Did I Get The Shaft???

[Intrinsic_Entropy]

Okay, so I bought a 95 Lumina LS about 5 months ago for $3200, which wasn't that bad since it had pretty low miles on it and was in good shape.

The other day, I am looking at the steering wheel and I see a little tear right where the leather folds to let the airbag out. It's about 2 inches long, but somehow I never noticed it before. Anyways, it's torn a little more lately and now I can peel it back and see what I believe is where the airbag should be. I can see a yellow piece of plastic that has a few holes in it in a cross pattern. Is that what inflates the bag?

Did I get sold a car without bags that I could have died in?

Do I have anyway to sue the guys that sold me the car, or has it been too long?

I looked over the paperwork and there is nothing mentioning the problem, and I know the guys didn't say anything about it. Is it legal to sell a car without bags in Idaho? I know it is in Washington.

By the way, I'm not exactly too trusting of these guys. They sold me the car with a totally empty tank (below 2nd red bar), and screwed me on my trade-in by about $400.

Any help greatly appreciated.


---UPDATED---
Got some pics this morning from my phone. No pics available for the passenger's side. Please excuse the crap quality.

[Sx2]

Originally Posted by Intrinsic_Entropy

Okay, so I bought a 95 Lumina LS about 5 months ago for $3200, which wasn't that bad since it had pretty low miles on it and was in good shape.

The other day, I am looking at the steering wheel and I see a little tear right where the leather folds to let the airbag out. It's about 2 inches long, but somehow I never noticed it before. Anyways, it's torn a little more lately and now I can peel it back and see what I believe is where the airbag should be. I can see a yellow piece of plastic that has a few holes in it in a cross pattern. Is that what inflates the bag?

Did I get sold a car without bags that I could have died in?

Do I have anyway to sue the guys that sold me the car, or has it been too long?

I looked over the paperwork and there is nothing mentioning the problem, and I know the guys didn't say anything about it. Is it legal to sell a car without bags in Idaho? I know it is in Washington.

By the way, I'm not exactly too trusting of these guys. They sold me the car with a totally empty tank (below 2nd red bar), and screwed me on my trade-in by about $400.

Any help greatly appreciated.


---UPDATED---
Got some pics this morning from my phone. No pics available for the passenger's side. Please excuse the crap quality.

run a carfax for it

[Intrinsic_Entropy]

Originally Posted by Sx2

run a carfax for it

Already did. It showed it was in an accident in Feb 96, but havent found anything on the police report yet. Carfax report doesn't show level of damage sustained.

[Sx2]

Originally Posted by Intrinsic_Entropy

Already did. It showed it was in an accident in Feb 96, but havent found anything on the police report yet. Carfax report doesn't show level of damage sustained.

well now you know the damage caused baloon poppings.

[DigitalQuirk]

Air bags are overrated. In some cases, they do more harm than good. It's your seat belt that will save your life. Just the same, I'd have an independant mechanic look at that car. If it was in an accident, you want them to make sure the frame is solid and straight. If not, you just learned a $3200 lesson.