But, the question from the original poster was, should I be concerned about the deployment of an airbag in a DI that is maybe a year older than the DI in the video. My response, which I though was clear, intended to make the point that in the hundreds of old Rovers, DI’s and ‘95 RRC’s in particular, that means have parted, I have not seen airbag deployment in many (actually, ONLY one) Rovers that sustained front end damaged that should have been sufficient for deployment. Basically, as was already pointed out by another poster, these components are supposed to be replaced at particular intervals, from sensors to ecu’s To the bags themselves. So, given what I have seen, and heard, concern about deployment of airbags as old as those found in these Rovers is misplaced.

Personally, I would be far more concerned about how a ladder framed vehicle like a old Classic or DI would survive a serious accident. The amount of damage sustained by the DI in that video was frightening in comparison to the Espace, a more modern vehicle in design and safety. What I find even more concerning is the complete lack of side protection in these early Rovers. In a side impact there is really nothing to protect the driver or passenger. Nothing will convince me that the Range Rover Classic, a vehicle designed in the 1960’s, the Defender, a glorified tractor with more in common with a ‘48 Series I than a thoroughly modern vehicle, or the DI are terrible safe vehicles.

That’s not to say that I haven’t owned and don’t continue to love my Rovers. I just try to be a realist. With that, I will say again, if you own one of these DI’s or RRC’s with airbags, I’d be amazed if the still work as intended. If the SRS light is one, they definitely won’t work. If the SRS light is not on it’s more likely the bulb has burnt out.

 

I saw that video some time ago and I can’t say it surprised me. Based on D1 build designs it’s quite simplistic. Basically a frame with a body shell on top with fenders and doors attached by screws. Crumple zones definitely didn’t figure in. I can imagine a front corner crash driving the fender back like a steel razor blade. There’s little to nothing floor wise to stop penetration and the doors will have little body shell to stop them from intruding into the cabin. Hell, there’s nothing of substance in the upper door/window frame area.

I routinely drive I95 to and from work everyday in what was last described as the 8th most dangerous stretch of 95 in the country, and I BELIEVE IT. A part of why I’m moving summer 2019 to a less populated location.

I have NO illusion of safety in my D1 but I still love it. I do find them remarkably less prone to rollover than other high vehicles. In high school I had a used bronco II. I CANNOT tell you how many times I nearly flipped that thing. Take a turn at 20 in a thunderstorm and two wheels would come off the ground. Seriously.

But back to the airbag. I agree they’ll probably never even deploy. Might as well just remove the steering wheel and put a nice mahogany wheelin there. Been eying one for awhile now.

 

Airbag deployment by any vehicle of that that era and seemed to be dependent upon the sweet spot being disturbed. My own experiences with '97 Rodeo, '00 Trooper and '03 Miata previously owned had no deployments. Doubt current age of airbag is that relevant.
......

 

Too true number9, it's like auto insurance though, you never need it until you do and an inoperative SRS may even invalidate the insurance for passenger and driver personal injury. So to some extent it is worth having a piece of official LR paper saying the SRS was serviced and checked periodically. I don't know about the US but in the UK and Europe the auto insurers will try all the underhanded tricks to avoid a pay out.

 

If you were to bring an older Land Rover, say an early DI into the dealer with the SRS light on, I doubt they'd even want to touch it for fear of liability. I know about twelve years ago I bought a '95 DI for what I thought was going to be parts. It turned out the truck was in such great shape that I drove it for about 5-6 years before parting it. Anyway, one of the things the previous owner had done just before I bought the truck from him was take the truck in to have the SRS checked. The light was on in the dash.

Now, keep in mind that the SRS light will often come on if voltage drops in the battery. I guess it's a matter of enough charge to detonate the bags. Anyway, the dealership had the truck in the shop for awhile and in the end the owner was presented with a bill over $2K for SRS service. The bags were not replaced but the ECU was to the tune of just under $1K. I can't remember the other items that were replaced but they were all likely items that needed to be done to free the dealer of any future liability should the bags fail to deploy. These days, the dealer would have probably told the guy to take a hike.

Now, I seriously doubt that what that owner did was at all in common with typical DI ownership. The bags in that truck may have actually deployed under the proper circumstances. Those in trucks that had never had their SRS checked or serviced, less likely. Those that get hit just slightly off the front frame horns where the sensors are installed, not at all.

 

Like I said above, I doubt a Land Rover dealer here in the US would want to even touch an old Series 1 Discovery let alone provide the owner with documentation about the performance of a 20 year old SRS system. Land Rover's responsibilities for servicing those old trucks and their safety features ended a long time ago.

 

 

Paul, that is very sad, in the UK and even more so in France, virtually any decent garage will work on older trucks, at the end of the day, money is money, and here in France there are more 'old' cars and trucks than new ones. My biggest concern would be the insurance paying out for personal injuries in the case of an accident. I have to admit that the world seems to have a 'fetish' for new vehicles and many are on credit it seems.

 

That all sounds like a classic LR stealership attitude, this side of the pond it's referred to being 'topped up', I'll never forget buying my D2 new, their attitude at the main stealership was abysmal, even demeaning and when I took it into them for a routine service they still tried to double the price, I'm afraid they were told to FO in my 'best' language and they immediately halved the price. The guy next to me at the desk had bought a new Range Rover, they did the same to him but he followed my example and they again halved his invoice, goes to show what crooks are in the 'high life' auto trade.

 

Here in the US most independent garages loath to work on Rovers. In my last location, the shop next to me had a couple of Rover owners but hated working on the trucks. I never could understand why but the feeling he had was not unusual. Meanwhile, he would think nothing of working on a muscle car from the '60's. So for the smaller shops, it's really not about the money. I think it's more about the lack of hands on experience (especially with the small number of Rovers on the road here in the states) that turns these shops off. Add that to the expense of the parts (and rarity of some for older models) and the brand is viewed as more bother than it's worth.

Now as far as the Land Rover dealers are concerned, they don't want the older trucks taking up lift space because they know most of the owners are likely to blanch at the cost of repair on their $3K trucks. If the average cost of repair at a dealership is greater than the cost of the vehicle coming in, how could you possibly expect to make money. Most older Rover owners would never pay $5k in repairs on a '96 DI. For the dealer, it's a waste of time to even bother with the diagnostics. It's a business, not a hobby, plain and simple.

On the topic of countries and the age of their automobiles, the average age of a used car in France is 7.4 years whereas the average age for the same category of cars in the US is 11.6. According to IHS, that age is growing yearly.

https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-m...-the-vehicle-8

http://www.autonews.com/article/2016...its-11.6-years

The average for all of Europe according to the ACEA is still lower at 10.7 years. An that includes all the countries in Europe, both wealthy and poor.

Average Vehicle Age | ACEA - European Automobile Manufacturers' Association