Car Airbags : Need guidance

Hi Ritesh,

A new set of airbag can certainly be fitted to the SX4 and the statement of that sales person is false. Fitting the airbag can be a costly affir though. We reached the Maruti dealership and were told that the cost of fitting the whole airbag unit (driver+passenger) can run upto a couple of lakhs. For only the driver's side, the cost will be in tune of about 50K rupees atleast.

I suggest you too get in touch with your dealership again and speak to the sales manager or better still, the workshop manager to get a better idea.     

This is a good information. Ritesh must ne happy after knowing that airbags can be re-fitted. But, Ritesh don't bang your SX4 too often Cheers Azad

Airbags and abs are absolutely necessary to ensure safety of the passengers in case of an accident.

Hi Ashish,

Are you sure of these price quotes. I thought it normally costs around 40-50 ks to replace/re-install airbags. Moreover I am still nto convinced that one needs to replace the entire unit, unles that too suffered a damage. one can simply replace the bags themselves I believe. Even the bags deflate soon after coming out to allow the driver/passenger to get out easily. I thought they can simply be put back by a qualified workshop guy.
Having said so, I hope no one gets to stage when the airbags get deployed. They only come out in very severe accidents, normally the ones capable to breking the collapsible steering column. Being in that state without airbags can really be fatal.

Odd question, but I am writing a short story and am trying to figure out what happens after an airbag is deployed.  Is it possible to just shove it back in to the steering wheel and just continue driving?  Obviously it wouldn't work again, but can you drive away?

The short answer to the story is yes.

Can Airbag be fitted with a car which has no company fitted airbag

After deployment of an Airbag, it is not advisable to drive a car - in certain cars, you may actually not be able to drive the car because the electronic circuit will deactivate certain parts of car - in others this may not be the case so at least in concept one can drive assuming minor accident.

The airbags do at times deploy at low speed (~20KM/hr) accident - it all depends on the accident and how the sensors work. Also, once airbag is deployed, it is highly recommended that an authorized service center reinstall the air bag kit (why would you want someone half trained do this when the only time you will find he did a good job would be when you want the thing to work the most). One does not need to scrap the car just because airbag got deployed (unless it was a major accident and cost of repair far exceed the car value and/or the defect cannot be rectified completely).

A replacement airbag are expensive - may want to check with dealer service center on the cost for specific model.

Also, in certain high end cars, there are options where one can deactivate passenger side airbag (some also have auto sensor so that airbag is not deployed when that seat is not occupied). In no case can the driver side airbag can be deactivated (why would one want that consider the purpose of air bag is to save life in an accident). BTW, there are cars with 6-8 airbags - side impact etc - don't know if any car sold in India has these may airbags.

Simple answer - No. [But just like with any mechnical thing, anything can be possible - may not be practical/economical etc.]