I'll try to keep this short.

I'm from VIC and bought a car from QLD with a safety certificate. Had multiple calls with the buyer who is genuine. I had asked all my usual questions but then took it to a pre purchase inspection with a specialist from the same make as the car being sold.

Everything was given the all clear and paid for the car to get shipped down here. I then had to take it to my mechanic for a service and RWC. The mechanic last minute saw the airbag light was blacked out and couldn't pass it.

Had a call with the seller who told me he had to get the airbag module reset not too long ago but admitted to blacking it out a while back to "shut it up". Didn't raise it ever. Called the pre purchase inspection people who gave it a clean bill of health and they said they checked it on their scanner. I found out this was not possible because my model couldn't scan the airbags with an OBD2.

Now the seller is an old man, I believe he was being genuine for the most part because he was upfront with everything (besides this) and was transparent with a lot of things. Sharing his address, taking it to the mechanics, offering to fix one issue from the inspection etc.

I might be an exaggeration but what if I crashed and had no idea the airbags were faulty? I don't know where the onus lies, it was missed by 4 professionals. Do I have any recourse here?