VW Airbag deployed, any experts!!!

plane_boy2000

Sounds harsh, but its an 8 year old used car. Things do go wrong with cars, and you are being emotive (understandably) as its a safety item and your wife / child are involved, but in reality would you be so upset if it was a mechanical breakdown?

By all means push for something from VW, but the reality is I doubt that you know the cars history so it may have been in an accident before or badly repaired. How long have you had it?

plane_boy2000

Money_Grabber13579 wrote: »

I thought when the airbags deployed, the car would be a write off? I know it appears it has never been crashed, but how could you manage to get them back in working order again without stripping the whole front of the car down?

Likely will be - you can repair by replacing parts, but the bags themselves, seatbelt pretensioners, possible new dash etc will probably make it unviable

Sam2005

I contacted my insurance company and they told me that nothing can be done as this is not a Road Traffic Accident!!! I have a Fully comprehensive cover.

Is this correct???????

anewman

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

vw's really are crap, just the marketing that people believe

It's just the brand image really. They used to be good but cost cutting means many of the more recent ones no longer are. Unfortunately brand images stick, whether good or crap.

Now when you mention Skoda, people either think they're crap, or ohh they're made by VW now which makes them better than the crap Skoda used to be. I'd be inclined to think they were better before any VW involvement.

anewman

plane_boy2000 wrote: »

Sounds harsh, but its an 8 year old used car. Things do go wrong with cars, and you are being emotive (understandably) as its a safety item and your wife / child are involved, but in reality would you be so upset if it was a mechanical breakdown?

I think the replacement interval quoted by manufacturers for airbags is longer than 8 years. Unfortunately that's not a guarantee, just like the cambelt replacement interval is not a guarantee the belt won't fail in that time.

Premier_2

Sam2005 wrote: »

I contacted my insurance company and they told me that nothing can be done as this is not a Road Traffic Accident!!! I have a Fully comprehensive cover.

Is this correct???????

In your OP, you described the failure as "a technical fault within the car"

You don't really expect your insurance to cover you for all component failures do you?
Why do you think its any different that the airbags failed compared to say a fuse box failing, a door handle breaking, a seat cover ripping???

rusty-london

goldspanners wrote: »

why not? if the sensor wiring was faulty then it might, in fact it did.

This shouldn't affect the SRS system.
I'm pretty sure that all airbag/SRS systems are built to be failsafe, basically if any sensors fail or wiring becomes damaged, it should de-activate the system and show a warning light on the dash.

I'd speak to VW again about it!

hewhoisnotintheknow

goldspanners wrote: »

why not? if the sensor wiring was faulty then it might, in fact it did.

Because it did doesnt mean it should have!

maninthestreet

How much was the car worth before the airbags deployed? Probably not much. It may be a write-off as a result.

jaydeeuk1

If the insurance company won't payout as its not a road traffic accident, I'd find a way of ensuring it ended up wrapped around the nearest tree.