Thankfully, I\u2019ve never been in a situation where airbags have been needed, although it\u2019s reassuring to know I\u2019m always equipped if there is an accident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had a guy bump his SUV up against the back of our little hatchback last week, and it got me thinking, do airbags have any expiry date? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I thought I\u2019d do a little research on these puffy life-savers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s no easy answer, as it really depends on the make and model of your car. In the case of most modern cars, the airbags won\u2019t expire and will last the full lifetime of the car.
However some earlier car models, particularly those that were produced between the 70\u2019s to the 90\u2019s may require an inspection or replacement to make sure the airbags are working properly. In some cases it may need a replacement. An inspection is generally required every 10-15 years, so nothing too onerous, but worth keeping note of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If this is the case for your pre-2000 vehicle, check your owner\u2019s manual, as it\u2019s likely to give you a manufacturer’s recommendation as to whether you need to do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another thing to be aware of when it comes to the diagnostics of an airbag is the durability factor of airbag igniters, also known as squibs. It turns out the seal used to house the squibs was more durable than the manufacturer\u2019s originally anticipated, and so most airbags will now match the lifespan of the car. Great!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were originally two types of squib made. One was made of plastic and metal, and the other was made of metal and glass. The glass resisted the build up of moisture over the years, meaning there was no chance of corrosion and inefficient airbag ignition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These days, all igniter seals are made of glass and metal, giving you that reassurance that your airbags are going to be reliable without the need to have them inspected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is great news for many drivers! It\u2019s one less thing to worry about. However, here at My Auto Shop<\/a> we do like to tread safely, and for that reason we recommend you do monitor<\/em> your airbags. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can do this by checking the airbag light on your instrument panel. When you start your engine, it should light up and then switch off. If it doesn\u2019t light up, or the airbag light stays on, you should definitely get your airbags checked by a qualified mechanic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t fret though, with more than 25 years\u2019 experience in development and production, you can be confident in their performance if and when you ever need them.\u00a0 Fingers crossed you don\u2019t! Thankfully, I\u2019ve never been in a situation where airbags have been needed, although it\u2019s reassuring to know I\u2019m always equipped if there is an accident. I had a guy bump his SUV up against the back of our little hatchback last week, and it got me thinking, do airbags have any expiry date? So I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":3666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[289,287,57,288],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-3665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-2000s-vehicle","tag-airbags","tag-car-maintenance","tag-squib"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3665"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3665"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3667,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3665\/revisions\/3667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3665"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=3665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your airbag light is staying on longer than you\u2019re comfortable with, or you\u2019re driving a pre-200s vehicle, we can help you get started with help from a qualified mechanic.\u00a0 Head over to the My Auto Shop service area<\/a> to get started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"