“They have been discontinued by GM.”
A man closed the door to his Cadillac Escalade and nearly all the airbags deployed. Now he wants to know who covers it: warranty or insurance. Because he doesn’t think it should come out of his pocket.
TikTok creator Gym Dad (@gymdad77) posted a video about the situation while standing outside of his Escalade.
“So I’ve got this 2016 Escalade,” he says to start the video. “It’s a great car. No issues. Never had one issue with the engine or the transmission.”
Then, one day, Gym Dad got home (presumably from the gym), shut the door, and realized that nearly all the airbags inside the vehicle had deployed.
“All in the back they deployed,” Gym Dad says, panning the camera so that the audience can see. “And the good news is, USAA is denying it. They’re saying since there was no collision, it doesn’t fall under the collision or comprehensive coverage that I have. Well, I have full coverage on it.”
Apparently, Gym Dad’s insurance company believes it was due to a mechanical failure; the dealership where he purchased the car disagrees. And on top of all that?
“I can’t even replace those airbags,” Gym Dad says. “They have been discontinued by GM. I couldn’t even fix it if I wanted to.”
In the caption, Gym Dad wrote, “USAA is awful. Denying my claim saying mechanical failure when Serra Nashville is saying no mechanical failure.”
In the comments section of the video, viewers weighed in on what happened and what Gym Dad should do with the car.
“The car is totaled,” said one person.
A second person disagreed. “Just order used airbags from eBay,” they wrote. “The back roof ones are like $100 for the whole strip.” Someone else replied, “You need airbags and two modules.”
“Dude, I got a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado single cab and it did the same thing,” wrote a third person. “I cut them out and kept driving it.”
Another person asked, “Isn’t there a recall for that exact issue?”
General Motors did recently announce recalls impacting certain Cadillac models with regard to an issue of airbag inflators that can potentially rupture during deployment. Another recall has to do with airbags failing to deploy at all.
That’s a bit different from Gym Dad’s report of spontaneous airbag deployment. However, one Escalade owner posted to Cadillac Forums in 2024 about a similar occurrence. There was no follow-up about what ultimately happened with the car.
Obviously it’s not safe to drive without airbags. According to Byers Collision, it is possible to replace the airbags, but in some cases the cost of replacing the airbags will result in a total loss of the vehicle. It can also be illegal to reinstall airbags that have previously deployed.
It is possible for some more mechanically inclined drivers to replace their airbags themselves. This would require not only installing new airbags, but also replacing any sensors that were destroyed when they deployed.
Motor1 contacted Gym Dad via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We also contacted USAA via email for comment.
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