How important is the 10-year airbag inspection? It’s been just about 10 years for my 95 Subaru, which means the airbags need to be inspected, at least according to the warnings on the visor. I have my own reservations about airbags, but I’ll get the inspection if needed. What do they do in an inspection and what happens to the airbags?
That’s a new one on me. My 94 Escort’s (stop laughing!) owner’s manual says nothing other than making sure the airbag warning light goes out in a second or two after the car is started and that it doesn’t come on while driving.
Is this just a Subaru thing?
I think I’ve seen this on other cars as well. I don’t think it’s just a Subaru thing. I mean, it makes sense that that sort of thing probably needs to be inspected at least occasionally, but I don’t know if it is all that pressing.
I guess what I’m asking is, do I make a special trip to have them checked, or do I just have the dealership do it if I ever get cruise control installed?
One reason to get it done (and it may be partly the reason they put that on the visor) is so that if you get into an accident and the airbags don’t go off, you’ve got no legal recourse. If the sign says to have it inspected every 10 years and you don’t do that, that may give Suburu a real easy out. I’m guessing they check the sensors and wires to make sure there’s no corrosion, and possibly take a look at the airbag itself (can you do that without ruining it?) to make sure the talc is still doing it’s job and it’s not a big stuck together ball of plastic from all those hot summers. I’m sure there’s other things they check as well.
Of course they may just pull the car out of sight for 20 mins and walk back out with a $50 bill and tell you everything is fine.
Or better yet, a bill for $150 and tell you they replaced a sensor.
Going to give this one bump, as I would really appreciate an answer.
My advice would be to call the dealership and ask them what they charge for this service, if it’s a pittance, I’d let them do it. I’ve read that on cars with airbags, the seatbelt tensoners are design to work in conjunction with the airbags, meaning that if you’re in a wreck and the airbag doesn’t deploy, you’ll wind up eating your steering wheel even though you’re wearing your seatbelt! If they do charge an arm and a leg for the service, then I’d find a privately owned shop which can do it for less money. The benefit of this is that if the private shop checks the bag and finds an expensive problem (airbag repairs can run into the thousands of dollars) you can get them to simply disconnect the bag for you, and swap out the seatbelt tensioners with some that aren’t designed to work in cars with airbags for a lot less money.
I would have them checked out if the manufacturer says to, though. Having an airbag in the car is akin to having a shotgun pointed at your head (no joke, the powder charge is about the same) and having seen what happens to people who hit a bump and have the bags go off, it’s not really something you want to risk.
My old ('92) Volvo had one of those stickers. When I got my current car I gave the '92 model to my brother, and we asked the dealer about the inspection. The dealership told us that that was an old requirement and was no longer necessary; they checked the components that needed it as part of the normal maintenance schedule, and as long as the light did not come on and stay on, the airbag was okay. You might just give your local dealership’s service manager a call and ask.
Even if this is legal to do in your area, I doubt you’d find many shops willing to take on this huge liability.
To answer the OP, I agree with the other posters who said that if the air bag light comes on and goes out during its self test, it’s probably nothing to worry about.
IIRC, it’s pretty much legal anywhere because of the problems with airbags and petite people, not to mention people who’ve recently had open heart surgery (since if they’re involved in an accident the airbag can crush the ribcage if it’s not fully healed) IANAL, so I’m prepared to be corrected on this.
Boy, lots of misinformation here.
At least with my company (Volvo) the 10 year requirement was put in place back when the airbag systems were new (1986) at the time the engineers had no clue what condition the propellant in the airbag would be after many many years of sitting in the steering wheel. They were sure that 10 years would be OK, but they were unsure about a longer period. In the late 1990’s we went out and found some cars from the late 80’s that still had the original airbags. These bags were replaced and the old bags analyzed. The propellant was still stable, so a technical service bulletin was issued, changing the inspection period to 15 years.
Boy this could not be more wrong. The pretensioner on a seat belt is designed to reel in the excess slack so that you don’t take a running start at the seat belt. **The standard seat belt function is not affected by the seat belt tensioner. ** In many types of accidents (rollover for example) the pretensioner may not fire, but the seat belts still function.
If a shop were to disconnect either an airbag, or a seatbelt, or even a headrest, that would put them in violation of federal law. IIRC the penalty for a violation is a fine of up to $10,000 per day. :eek:
IMHO any shop that would offer to disconnect an airbag is either
A) dumber than a bag of hammers
B) incompetent
C) dishonest
Maybe I am just picky about who works on my car, but I do not want my car worked on by someone in any of these categories.
Getting back to the OP, call Scooby Do’s customer service number and ask them. If they have changed the inspection date, like we did, the Customer service people will know. They should also be able to give you a good indication of what the inspection entails.
I don’t know about the legal implications, but disconnecting the airbag sounds like the right thing to do. A faulty airbag that deploys a few milliseconds later than normal can cause severe neck injury. If the car owner is not willing to have them replaced, it is better to disconnect them completely.
The only way you can legaly disconnect a safety system (airbag/seatbelt pretensioner, headrest) is to apply to the NHTSA and if the application is approved, then and only then may an airbag be disconnected. Here is the page that answers your questions and has a link to the application
Wow! Are airbags mandatory in the US? If not, that’s what I call micro-managing. :eek:
Bingo!
Even in cases where air bag system modification is approved, few if any (certainly none that I know of) independent shops would take the risk. This is the U.S.A., where anyone can – and generally will – sue anyone for anything. Doing the job properly, with the proper parts and proper authorization, may be of no protection against a lawsuit for wrongful death (the air bag did not deploy) or injury (it did deploy). There’s too much negative potential for the small profit involved.
Passive restraints are mandatory. The choice has been, and as far as I know still is, either air bags or automatic (motorized) belts.
Just to add an additional data point: I have a 2002 Subaru, and it also has a note on the visor recommending a 10 year inspection of the air bag. So its not just a relic of early model airbags.
Which restraints are passive? Seat belts?
It is not an either/or choice. AFAIK, airbags do not provide any protection on their own. They are useful only in conjunction with the seatbelts. In some cars, the airbags won’t deploy at all if the seatbelts are not fastened.
The meaning of “passive” here is that the occupant does not have to take any active steps to activate the safety device. In other words, the car has to offer a certain level of protection for people too lazy/stupid to buckle their seatbelt.
Last statistics I saw pretty much said that airbags don’t actually provide much extra protection over just wearing your seatbelt. All the numbers you see about “airbags have saved x number of lives” referred mainly to unbelted occupants.
One can argue the merits and demerits of this sort of “big brother” regulation. But I was pretty toasted over the developments of the past few years, revealing that children and small-statured adults can be killed by airbags, even when properly restrained, in otherwise non-fatal accidents. This, because the regulations are written so that the airbag is powerful enough to protect an unbelted, full-size male occupant.
I have kids, and my wife is one of those small-statured adults, and everyone who enters our car wears a seat belt. So their lives are put at risk only because the government wants to protect the dumb clucks who won’t wear a seatbelt. :mad: Thanks a lot.