airbags suck

ECU, airbags, spiral spring on steering wheel, maybe seatbelts(some models). Which ones went off?

They are less expensive than a new face.

kaboomie

It's hard to buy a second life....

They don't suck....they blow!

I have a friend who had to. He was in a major auto accident in a foreign country. He suffered major face damage and could not speak. They did their best to put him back together, but did not know who he was or what he looked like before.

While walking down a hall at college, after the accident but before I had found out about it, I heard him call me, I turned around and could not find him. I did not recognize him even though I knew the voice and could see where it was coming from. I think he ended up looking better.

'Specially when it's been taken by an airbag in a minor fender bender.

kaboomie

seatbelts now are safer than the ones they had from the 50's-80's

We set one off in the shop today....it had been removed from a car and had to be blown before disposal....wholly s*it...airbags are LOUD when they go off!

- Peter

kaboomie

The driverside, passenger side and the seat airbag. the body shop told me I had to replace the airbag control unit which is $800. Is this true?

YES, it's a one time deployment use. This is because from what I'm told that "crash information" is stored in the ECU such as speed, G-force, which bags went off, etc. If you connect a scanner to it reports a fault of "crash data stored".

Back in the early 90's we took them out back and set the bag facing down! They would go up about 25 feet. Great fun for the 4th of July.

That's entertaining! :) How about the ol plastic milk jug bomb using gas from the welders tanks. :-) They have that nice low deep sounding explosion.

:)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Exactly, if you always belt up, airbags just add extra expense to what could otherwise be a trivial ding.

That said, both airbag lights in my cabriolet are on. I know for sure that the car was involved in a crash before I had it. I'm not worried myself but would like the lights to be out when I come to sell it. Anyone know a good inline source for airbag parts? Any easy way to diagnose the lights? How much do VW dealers charge for diagnosis?

Rich

If you're the right size and you're sitting properly, you're fine. But suppose your reaching over to get something on the floor? What if your arms are crossed over the wheel?

A friend of mine hit someone who had pulled out in front of him. After a couple of seconds, he got out of the car. As he was getting out, the airbag went off, driving him into the B pillar. Now, he was

Here's a nice, non-flammable bomb:

Fill an empty 2 liter soda bottle 1/4 full with tiny balls (loosly balled up in about 1/2 inch diameter) of aluminum foil. Then pour in any cleaning product with HCl (toilet cleaners usually contain this). Close the lid tightly. Then back away (a good 30 ft should do). In about 5 minutes the bottle will begin to stretch and deform under great pressure... then BOOM! Kinda like a really slow air bag :-)

A "what if" can be made up to disprove almost anything. I can remember all those "what ifs" about seat belts, like what if the top is crushed, you would be safer being thrown out of the car, or what if I drive off a bridge into the river.

The fact is you ARE safer with air bags.