Air bag replacement

[hartley]

Has anybody done this yet - apparently required after 10 years - I hate to think of what it would cost and the mess it would make of the leather dash in my 2006 db9 volante ?

[Panamax]

How many cars in the world with airbags are over 10 years old? Millions and millions.

How many of them have had their air bags replaced? I'll guess very, very few.

How many accidents have I heard of where air bags failed to inflate due to old age? None. That's not to say there haven't been any but I've not heard of the problem.

An Australian article from 2013,
"Eventually, degradation of the propellant charge means that older airbags will not inflate with the same pressure and speed as when they were new. This may compromise their ability to protect occupants, and result in more serious injuries. However at present, it is not clear how long after an airbag was placed in service this may happen.

"The oldest airbags in the Australian fleet are approaching 20 years of age. RACV stresses that it has no evidence that any airbags of any age in the current Australian fleet have failed to protect occupants in a crash."

[Simpo Two]

I queried this too - the relevant main dealer said it was recommended but that very few owners had it done due to the cost.

When the airbags had to go off in one of my Jaguars, the damage to the interior was the least of my considerations - the front of the car was a damn sight worse!

Edited by Simpo Two on Friday 2nd December 22:59

[Panamax]

Indeed. There have been many relatively minor accidents where air bag deployment ends up in a lightly damaged car being written off by insurers because airbag replacement is so expensive.

[pschlute]

When my old DB9 was 10 years old I asked the same question of my main dealer. The reply was, "we have never replaced an airbag that had not gone off first."

[Calinours]

It is an interesting dilemma though, and will become more pertinant as all the modern safety system equipped high end cars that will rarely be scrapped (like our Astons) get older. Do we spend £££ replacing seat belt pretensioners, airbags etc as the manufacturers recommend with their probably arbitrary, legally advised 10yr recommendation? what if the car has many multiples of airbags?

As the cars pass into 'classic' status and become prized garage queens going out for a few runs, events and sunny summer Sunday runs, covering maybe a thousand miles per year, what view will owners take on the huge cost of the added safety of a fresh airbag, especially given that the self test at every key on still confirms that the ancient bags will still deploy in even of accident?

I suspect the vast majority will not bother ever replacing airbags, only being forced to do something when the dreaded light stays on as electrical connections age, corrode and begin to fail...

However, in 20 or 30 years, when everyone travels around in a self driving electrically propelled cocoon with 20 airbags - will the attitudes to safety have changed so much that no-one dare drive an older IC car with just two or four airbags anyway?

Until then, I will happily drive around in my 43 year old V8 without a single active safety device, though, as things do change, I do always use the (front only) seatbelts, more than the original owner back in 1979 would have done, no doubt also making full use of the multiples of ashtrays and lighters

[Panamax]

Calinours said:

However, in 20 or 30 years, when everyone travels around in a self driving electrically propelled cocoon with 20 airbags - will the attitudes to safety have changed so much that no-one dare drive an older IC car with just two or four airbags anyway?

I suspect it'll be like phones and computers. Your keyboard still works, the monitor still works, the printer still works, the wifi still works, the processor still works - but software development (combined with lack of support of old software) renders the whole machine obsolete.

[Calinours]

From 5th gear a few years back. The airbag tech in that old Rover would be 10yrs older than that in the VH Asrons, DB7 era stuff.

https://youtu.be/H5ohDlU0Dwc

[8Tech]

Literally MILLIONS of airbags have been replaced under recalls due to old plastic covers shattering during deployment injuring drivers rather than pivoting out of the way.
Minimal efficiency reduction due to age is less likely to be a problem than the crash sensors, occupancy sensors, module failure and system faults preventing deployment anyway.
Just a matter of time though until manufacturers see the profit opportunity and add a 10 year airbag fault timer to fail the MOT test. I will be selling bypass systems by then though just like occupancy sensor bypasses!

[p102768]

If you are talking about the Takata airbag recall then it was the ignitor itself that could explode, sending fragments at vehicle occupants, not pivoting covers.

[nickv12]

I think 10 years, even though initially estimated by engineers and lawyers, was a suggested timeline, I can see cherished cars such as Astons having theirs replaced every 20 years. A bit like Ferrari F40 owners are aware of the periodic cost to replace the fuel tank bladder. It’ll just get factored in to car resale prices if not done.

Really not sure I’d want to drive around in a 30 year old car with crystallised explosives centimetres away from my face.

But it’s not just the driver and passenger dash airbag. In VH cars, unless you have the carbon lightweight seats, it’s also the seat-mounted airbags. Not denying it won’t be a fair few pennies…

[AdamV12V]

nickv12 said:

I think 10 years, even though initially estimated by engineers and lawyers, was a suggested timeline, I can see cherished cars such as Astons having theirs replaced every 20 years. A bit like Ferrari F40 owners are aware of the periodic cost to replace the fuel tank bladder. It’ll just get factored in to car resale prices if not done.

Really not sure I’d want to drive around in a 30 year old car with crystallised explosives centimetres away from my face.

But it’s not just the driver and passenger dash airbag. In VH cars, unless you have the carbon lightweight seats, it’s also the seat-mounted airbags. Not denying it won’t be a fair few pennies…

Very true!

Good to see that CF seats pay for themselves in the long run!

[Jon39]

I (only vaguely paying attention) heard a car company advert, boasting about how many airbags were now installed in their cars.
Think it might have been in double figures. They were particularly proud of their new ones, between human occupants.

Can imaging those cars being uneconomic repairs, even after a bump on the way home from first taking delivery.

[8Tech]

Back a few years ago, a brand new Renault Laguna was considered an uneconomic repair if all its airbags were deployed, irrespective of any other damage.

[nickv12]

AdamV12V said:

Very true!

Good to see that CF seats pay for themselves in the long run!

Man maths at its finest