child seat sensor
 

I hope someone has some advice on how to handle this problem or a workaround. I have a 2003 Mazda 6. It's a nice car but about a year ago the passenger air bag light turned on and stayed on. At first it seemed like the problem was sensitive to the weight on the passenger seat, and then the light stayed on continuously. Because of the start-stop nature of the problem, I didn't react quickly enough and by the time I got to the dealers the warranty had expired.
The prognosis is that the sensor that turns off the airbag is shot and needs to be replaced. The car is convinced that there is a passenger and has disengaged the airbag. Mazda's solution is to replace the entire bottom part of the passenger seat at a cost of over $1000 USD for parts alone which to me seems pretty outrageous. I would be happy if they would simply disengage the mechanism and allow me to drive without the sensor but with a working passenger side airbag. I'll be happy to put a sign in the car that that the airbag does not disengage. So far no fair solution has been offered and I have failed to find a workaround. Any suggestions?

RE: child seat sensor
 

If the vehicle comes with a safety feature, Mazda cannot legally deactivate that feature.

The airbag will not work with the OCS (Occupant Classification System) unhooked.