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.
Chevrolet Volt airbag light comes on
111 of the 1,876 owner complaints about the Chevrolet Volt describe airbag warning light, most of them for the 2013 model year.
- owner complaints
- 111
- worst model year
- 2013
- typical repair cost reported
- $1,000
- typical mileage
- 80,000
Is there a fix? There are 2 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Stalling 1Jerking 1Fire or smoke 1Check engine light 1Backup camera 1Adaptive cruise 1
What owners say
Airbag warning light illuminated on dash. Vehicle no longer registered the passenger in the front passenger seat. Dealer states diagnostic code indicates OCCUPANT POSITION DETECTION SYSTEM SENSOR is faulty. None in stock and no expected delivery date. Until part is repaired/replaced the vehicle will not detect a front seat passenger so the front seat passenger airbags will NOT deploy in a collision. Dealer states cost of repair to be in excess of $1,100!!
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact became aware that the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the vehicle was not diagnosed, or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.
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.
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated while operating the vehicle, the front passenger’s side air bag warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who determined that the front passenger’s side air bag Passenger Sensor System was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was informed that the part to repair the vehicle had been discontinued and no repair was available. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed that the part was discontinued. The failure mileage was 100,000.
The service airbag indicator and airbag light illuminated on my dash. I took the vehicle to the dealership and was told the passenger presence module needs replaced. Without this repair, all airbags in the vehicle are disabled when the light is on. Yes, its been reproduced by the Chevrolet dealer.
The 2012 Chevy Volt Passenger Airbag Sensor was an issue that the federal safety agency investigated. It will cause the passenger side airbags not to deploy in a crash. I can reproduce the airbag warning light by pressing on the passenger seat. It has also been confirmed by an independent service center. There is supposed to be a reduced cost replacement program (according to the federal safety agency) but both dealers and the Chevrolet Support Center do not seem to know about it)
Service Airbag warning light comes on and off. Reading message boards for 2014 Chevy Volt, is seems that this is a defective Passenger Occupancy Sensor that happens on a lot of Volts. A dealer has confirmed that this is the problem and will cost $1,000-$1,200 to fix. Since this is a safety component and is failing regularly on all Volts, I believe the manufacturer should recall this item to be replaces.
Seat sensor for passenger air bag is not working. It picks up a passenger and turns on air bag then turns it off. Then back on then off. Getting service airbag light. I see this was investigated by the federal safety agency and chevy was supposed to build a replacement program for 12-13 volts but when I call chevy they see no such program even though it is reported as a known consumer concern and was part of agreement when closing the federal safety agency investigation as per articles on this from journalist.
Airbag light is on due to faulty passenger seat sensor that is a known defect by manufacturer. Your investigation was closed with the note that "GM created a program to replace the passenger sensing systems in 2012 and 2013 model year Chevy Volt vehicles". I am trying to get them to fix the issue, but they say there is no program for this repair. And the repair consists of replacing full passenger seat for over $1000. It looks like GM is misleading the federal safety agency that they have a program to correct the problem.
Related recalls
Air bags: frontal: driver side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2013 Buick Verano, Chevrolet Camero, Sonic, and Volt vehicles. The driver-side air bag inflator may explode during deployment due to a manufacturing defect.
- Risk
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the driver-side air bag module, free of charge. On some 2013 Volt vehicles, the steering wheel will be replaced as well, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 23, 2023. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1‑800‑521‑7300 and Chevrolet customer service at 1‑800‑222‑1020. GM's number for this recall is N232413120.
Recall number 23V516000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2015-2016 GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado, and 2016 Chevrolet Volt vehicles. The driver's frontal air bag may improperly inflate during second-stage deployment in the event of a high speed crash.
- Risk
- An improperly inflated air bag increases the risk of injury in a crash.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag module, free of charge. The recall began November 8, 2017. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1‑800‑222‑1020, or GMC customer service at 1‑800‑462‑8782. GM's number for this recall is 17387.
Recall number 17V621000 · Recall details
Questions about the Chevrolet Volt airbag light
Why does the airbag light come on in the Chevrolet Volt?
Owners who report it most often also describe engine stalls while driving, jerking or lurching and fire, smoke or burning smell.
Which Chevrolet Volt years have airbag warning light problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2013 (61 complaints), 2012 (30 complaints) and 2014 (9 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix airbag warning light on the Chevrolet Volt?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $1,000 (median of 39 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used Chevrolet Volt?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history