Air Bags - life expectancy

[roy.kemp]

Hi all.
Has anybody experience/advice with 'old' Air Bag.
My 2000 (W) 986 Boxter has Air Bags that are now 26 years old. I don't have an Air Bag light on, I have no reason to expect them not to work but how long do they last??
My concern is - you only need them when you ACTUALLY need them.
Fingers crossed we'll all never need them but what if they do go off and a bit of tatty material is all I get?
Any advice/suggestion would be appreciated.

 

[Motorhead]

That’s a very good question Roy, so I used Google AI to ask if car airbags have an expiration date and to which the response was:

Technically, no, modern car airbags do not have a set expiration date and are generally designed to last the lifetime of the vehicle.

While car manufacturers used to recommend replacing airbags every 10 to 15 years, improved materials and inflator seals have rendered this service requirement totally phased out by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Jeff

 

[ianthow]

A quick AI search on airbag service life generated the text below. If there is nothing in the owners handbook about service replacement at X years, I would assume you are OK.

Vehicles manufactured from the mid-1990s onward typically feature airbags that do not require routine replacement, assuming no deployment or recall issues. Older vehicles, particularly those from the early 1990s, often recommended inspections every 10 years due to potential degradation of the inflator seals and propellant.​

Several factors can influence how long an airbag remains reliable:​

• Age of the vehicle: Older airbags, especially pre-2000 models, may be more prone to chemical or mechanical degradation.
• Environmental conditions: Exposure to extreme temperatures, humidity, and UV light can affect the integrity of the airbag materials and inflator.
• Recalls and defects: Certain airbags, such as Takata inflators in vehicles from 2002–2015, have been recalled due to risk of explosive deploymen.
• Vehicle maintenance: Dashboard warning lights, horn malfunctions, or SRS system alerts can indicate potential airbag issues.

 

[malarcy]

porsche have an official airbag testing service (which when I had it done was £50) - they disconnect the air bags - make a warning light come on and then make it go out again - then the bridge the connector with an appropriate resistor and test again....

Doesn't actually test the airbag - but that's all that porsche specify for any age of car going through that process - given they get fussy about tyre goop being a year out of date I think that underlines the comments above.

If there was any possible edge there - then there would be safety recalls - Merc are recalling 25 year old cars for rusty rear subframes - if not a safety recall then Porsche ( or any manufacturer) could specify a best before date.