volvo 940turbo , year 1993. Airbag didnt deploy in crash.

[sergitin32]

Hello, its been a while for me in this forum...
My car (excar) volvo 940turbo, 1993... was found as a total loss for ICBC (insurance comp of BC) after a frontal collition against a lamp post in the street, after colliding a driver who turned left without having the right gap... my wife was driving not speeding at all and been a heavy duty car and the seatbelt saved her of having any bad injuries, thanx God...

Nevetheless the airbags never deployed, and I had never seen the SRS malfunction light on for longer after we started the engine... and with the switch in the on position that light would be on for a few seconds and then off, wich means the system was ok or at least the light never ment the opposite...

Now my questions are:

1- Does the airbag need any manteinance even without accidents and the light working properly?
2- Should ICBC give me a detailed diagnosis of what happened with the airbag?
3- Can i get any third part do this job , since ICBC takes long and is really painfull dealing with them?
4- Any body with experience about how to deal with the insurance company (read the info ahead)

I need to get some money from this since the car is a loss and there was a line on it, so the money would go to the bank and we get nothing... i know we the one to blame for trusting the seller, was a friend of a friend, and i use to trust friends.

If any one has any experience about this, what argorithm to follow, if i can claim anything to volvo, i dont want milions bucks but wanna get pay what i paied off for the car.

IT WAS A BEAUTY AND NOW ITS GONE!!! SHAME!

I am finishing rebuilding the rest of my other 240 dl, the older one and we will drive it for a while till all this situation clears off. will post soon about the whole restoration process.

thanx for your attention and your help,
you guys have a great time, and live in joy and peace.
sergitin32

[heydanno]

I do know Volvo has issued a TSB extending the airbag service life to at least 15 years (I think it may have been extended further to "life of the car"). While there is a label on the door indicating service is needed at 10 years, the TSB stipulates the only service to be to replace the sticker.

[Kmaniac in California USA]

How fast was your wife going at the point of impact? If the vehicle speed was less than 10 mph at the point of impact, the airbag may not have deployed by design. The airbag control unit requires a minimum interia force before it will deploy. This prevents airbag deployment when you kiss bumpers in a parking lot. Your wife may have slowed the car down enough before the impact to keep the airbags from deploying. Now you know why you should always wear a seatbelt, regardless of the presense of airbags. Sorry about the car, but better to lose the car than your wife.