Car worth 300,000 involved in major accident without airbag deployment, prompting Shandong car owner to seek justice.

On March 15th, Guangzhou hosted the “2025 5th Problem Car (Guangzhou) Owners’ Service Day.” A car owner from Shandong rushed to the scene with a trailer carrying a damaged car to fight for his rights overnight. He claimed that the safety airbags of the car he bought for over 300,000 RMB did not deploy after a major accident and demanded a refund and compensation from the car dealer, but his requests were denied.

A viral video online showed a white sedan on the trailer with severe damage to the front left side and a missing wheel. A man in the video said, “Zhiji car, the front end is smashed like this, wheel hub is knocked off, airbags didn’t deploy, seatbelt didn’t lock. This is my fellow villager’s car from Linyi, Shandong, who came to Guangzhou for justice. It’s been almost a year since the accident last April, and there has been no response. Where is the sense of responsibility of the car manufacturer? Nowhere to be seen.”

The car owner told Guangdong Radio and Television Station that the car model was Zhiji L7, purchased in December 2023. On April 29th last year, his wife’s car was hit on the left side door by a car illegally changing lanes from the opposite direction, causing the wheel to detach and the door to be knocked off. Despite such a strong impact, the safety airbags of the Zhiji L7 did not deploy.

The owner questioned why this high-end electric car he bought for 300,000 RMB couldn’t provide basic safety protection at a crucial moment, rendering the safety features ineffective.

Afterward, he contacted the manufacturer and the 4S dealership demanding a refund and 20,000 RMB for economic losses but was rejected, with the response that the car didn’t hit the corresponding parts, it was just a “rubbing.”

The car owner mentioned that he came from Linyi, Shandong, and traveled over 1700 kilometers to Guangzhou with a trailer. He did this because he felt “ignored, neglected, and despised” during the past year of negotiation.

In response to media inquiries, the manager of the after-sales department of Linyi Zhihe Automobile Sales and Service Co., Ltd., the dealership involved, responded with a firm attitude and hung up the phone, citing that the manufacturer had already replied without providing further explanation.

The incident quickly sparked widespread discussions online with many netizens expressing concerns such as “The car was damaged like that and the airbags didn’t deploy? Shouldn’t this be recalled? It’s a major safety hazard” and “Maybe there were no airbags.”

Some also commented, “If you don’t become a customer, your service is like a sham” and “Blaming others without solving the problem, now that it’s exposed, the car dealer faces bigger losses, and the brand value will suffer a lot.”