Cars found with missing safety features

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Imagine buying a car only to find out that one of its safety features is missing.

That's exactly what happened to thousands who bought the popular Chevy Impala.

The side airbags in thousands of Chevy Impala rental cars were taken out by rental companies to save money. Now, many of those rental cars are for sale on used car lots, with window stickers claiming those side airbags are inside.

A CBS hidden camera investigation found used car lots in three states had cars on the lot missing those side airbags, even though the window stickers said they were there. As part of a deal, General Motors allowed rental car companies to delete side airbags at the factory to save money.

Officials say fleet buyers saved a mere $145 per vehicle at the expense of driver and passenger safety. Now more than 100,000 Impalas without side airbags are making their way into the used car market.

The hidden camera found salespeople telling potential customers there were airbags in the cars that didn't have them. The way you know the airbags are missing is if you find the deleted option code "AK5 " on the vehicle identification plate in the trunk and if the door trim is also missing the word "airbag."

Enterprise, which admits it incorrectly listed some of these cars on its website for sale with side airbags apologized for the error. It has also offered to buy back their vehicles for $750 over the blue book values or pay $200 for the customer's inconvenience. GM says the cars meet or exceed federal safety standards. It no longer allows airbags to be deleted.