Boxster Passenger Air Bag Cut Off

[Guest]

Apologies if this has been asked before, I'm just starting to look for a Boxster S as a second car. Is it possible to disable the passenger airbag occasionally? I would like to take my son out in the car, but not if the airbag is permanently enabled.

Thanks,
Michael

 

[Mark_Bennett]

On the pre-facelift (987) cars you have to buy a part from Porsche that enables disabling of the airbag when a child seat is fitted.
With the new cars I believe there is a switch built in?

 

[Guest]

Mark, thanks. I've just had a word with the Cambridge OPC about this, but am little wiser right now. You can buy a "seat belt deactivation unit", which requires an official Porsche car seat to be used, as you say. However, Porsche is in the process of changing all the child seats and the OPC didn't have any information on the new seats. Apparently they'll know more in 3-4 weeks so I may have to wait a while before I can make a case to my wife :-(

I'm looking for a 3-4 year old S, i.e. the pre-pre-facelift model!

Thanks,
Michael

 

[jw2015]

I've had this done on my 986. As you might expect the extra bit you get only works in conjunction with a Porsche child seat. In total it cost me just over £500, including a seat that will take a child from about 18 months up to probably 6 or 7, as it eventually converts to a booster (it's isofix too). The thing that diables the airbag hides away under the front of the passenger seat and takes the form of an extra seatbelt slot wired up to the airbag and mounted on a bar. The child seat comes with the corresponding buckle. In theory if you can source a seat belt buckle from somewhere you might be able to avoid having to get the Porsche child seat, although I haven't checked if the buckle is a standard size. it's a bit clunky as a solution but it works.

It is annoying that they try to tie you to a childseat that is probably £150 more expensive that the best of the rest but all the premium manufacturers have this strategy. I looked into doing this with a Merc I had, and you had to buy a transponder that you'd slot into one of their childseats, but their early stage childseats were terrible so I didn't bother. In fairness to Porsche their childseat is superb and I don't doubt its protective qualities.

 

[Mark_Bennett]

ORIGINAL: jw

works in conjunction with a Porsche child seat. In total it cost me just over £500

Yike!

Another reason not to have a child...[]

 

[Guest]

I find that a little surprising, even by Porsche standards. The Porsche Carli seat I bought for my 964 cost £130 about 4 years ago, and was basically the only seat that would fit in the back, although sadly it won't work in the Boxster with the seat deactivation switch. According to my local OPC, the switch is £93.78+VAT, but I can't really see how *any* car seat would cost £400+. Even Recaro "only" charge £190 for their top-of-the-range seat, which is superb. Have I missed something? You don't need to buy a new Boxster passenger seat to fit a car seat on top, do you? []

There's a Porsche Zoom seat on eBay, currently about £55, so maybe I should just bid for that!! Or stick with the family car for family trips...

Thanks,
Michael

 

[JCB..]

Another reason not to have a child...

You and Claire owe it to the world![&:]

 

[Mark_Bennett]

ORIGINAL: JCB..

Another reason not to have a child...

You and Claire owe it to the world![&:]

...Not to have one?

Harsh! But maybe true...
What a twisted individual 2 motor-racing & car fan, sci-fi loving tech-heads could produce...
[8D]

 

[Guest]

They're all twisted in their own special ways []

We have #3 due in September, must be completely mad...

Michael

 

[jw2015]

Snap, I've number 3 due in Sept too, it's going to be a tight squeeze for them in the boxster passenger seat.

About the cost of the switch and seat, the switch was actually £100 + VAT, but for some reason I had thought this was closer to £200+vat and that the cost of the childseat was therefore £300, which I thought was very pricey but to be expected. However I've just looked at the invoice and the seat was £417 including VAT, yikes???? I hadn't thought about it much at the time, as it was done when I bought the car and with the excitment of the day and in handing over £35500, I didn't really pay that much attention to the cost of the childseat. I think I'll have to question this with my dealer. It is an all singing and dancing G1 + G2 seat that adapts over at least 5 or 6 years, but that price is still way over the top.

 

[Michael Downing]

My brain has a mental block installed, which instantly erases all memory of the exact amount of any Porsche-related bills.

Thus, I know for certain that I bought a Porsche kiddie seat in January 2004 and got them to fit the deactivator in January 2005, but have no idea what either cost. []

 

[jw2015]

I'm going to have to develop this skill, my first service is tomorrow [X(]

 

[Guest]

I sold my 964 about a month ago, which I owned for 5 years. If you own an older Porsche, you quickly develop that mental block. I became well-conditioned to service bills being multiples of £1K (sometimes large multiples). I can only hope a Boxster will be somewhat less. If not, I'd better go and buy an M3 instead [:'(]

I could have bought a nice Boxster 2.7 (new) with my servicing / maintenance / running costs over 5 years of 964 ownership. See http://www.little-nomad.com/964/ ...

Michael