JohnFol

Test drove the new WRX this lunch time. Spoke to sales chappie afterwards and he informs me they can't disable the passenger air bag.
This wipes out ALL people with a child below the age of 7 as potential customers.
Is this true? Do older models have passenger bags?

scoobysnacks

Only if their kids HAVE to sit in the front... Can't they sit in the back?
Yes, some older models have them too. Not sure if they were standard or an option on UK cars (probably depends on the year), but my 98 WRX has one.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Think they were standard from around 97 wernt they? my MY00 has one and as per all cars it does say "no children under the age of 12 in the front of the car" suppose it depends on size but its common sense really, yes they can kill small children but they do save your life, so, just dump the kids in the back its the reason your car has 4/5 doors

Tony

Shark

John

The Air Bags <B>Can</B> be disabled, pure and simple. You just disconnect the ECU, and the connectors to the bags themselves to be sure. To be triple sure your little one doesn’t 'get it' in an accident, have the bag taken out of the vehicle.

Most dealers shy away from doing this in practice. Probably because their worried about Declan Swain and his bloody mum, who will sue the pants off you if anything goes wrong.

My sister drives an Isuzu Trooper, and she is so short that she sits very close to the wheel, that I disconnected her Air Bags. Now her new baby can ride up front no probs.

David

[This message has been edited by Shark (edited 13 August 2001).]

Shark

Forgot to mention the down side - the SRS light stays on all the time, tho you could take the bulb out or put a little peice of tape over it.

David

mutant_matt

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Shark:
<B>Forgot to mention the down side - the SRS light stays on all the time, tho you could take the bulb out or put a little peice of tape over it.[/quote]

Or measure the resistance across the Airbag with a multimeter and buy a resistor the same size and connect that across the Airbag terminals....

Matt

JohnFol

Thanks for the suggestion. I came across the problem a few years ago with a Ford Probe (spit spit). The problem with removal is it's illegal to store the explosive used within the bag, and no-one would dispose of it for me.
I would also expect the MOT to fail when the time came . .
thanks anyway