Now that VF has ended production.....

[mwb235]

Noting the thread has gone off track a little, but more the point it still shows VF 2013 - ?. How hard can it be to change the ? to 2017, and move the ? to the ZB thread ie. 2018 - ?.

I agree. But I wonder why the ? for VF was changed to 2018 and not 2017? Didn’t VF production end in 2017?

 

[monstar]

I agree. But I wonder why the ? for VF was changed to 2018 and not 2017? Didn’t VF production end in 2017?

I think the mod made a mistake.

 

[Immortality]

Darren makes those changes.

 

[Jasminka]

Kids didn’t like Peugeot 207 RC (I did), picked it up good price, PCA parent company is avant- guard many things in owners manual compulsory servicing said airbags must be replaced after 15 years.
Just thought it worth mentioning is all.

Can you get a replacement airbag for an old car (and has it been sitting on a shelf for 15 years anyway?)?

 

[monstar]

Can you get a replacement airbag for an old car (and has it been sitting on a shelf for 15 years anyway?)?

Good point, the whole area needs better regulation, that’s what Australia and her Public Servants do best you know, shuffle paperwork committee meetings and fine the public.
But yeah, you can get replacement ‘bags for an old Peugeot.

 

[Skylarking]

Can you get a replacement airbag for an old car (and has it been sitting on a shelf for 15 years anyway?)?

The issue causing the airbag recall is related to the amount of desicant mixed within the amonium nitrate propellant and the environment the airbag assembly is within.

Supposedly, if you have high humidity and high and low temps during a 24hour period, then mositure gets into the airbag assembly and over time enough moisture gets in that the desicant can’t cope. The propellant is thus impacted in a way that cause unexpected changes in chemistry that result in a higher than designed for pressure when ignited which ruptures the container causing bits of metal to be flung around. End result is similar to a grenade going off.

The important thing to note, which seems to have been glossed over by the regulators, is that it doesn’t matter if the bag is in a car or on the shelf, unless the air bag is specially packed in sealed plastic bag with extra desicant to protect it.

If moisture can get to the airbag assembly, whether in a car or on a shelf, with the passage of time it becomes dangerous.

I’d be wary of airbag assemblies that have been sitting on a shelf for many years.

Only safe airbag is one that is just been manufactured and as yet it is undetermined is there is a specific life before it must be replaced with a newly manufactured unit. And NTSB is yet to determine if ammonia nitrate is even a safe propellant to be used in airbags

It’s a mess

 

[Immortality]

A couple of years ago we are kinda involved in a fairly serious accident on the motorway, a old lady didn't see the cars in front of her were stopped and plowed into the back of the car in front at fairly much full speed, I thought we got hit too (it sure felt like it) but what we felt was the glass that blew out from one of the cars that was hit hitting our car as it sprayed everywhere.

I got out, the car that got hit had the rear pushed in so much that the rear passenger was sandwiched between what remained of the back of the car and the drivers seat, the old lady's car was in reasonable condition but I thought it was on fire as it looked like it was full of smoke, I opened the drivers door and it didn't smell nice but clearly wasn't smoke from a fire, rather the residue of the propellant from the airbag. The old lady seemed fairly fragile and with the speed of impact had no intent to move her so I had to rip open the passenger door which was jammed to try and ventilate it instead. No doubt the airbag saved her life that day, if the airbag propellant has any lasting effect I have no idea but without it she was surely dead.

 

[Skylarking]

@immortality yes airbags can save lives and reduce injuries so they have a place. But airbags have also cause injury and death, either via granade like behaviour, going off when not needed or possibly causing asma attaches when going off (which can also killing in some instances).

So do we really want vehicle manufacturers and governments to play statistical games and state that airbags are safe overall because they save more lives than they kill? Would such be a comfort if it was your loved one that was killed by a ‘stuffed’ airbag design?

I’d prefer they FIX the airbag design, either by using approproiate propellant that lasts the life of the vehicle (at least 30 years) OR ensuring the casing is explosion proof even if the propellant gets a little wet and goes bang an little harder... but I gues bean counters considered better propellant or more steel costs too much...

Sadly, manufacturers penny pinch so much they don’t see logic in better designs that can save lives. As an example of such, just look at manufacturers reluctance to have mandatory reverse cameras fitted that may have saved many children lives each year that would not have died by being run over by their parents at home. Years of their objections have resulted in multiple deaths that could have been avoided, each year, over the last 10 years... Better to have an expensive safety option tied to an even more expensive infotainment systems, etc... $$$ to be had after all...

 

[Immortality]

Completely agree, deaths Vs recall costs are what business do everyday.

The Takana airbag issue is huge but how does that effect other manufacturers airbags?

 

[Skylarking]

Completely agree, deaths Vs recall costs are what business do everyday.

The Takana airbag issue is huge but how does that effect other manufacturers airbags?

That’s the million, actually billion dollar question that NTSB may answer as it looks into the issue of ammonia nitrate and it’s alternatives as an airbag propellant.

Sadly the USA like Australia is heavily suffering from regulatory capture so it will be interesting which way it will go...