My kids badgered me into wearing seat belts yr ago. Now I feel funny when I don't wear one. The Camrys are my first cars with air bags. Do air bags allow cars to have less structural integrity? If an air bag goes off from a frontal hit isn't the cost to repair body damage + air bag stuff mean a total? I drove VW bugs all over the country in my youth. I wouldn't risk it now a days. Time has marched on.
Would you drive around with a deployed air bag?
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Owen Lucas
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As adjusters we're supposed to write the insurance companies name on the bag and date.
Back in the day scam shops would reuse blown bags to increase repair estimates.
Back in the day scam shops would reuse blown bags to increase repair estimates.
JHZR2
Staff member
I question the car not being safe.
Sure, it doesn’t have all the safety features. But it still notionally has the crumple zones, high strength steel stiffeners, etc.
Still probably safer than older vehicles, airbags or not.
As I recall it doesn’t take much to set off an airbag. 5 mph? I suspect one could have an impact that doesn’t damage much but blows out enough airbags to total the car. It’s a real waste to do so on a good condition car. I can see someone using it at their own risk/peril.
Doesn’t make it a best practice or right thing to do, but it could well be useable again to drive…
Sure, it doesn’t have all the safety features. But it still notionally has the crumple zones, high strength steel stiffeners, etc.
Still probably safer than older vehicles, airbags or not.
As I recall it doesn’t take much to set off an airbag. 5 mph? I suspect one could have an impact that doesn’t damage much but blows out enough airbags to total the car. It’s a real waste to do so on a good condition car. I can see someone using it at their own risk/peril.
Doesn’t make it a best practice or right thing to do, but it could well be useable again to drive…
Your ear-bleeding Toyota seat belt chime will do that now. No need for the kids anymore
My motorcycle suit has air bags, and I wear all the other gear, but I'd probably still fare better in a crash in that Audi.
I would rather have a seat belt than an air bag therefore yes, I would drive it. There are lots of people that do no use their seat belts. As far as the owners wealth it's difficult to say. There are many people with tons of money that would drive that vehicle.
Most insurance companies would write off a 20 year old car with a blown bag so I can see why someone would not report it or they didn’t have collision insurance in the first place. I’ve never had an air bag go off in 25 years since they started being common, but yes, I wouldn’t want to drive a vehicle with a defective bag. Ironically, millions were driving around with defective shrapnel bags without knowing it.
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Given that its likely many thousands of dollars to be fixed (airbag, controller, sensor, labor) the question really is - would you scrap this car, or drive it as is.
I would of course drive it if I had no other option.
I would of course drive it if I had no other option.
Driven and ridden in cars without airbags for 70+ percent of my life and survived. But there is always a first (and last) time.
slo town
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We should not forget some of the other posts we've seen here on Bitog, where people were driving cars that failed a state inspection; things like frame and suspension crash damage or severe rust and corrosion.
I'd rather drive an otherwise "healthy" car without an airbag than I would some car that would have its rotted suspension ripped off by a panic stop.
Scott
You do have a point thereYes I definatly would drive around. Its still much safer than my motorcycle
Owen Lucas
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I've been to shops working on auction vehicles being resold to low budget car lots. These guys will heat up frame rails till they can bend back into place, absolutely no replacement of structural parts. One shop was using steel from other wrecked vehicles like hoods and fenders to patch weld damages. It was a free for all.
I then had a claim for one of these hack job repairs. IDK why the lady bought it, the front clip was obviously an incorrect shade of red and all they did to the radiator support was pull it with a frame machine, they even left the bent, but not leaking, radiator in place.
In South America the big 3 and likely other companies sell new vehicle with no airbags or SRS at all. They wouldn't be able to meet the price points to sell new cars for those markets.
During one of the presidential debates, Mary Barra was called out on selling airbag-less vehicles in SA, I laughed. IITC HP's CEO was running as well, I was hoping someone would call her out for ink cartridge pricing lol.
Chances are if your airbag deployed something else in the protection system is already used up, like crumble zone or impact absorber. Also I highly doubt your insurance will cover anyone or anything and you would be technically driving uninsured until this is made road worthy again.
Can you at least buy a used one to put it in from eBay?
Can you at least buy a used one to put it in from eBay?
Not neccesarily. The older cars used really simple one time use sensors. They could fire in a fairly mild collision, or simply have been defective to begin with.
JHZR2
Staff member
There’s damage, and there’s a bridge too far. If a 5mph or whatever the airbag threshold is, and some suspension parts bent but are repaired, that’s different than heating to red hot and bending and changing strength.
Even still it’s potentially as good as older vehicles.
All depends upon your appetite for risk, and budget.
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