Thread: SRS Airbag replacement D1

When my driver airbag needs replacing i will just disconnect it and not worry about it.

Posted life has been extended to 15yrs....

Wouldnt worry about it if I was you.

Tombraider

Cool Tombraider thanks - that's why membership of this forum is so valuable.
I could have paid couple of thousand to have them replaced for no reason.

Anyone know where it was announced by LR that life was extended to 15 yrs, just in case insurance suits ask ?

Waynep,
This is only correct for newer airbags-2005my onwards. 95-96my airbags "still" require replacement at this stage. LR are still testing earlier airbags & will notify in due course(when??).
Cost to replace for both front airbags is approx $4400.00 fitted.

I've also heard through LR that the early cars had been extended to 15 years. I don't recall seeing anything on paper though.

Who in their right mind would pay half the value of their car to have them replaced anyway, rip it out worry no more.

Quite a few manuf's have extended the working life of their airbags. Best to get in touch with LR officially.

This is one of the generally disregarded "gotchas" with airbags. They put a very big maintenance cost way down the line - when the car in question is going to be low valued. When people start to realise this, the value of these cars will drop even more, until almost nobody wants to replace the airbags, which means the sale of the "older" airbags gets very low, and they either disappear off the market or get so expensive that they might as well have.

And at some stage the replacement of them will become compulsory.

A further thought - does disconnecting them render them safe? Is the propellant likely to become unstable and detonate without triggering?

There is PROBABLY a wide safety margin in the ten years or whatever figure it is upped to, although this may depend on where you live (temperature, humidity etc).