06 Passat Rear Side Thorax Air Bag

[mstarr]

My husband is getting a new 06 Passat as his company car. I am thrilled due to safety ratings. However, there is an option for Side Impact Thorax Air Bags. This is in addition to standard side curtain air bags. Although it seems commonly accepted that side curtains are safe, I cannot find much on the safety of thorax bags with children in carseats. We have an almost 4 year old (over 40 lbs and about to outgrow his Wizard) and an 18 month old RFing in a Roundabout. They will both be in outboard seats in the back. ARe the thorax bags safe? Since they are options, we can technically get the car without them but my husband's boss is actually making the purchase and the one he's looking at has them on it already. VW says you cannot deactivate them. Are they safe or do I need to have my husband refuse this model and hope that his boss will have the patience to find one without the optional thorax bags? If they make the car safer, then I'm extra thrilled but I don't know if I should be happy or concerned. The sales person is a little sketchy about it and since she will gain from the sale, I want an outside opinion.

 

[TXDani]

I would *guess* that VW wouldn't use airbags on a sedan that couldn't be used with carseats since that would limit their market to families with only one child. But you never know....I would suggest you look online for a manual for the Passat or go to a dealership and ask to read it. The manula will tell you if it is ok to use a carseat next to the thorax airbags.

 

[cstabile]

Although I do not have a direct answer for you, I can tell you that you are not alone in your search for this information. My circumstances are almost identical to yours (i.e., considering a 2006 Passat w/ or w/out rear SAB w/ 2 small kids, one RF, one FF) - Amazing coincidence, huh !!! Anyway, I've been searching the web for days and was actually about to post your very question on this forum, so thanks for taking the inititave. The best I can share at this point is as follows:

1. The CPS Technicians on this Board are excellent and I am sure will respond shortly. That said....

2. Don't trust the sales person for a second. Most have that "deer in the headlights" look each time I inquired about rear air bags in the Passat.

3. The FAQ section of this website (see link at top of page) somewhat deals with your question at FAQ #61.

Here's hoping a CPS Technician can provide some additional insight. I agree with you, if their safe, I'm all for it - it would be the best $350 I ever spent. P.S. - Your husband has a nice employer

 

[mstarr]

Thank you.

Thanks for the reference to #61, I guess I didn't scroll far enough down the FAQ list because I did look through them before posting!

I may try to call VW directly tomorrow but if anyone has any more insight in the meantime, I'm all "ears." If I find out anything official, I'll post back.

I don't trust the salesperson since I've been told more than once during this whole process that cars have all 5 star safety ratings only to visit the NHTSA site later and find out otherwise. Besides, originally the salesperson is the one who said we may not want to pay for that option since she didn't think they had a car on the lot with it. Once she realized the one closest to what we wanted she mellowed a bit on them.

Thanks again for any help, this is happening faster than expected so I don't have the research time I thought I had!

 

[Unregistered]

Glad I could help. If you do get ANY response from VW, I would love to hear what they had to say. Thanks.

 

[mstarr]

I called VW customer care today. They indicated the optional thorax side impact air bags are safe for children in and out of safety seats. Their only caveat was correctly positioned children which didn't surprise me. Hope that helps anyone else looking at this model.

 

[Unregistered]

Sweet. Thanks so much. What VW phone number finally worked for you. I kept getting a bit of run around? Thanks.

 

[Victorious4]

Great! Thanks for following through & letting us know what VW says We're looking at the Passat to replace our Escape in a year or so (& we're planning on making it a biofuel vehicle after the warrantee runs out) - either this or the Hybrid Sienna if I can talk my guy into by then, LOL ... so I thank you for posting this info

 

[mstarr]

I wish I could give you a number but I don't have the actual number because I called 1-800 directory (800-555-1212) from my mobile phone and it automatically connected me. 800 Directory gave me three options and only one was a customer care type number. Once I got a human, they transferred me to a group dedicated to child passenger safety issues. I did have to provide my name, address and phone number to receive assistance. They say they don't use it for marketing. Good luck.

 

[Unregistered]

Thanks. Drive safe.

 

[SafeDad]

I called VW customer care today. They indicated the optional thorax side impact air bags are safe for children in and out of safety seats. Their only caveat was correctly positioned children which didn't surprise me. Hope that helps anyone else looking at this model.

According to the NHTSA ( http://www.safercar.gov/NCAP/Cars/3702.html ), the 2006 Passats meets voluntary guidelines for out-of-position testing with side airbags. I would assume this includes the optional thorax bags as well, but I am not positive about that.

 

[mstarr]

Thanks Darren but now I feel like a complete idiot. I had seen the iihs ratings for the 2006 Passat as a gold with all good ratings for frontal, side and rear and I guess I just skipped checking the nhtsa ratings. When I went to Darren's link, I see it doesn't have all 5 star ratings like I assumed it did. In real world terms, if the iihs has it rated so high, what is the difference in 4 and 5 stars at NHTSA? Is that the differnce between 1 vs. 2 cracked ribs or something more significant like life and death?

 

[SafeDad]

The NHTSA and IIHS tests are complementary. They both simulate somewhat different types of crashes, all of which are among the most common and deadly in real life.

IMO, if a vehicle has crash test ratings that are all IIHS "Good", NHTSA "4-star" or higher, it's very safe. If you also have stability control and side curtain airbags, you and your family will be very well protected.

As a side note, the NHTSA does correlate each of its star ratings to an increased risk of injury in real world crashes. From their website:

Frontal star ratings indicate the chance of a serious head and chest injury to the driver and right front seat passenger. A serious injury is one requiring immediate hospitalization and may be life threatening.

= 10% or less chance of serious injury
= 11% to 20% chance of serious injury
= 21% to 35% chance of serious injury
= 36% to 45% chance of serious injury
= 46% or greater chance of serious injury


As with the frontal crash ratings, a serious injury is one requiring immediate hospitalization and may be life threatening.

= 5% or less chance of serious injury
= 6% to 10% chance of serious injury
= 11% to 20% chance of serious injury
= 21% to 25% chance of serious injury
= 26% or greater chance of serious injury

The IIHS lumps some categories together when they do the correlation for frontal offset crashes to real world fatalities. "Best Pick" and "Good" are grouped together, as are "Acceptable" and "Marginal". So, in reality, the differences between those categories is based only on differences in the crash testing and not a correlation to real world data. This may be important or trivial, it's impossible to say.

If you want to see how safe your vehicle is overall, try checking http://www.informedforlife.org/CRSriskorder2006.pdf . This website combines NHTSA crash tests, IIHS crash tests, rollover risk, weight and safety features into one rating comparable across all vehicles. The way they combine all this data is not arbitrary, it's based on published statistics and studies. The 2006 Passat does quite well overall with a score of 75, much better than average.

Almost every model on the first two pages is a great choice for safety, particularly if it can be equipped with side curtain airbags and stability control. The only few exceptions are those with many missing entries, such as the Saab 9-3, Lincoln Navigator, Dodge Durango, etc. Those might also be very safe, but there's not yet enough data to say for sure.