2012 Chevrolet Volt Interior & seats Problems

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 ID

11644947

Incident

Feb 25, 2025

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 ID

11581443

Incident

Apr 1, 2024

INTERMITTENT PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATION. THE WARNING LIGHT COMES ON WHEN VERY LIGHT ITEMS ARE PLACED ON THE SEAT AND WHEN A PASSENGER IS PRESENT.

NHTSA ID

11302390

Incident

Jan 27, 2020

Mileage

156,000 mi

AIRBAG LIGHT COMING ON INTERMITTENTLY TOOK CAR TO CHEVROLET DEALER AND WAS TOLD IT WAS A BAD SENSOR IN THE PASSENGER SEAT AND THE COST WOULD BE 900 DOLLARS FOR PART AND LABOR.

NHTSA ID

11271247

Incident

Oct 3, 2019

Mileage

119,000 mi

THE PASSENGER FRONT SEAT OCCUPANCY SENSOR IS FAULTY CAUSING THE AIR BAG TO NOT BE ARMED WHILE PASSENGER IS IN SEAT. SOMETIMES THE AIR BAG WILL BE ON BUT WHEN PASSENGER MOVES IN SEAT OR WE HIT A BUMP THE AIR BAG LIGHT GOES OFF. IT WILL COST $989.00 TO FIX FOR A SENSOR INSIDE SEAT IS WHAT DEALER TOLD ME. THIS IS A PROBLEM SEVERAL OTHER OWNERS ARE HAVING.

NHTSA ID

11258010

Incident

Jan 3, 2019

AIR BAG SENSOR PAD IN FRONT PASSENGER SEAT IS FAULTY. DASH LIGHT COMES ON AND OFF AT RANDOM IN FRONT SEAT. MAY LEAD TO AIRBAGS FAILING TO GO OFF. FRONT PASSENGER SEAT FAULTY, AIR BAG SENSOR PAD IS NOT INSTALLED BENEATH THE FOAM IN THE SEAT, INSTEAD IT IS ON TOP. HAS LEAD TO NUMEROUS PROBLEMS WHEN EVEN JUST SETTING A BAG ON THE SEAT. THIS IS A SAFETY PROBLEM. POWERTRAIN ISSUE, BATTERY SECTION 3 FAILED PREMATURELY DUE TO A $5 TEMPERATURE SENSOR FAILING. COST TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE BATTERY SECTION WAS $3000+ DOLLARS FOR A $5 PART.

NHTSA ID

11257916

Incident

Sep 1, 2019

Mileage

55,000 mi

THE CHECK AIRBAG SENSOR COMES ON SPORADICALLY, AND THE CAR DOES NOT SEEM TO RECOGNIZE WHEN SOMEONE IS IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. THE ESTIMATED COST OF THE SENSOR REPAIR IS ~$900 EVEN THOUGH THE WARNING IS NOT CONSISTENT. THIS HAPPENS WHILE DRIVING. AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, THERE IS NO KNOWN CAUSE.

NHTSA ID

11257828

Incident

Sep 15, 2019

Mileage

1 mi

AIR BAG SENSOR INSIDE THE SEAT STARTED FAILING INTERMITTENTLY. OVER 6 MONTHS IT WENT FROM GOING OFF AND BACK ON ONCE A TRIP, TO MULTIPLE TIMES IN A TRIP. THEN FULL ON FAILED. APPEARS TO BE A COMMON ISSUE BASED ON DISCUSSIONS HERE: HTTPS://GM-VOLT.COM/FORUM/ARCHIVE/INDEX.PHP/T-306433.HTML

NHTSA ID

11207860

Incident

May 15, 2019

Mileage

93,000 mi

THE AIR BAG SENSOR WARNING LIGHT IS ON AND AIR BAG WILL NOT WORK FOR PASSENGER SEATS. PER THE DEALERSHIP THERE IS AN ISSUE WITH THE AIRBAG SENSOR THAT THEY ARE AWARE OF THE COST OF REPAIR IS 800. TO REPLACE THE AIRBAG SENSOR MODULE. THEY SAID PLACING A CELL PHONE OR LAPTOP ON THE SEAT CAUSES THE MALFUNCTION BUT THERE IS NO RECALL AT THIS POINT. I CAN'T BELIEVE PLACING AN ELECTRONIC ON A SEAT CAUSES THE MODULE TO GO BAD AND THEY WILL NOT REPLACE THE MODULE.

