My airbag light has been on since I bought the car. The previous owner said it came on ater he replaced the ignition lock. Is the something in the column that would make it go on or is it just a coincidence that it came on then? Also, I am assuming the light will need to be reset and it won't just go out after it's fixed? The dealer wants $139 to tell me why it came on, rediculous.

 

I have a 96 A4 quattro, and my airbag light came on when I was fixing my headlight switch even though I disconnected the battery, I had a friend with a code reader clear the light, it has been fine since. But I imagine with taking the bag on and off if he did the ignition lock himself he could have taken the bag on and off numerous times. My faults were mostly voltage spikes from the battery being plugged and unplugged. My suggestion is get a vag-com or find a friend who has a code reader and get the codes cleared. More than likely your bag is fine, the light just got tripped by accident when in the column.