are either salvaged from totaled vehicles or stolen.  Hazelbaker estimates a brand-new frontal airbag costs between $500 and $600, but a salvaged or stolen replacement costs the body shop less than $100.

Although federal law requires OEM airbags in every new vehicle sold in the United States, no law governs the replacement of airbags after a crash.

"If you knowingly render safety equipment inoperative, then the federal government can chase you down and prosecute you," says Tim Hurd, spokesman for the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). "But the end user of a vehicle is not required to replace anything that's been broken in a crash, including airbags and seat belts. If you get a used car, it does not have to include safety equipment."

Often, body shops committing airbag fraud will disconnect the dashboard warning light that indicates when the airbag is not functional. That is a federal crime, Hurd says, because it means the body shop has intentionally disconnected that piece of safety equipment. Still, the problem is one of detection and enforcement. "We'd have to get a complaint about airbag fraud and initiate an investigation, but we don't get many complaints," Hurd says. "People just don't know. And if they do find out about fraud, they'll take it up in court and sue the person who repaired the airbag, or who sold them a car with a faulty airbag. It's very rare that they call the federal government."

Some states, such as New York, have laws on the books regulating airbag replacement, but again, enforcement is a problem. "So there's a statute, but how is it enforced? It isn't," Hazelbaker says. "If you were to tell the police that going into body shops and investigating airbags is a priority, they might look a bit askance."

Detecting airbag fraud

Beyond the airbag warning light, which might indicate airbag fraud, it is difficult to tell whether an airbag has been replaced with a new or salvaged part, or even whether it's been replaced at all. In addition to thoroughly checking out a body shop's reputation before you begin repairs, Hazelbaker recommends you request a receipt for a new, OEM airbag that matches your car's make and model.

Hurd recommends looking for the airbag warning light, which generally flashes on for a few seconds when you first start the car. If it does not, that could mean it's been disconnected, which could make further investigation worthwhile.

A used airbag does not automatically spell doom. "The best case scenario is that it might work perfectly. The worst case scenario is that you could be killed," Hazelbaker says.

If the airbag has been salvaged from a vehicle that is the same model and year as yours, and has not been damaged in any way, there's every chance it will work if installed properly.

On the other hand, there is no way to trace the history of a salvaged airbag, so you cannot know whether it has sustained flood or other damage. In IIHS crash tests using flood-damaged vehicles, airbags that have been waterlogged do not fire properly. "This is not surprising, given that the propellant used is an explosive," Hazelbaker says. "The bag doesn't function anywhere close to what it's supposed to do."