NHTSA ID

11151914

Incident

Jul 10, 2017

Mileage

94,000 mi

WHEN UNOCCUPIED, THE DRIVER INFORMATION DISPLAY SHOWS "CHECK AIRBAG" AND THE RED INDICATOR ON THE DRIVERS DISPLAY INDICATES THAT THE PASSENGER AIRBAG IS DISABLED. THIS PROBLEM HAS GONE FROM INTERMITTENT TO CONSISTENT OVER THE PAST YEAR.

NHTSA ID

11104087

Incident

Mar 1, 2017

Mileage

120,000 mi

SERVICE AIR BAG LIGHT AND SOUND ALERT BEGAN GOING OFF RANDOM TIMES AND NOW IT COMES ON ALL THE TIME. I DID NOT REALIZE THIS INDICATOR MEANT MY AIR BAG WOULD NOT DEPLOY IN CASE OF AN ACCIDENT AND THE REPAIR FOR THIS SENSOR ISSUE IS ON THE OWNER. THIS SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE, THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. THE REPAIR ESTIMATE OF $800-$1200 IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. I ATTEMPTED TO GO TO AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP IN HOPES OF RESOLVING WITHIN MY BUDGET BUT DUE TO CHEVROLET PATENT ON THE PARTS AND TOOLS NEEDED FOR REPAIR INDEPENDENT SHOPS CANNOT HELP ME. THIS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A RECALL AS IT IMPAIRS THE SAFETY OF DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS.

NHTSA ID

11102492

Incident

Jun 18, 2018

THE PASSENGER'S SEAT DETECTOR FOR AIRBAG IS NOT FUNCTIONAL. THERE'S A REPORT AT MY DEALER (ACTION CHEVROLET) OF THE DEFAULT. I ALSO FILED A COMPLAINT AT THE GM CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AFTERSALES AND WAS TOLD THAT THEY WOULD NOT PAY FOR THE SEAT COMPONENT INVOLVED BEEING OUTSIDE MY 60,000 KM WARRANTY (WAS A LITTLE OVER THEN!). THIS IS NOT THE RESULT OF A MISUSE OR WATER SPILL ON THE SEAT. I FEEL THAT THE SECURITY OF MY FAMILY IS JEOPARDISED BY THIS DEFECT. THE COST OF REPAIR IS IMPORTANT AND EXCEEDS OUR BUDGET OF OPERATION FOR THAT CAR. LEARNING NOW THAT MANY VOLTS OF THOSE YEARS WERE AFFECTED BY THIS IMPORTANT PROBLEM, I FEEL THAT IT QUALIFIES FOR A RECALL AND FIXING BY GM. THANK YOU FOR TREATING MY DEMAND ACCORDINGLY. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).' *PM

NHTSA ID

11093957

Incident

Aug 24, 2016

WHILE DRIVING THE AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON FOR THE PASSENGER AIRBAG. IT WOULD COME ON AND GO OFF EVEN WHILE SOMEONE WAS SITTING IN THE SEAT THE AIRBAG WOULD JUST TURN OFF AND THEN TURN BACK ON.

NHTSA ID

11084962

Incident

Feb 13, 2018

Mileage

76,000 mi

MY 2012 CHEVROLET VOLT STARTED EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH THE SENSOR THAT DETECTS THE WEIGHT OF A INDIVIDUAL IN THE SEAT. THE PROBLEM HAS PROGRESSIVELY GOTTEN WORSE AND BEGAN AROUND 19,000 MILES. IT HAS GOTTEN TO A POINT WHERE IF I HAVE A PASSENGER IN THE CAR, THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT WILL COME ON AFTER THEY EXIT THE CAR. SEVERAL OTHER OWNERS IN THE VOLT OWNERS CLUB AND VARIOUS OTHER FORUMS HAVE EXPERIENCED A SIMILAR ISSUE. IN MY CAR THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT COMES ON WHEN SOMEONE RIDES IN THE PASSENGER SEAT AND THEN GETS OF. THE "SERVICE AIR BAG" MESSAGE WILL STAY ON UNTIL I TURN OF THE CAR OR PUSH THE SEAT CUSHION WITH MY HAND. THE PROBLEM IS THAT GM IS NOT COVERING THE COST ON A CAR WITH LESS THAN 32,000 MILES. LEAVING CUSTOMERS WITH A BILL OF 800 DOLLARS TO FIX A COMPONENT THAT SHOULD LAST THE LIFETIME OF THE CAR. AS TIME PROGRESSES IT SEEMS TO PROBLEM IS BECOMING MORE COMMON PLACE AND OWNERS ARE STUCK WITH THE BILL. THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THAT THE AIRBAG MAY FAIL TO DEPLOY IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH. *TR

NHTSA ID

10944228

Incident

Jan 28, 2016

Mileage

26,000 mi