I don't post much but I'm in one of those situations where I'm not sure what I should do. Long story short my car, a 1991 Camaro RS, was stolen back in October. Luckily the police found it seven hours after it was stolen. Not much damage except a curb rashed wheel and a tore up steering column. Here's where the problems arise. My insurance is covering the cost of repairs but as many of you know they don't have factory spec aftermarket steering columns for these cars. The car has sat now for three months at my mechanic's waiting for him to find a rebuild-able steering column that came from a thirdgen Camaro with an airbag. He hasn't found a single one that isn't in bad shape. According to him there are no companies that make columns that will accommodate an airbag. However, he said we cannot put in an aftermarket steering wheel because it will be illegal and we'll both get into trouble. I guess my question would if we cannot find a column in good condition that will work what are my options? Obviously I don't want to just scrap the car. We've put in a good amount of money into the car rebuilding the transmission and all sorts of other little things here and there. It seems like such a waste. But if the parts don't exist anymore what can be done?

 

Plenty of people with 3rd and 4th gen F-bodies with airbag equipped cars have replaced their steering wheels with aftermarket ones and still pass inspection. With that said...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/91-CAMARO-FI...b7747c&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/90-91-92-CHE...aac4cf&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CAMARO-FIREB...79c7c1&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1990-91-92-C...d7217c&vxp=mtr

 

I've been sitting here thinking how much of a dumbass your mechanic is and the fact your car has been unnecessarily sitting for the past 3 months. I feel you deserve a better answer than the vague one I gave you.

In the U.S., cars are only required to have airbags from the manufacturer to be sold in the U.S. It is not a legal requirement to have airbags after you purchase the vehicle. They can be removed and never replaced and the car would still be street legal, it would still pass a state inspection and you could not get a ticket for it. If you install an aftermarket steering wheel that does not allow for an airbag, there is no legal issue with that. If the next buyer of the car purchases the vehicle with that aftermarket steering wheel and no airbag in it, that is their choice. They would have no legal recourse against you whatsoever. You need to find a different mechanic, buddy.

 

Well, here's his logic as to why he can't. One, he says as a shop he cannot legally remove any original safety equipment. Two, he says that there is no point in even having insurance on the car anymore because they will automatically deny the claim once they see that the airbag is gone.

The odd thing is I have his Mazda truck. He loaned it to me when my thirty days with the rental car ran up. As far as I know his wife is driving him to and fro from the shop everyday.

I would say he just likes my car better but it' simply sitting out back collecting dust.

The other problem I have is it's not simply a matter of it being towed to another shop. The check from the insurance adjuster is written out to him. Believe me, I would have went ahead and towed it well over a month ago.

But yes, if this ever gets resolved and get the car back he is never getting any business from me ever again.

 

Like Carlos says,this guys giving you a line.Just pick one up on Ebay and give it to the guy!!
and give him permission to install it and if he wont,take it to someone else.

 

The problem is I don't want a car in return that isn't insurable. And there's also the issue with the check being written to him. Unfortunately I had no choice but to let my insurance take care of it. At the moment I'm somewhat broke because my wife lost her job around the same time it was stolen. It couldn't have happened at a worse time...

 

mines insured through allstate no airbag. Call your insurance and check with them get something in writing. Pick up a grant hand it to him with the letter from your insurance saying this is sufficent. If he gives you issues sign a paper saying this car came into the shop without a airbag and tell him to keep it for his records. But dont go back dont scrap the car I live in louisiana and would give you the scrap value if you want to get rid of the headache

 

How did they cut him a check when nobody knows what the cost will be?.It's YOUR CAR,you pay the insurance,tell the insurance co. to make the check out to you and cancel his check.

 

Lot of cars on here getting parted, why not just pickup a column from a fellow member and keep the airbag?

 

It was towed to his shop because he's done a lot of work on the car and has always been very reliable in the past. It couldn't be started (or at least I didn't have the know how to start it like the thieves did with the exposed steering column)so I didn't know what else to do but have it towed to a shop that I knew could at least do the job.

He did this exact job on the car last year when we replaced the sagging steering column so I figured it would be a no-brainer. He was more than able to find a column then.

The reason the check was written out to him and I is because I couldn't get away from work when the insurance adjuster showed up to look the car over and write out the check.

And I have no problem buying a column off someone on here if a member here has one available.

 

If he hasn't deposited the check, you can still change your mind and have the ins cancel that check and write one to you.

 

Good grief. buy a freaking column and hand it to him. Ebay is a good place to start, or craigslist.

I have an extra column sitting around, but it's for a 5 speed.

 

I believe he has deposited in some form or fashion. He's had several columns show up at the shop and sent them back because he said they weren't worth rebuilding. I'm going to give him until Monday then call up my insurance and see what can be done about resigning the check over to another shop.

 

What year and options. I need a column for a 91 B4c Camaro 5 speed.

-Wally

 

Dude, the guy is completely jerking you around. Get your car OUT OF THERE.

There is almost NOTHING on the steering column that can't be replaced/repaired UNLESS the car was in an accident. The guy is completely BSing you AND holding your property. If he doesn't want to take the time to do the job right and he's already taken your money, get the police involved. That's what my father just about had to do when my other car was taken to the shop to have the engine replaced. He had it for SIX WEEKS before he even put it in the shop to get the blown engine out.

Basically, if the guy can't take columns X, Y and Z apart and make ONE GOOD column out of them, he doesn't belong being a tech. Heck, the first time I did mine it only took me 3 hours (completely disassembled and reassembled 2 columns, taking and swapping parts between, and reassembling).

 

Yeah, there's no doubt he's just playing around now.

I called up my insurance Monday to see if there was anyway around the airbag. The representative I talked to didn't know much but gave me a number to give the mechanic to call and explain the situation with how there aren't any brand new columns out there for 91' model years.

So I gave that number to him and he liked the idea and said it'll be a lot easier but he said he still has a rebuilt column on the way from a junkyard in North Carolina. However, he said he would still call the number to see what our options are.

So Wednesday I called him up to see if he had found out anything. He said he hadn't called yet because he wants to see what this supposedly rebuilt column turns out to be like.

I called him yesterday. Hasn't shown up yet.

Now all day today he won't answer his phone. Of course he's closed over the weekend and I'm sure Monday with it being Christmas Eve.

So I guess Monday morning my only real options are calling my insurance back and possibly the police.

 

this one came off a 91 or 92 B4c

 

This guy is completely BSing you! Sounds like he deposited the check and is giving you the runaround until he says 'tell you what- this is so much of a hassle for you- why don't I give you 'X' for the car to get it off your hands?' Then he scraps the car and keeps the difference!
Tell him- 'the damage was to the steering column: fix the damage(any junkyard has a ton of columns you can pull), toss the steering wheel on the drivers seat and I will tow this thing out of here!' Then put on whatever wheel you want!

 

Well, he keeps saying he can't disable the airbag or he'll be in hot water so he won't put a steering column in unless it'll hook right up with the airbag. He says if I get in an accident or anyone else and am seriously hurt when the airbag would have avoided it there will be an investigation as to why the airbag didn't deploy. Which he says will lead back to his shop and he'll be liable. Which I'm starting to believe is complete bull anyways.