GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Here is my brothers totaled Vibe. This was in a head-on with no airbag recall done.
The airbags worked fine and hes ok.
P1030170 by tomf2011, on Flickr

P1030169 by tomf2011, on Flickr

P1030160 by tomf2011, on Flickr

That's brutal

tgferg67 wrote:hes ok.

This is all that matters, and glad to hear it

On further analysis - the passenger airbag should not have went off.

Glad he is OK, as that is what's important for sure. Great to see the car did it's job when it was required. Looked like a really clean Vibe. Sorry to see it go.

Another life saved by a Takata air bag.

The most important thing is that your brother is okay. Poor Vibe !

I am glad your brother is fine. Let's hope the people in the other car are ok as well.

I had the passenger airbag recall done and I feel better about it. I've read somewhere that Takata used a cheap but difficult to control explosive (euphemistically called "propellant"). Now it is literally hit or miss when these old ones go off.

tgferg67 wrote:On further analysis - the passenger airbag should not have went off.

Not sure why you think it shouldn't have gone off? Also, where has this Vibe been located most of its life? Thanks!

ImUrOBGYN wrote:

tgferg67 wrote:On further analysis - the passenger airbag should not have went off.

Not sure why you think it shouldn't have gone off? Also, where has this Vibe been located most of its life? Thanks!

There's a sensor in the passenger seat, and the passenger airbag is only suppose to go off, during a crash, if there is a certain amount of weight in the passenger seat. There is a light above the radio that says "air bag off", or "on", can't remember.

'03-'04's lacked the occupant detection system to enable/disable the passenger air bag like the '05+ had. So they would deploy whether there was someone in the seat or not.

Ouch!

If you dont mind me asking, what were the details of the accident? Like impact speeds, other vehicles, angle of impact. Just want to know how safe it is in certain scenarios. I know it's rated high in safety, but just curious in different situations.

SeattleJeremy wrote:

ImUrOBGYN wrote:

tgferg67 wrote:On further analysis - the passenger airbag should not have went off.

Not sure why you think it shouldn't have gone off? Also, where has this Vibe been located most of its life? Thanks!

There's a sensor in the passenger seat, and the passenger airbag is only suppose to go off, during a crash, if there is a certain amount of weight in the passenger seat. There is a light above the radio that says "air bag off", or "on", can't remember.

lol Of course, you're absolutely right. I'm not sure why I assumed there was a passenger in the car.

ColonelPanic wrote:'03-'04's lacked the occupant detection system to enable/disable the passenger air bag like the '05+ had. So they would deploy whether there was someone in the seat or not.

Thanks, I didn't know that.

Thankfully, your brother wasn't hurt.

This Vibe was in excellent shape! Headlight looks brand new and the wheels have no peeling paint. Heartbreaking, for sure...

The crash looks like an offset frontal- exactly what Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tests for (though they list it as "moderate overlap front"). Full head on collisions are less likely than an offset frontal. Ratings are no longer published for 2003-4, but 2009 received a "Good" rating in this category, which is the top of the scale.

http://www.iihs.org/

chappy wrote:Ouch!

If you dont mind me asking, what were the details of the accident? Like impact speeds, other vehicles, angle of impact. Just want to know how safe it is in certain scenarios. I know it's rated high in safety, but just curious in different situations.

My brother was in a left turn lane and was was hit by another vehicle that entered the left turn lane much later(police think the driver was distracted/texting) Then his car was pushed into traffic and hit again in the back. Closing impact speeds were about 35-40mph. My brother just had some discomfort from the seatbelt but is fine.

ehoff121 wrote:Thankfully, your brother wasn't hurt.

This Vibe was in excellent shape! Headlight looks brand new and the wheels have no peeling paint. Heartbreaking, for sure...

http://www.iihs.org/

The wheels were powder coated and headlights restored. The Vibe had 125k miles.

My brother just bought a 2007 Vibe in stealth color to replace it.

tgferg67 wrote:My brother just bought a 2007 Vibe in stealth color to replace it.

Awesome!