Re: Euro airbags

[MSV96@aol.com]

In a note dated 5/29/97 Luis Marques writes:

<<If I had my choice with a new car, I would opt for the smaller
one.(airbag)>>

Yup, I'd go one beyond that...given the choice I would want the damm things
un-hooked! I recall when they first came out Autoweek ran several articles
about the potential maintenace costs of these things too. The were saying
that the airbags would require periodic replacement to ensure they would work
when required. I recall the time period being something like 5-7 years and
the costs quite high depending on the automaker (with German cars the
highest-of course.) Anybody here have any information on this? Seems that
some older quattros are airbag equipped and this "maintenance" may be coming
due. The scary part is if it is really required, not done, and an accident
happens...well we all know how insurance companies think. Is there a
potential liability to disconnecting airbags yourself? I was under the
impression that you now can to ensure safety for smaller drivers and that
soon the dealers can too. There seems to be lots of issues surrounding these
bombs.

Mike Veglia
85 4ksq (no airbags, no abs, no less "safe")