Child Car Seat and Passenger Side Airbag Deactivation
#1
09-30-2006, 04:13 PM
Child Car Seat and Passenger Side Airbag Deactivation
Hi I recently went through this. I found some helpfull information on PCA.org and wanted to share my experience with as many people possible. Hope it helps someone.
I recently had my 2000 Boxster equipped with the compenents necessary to properly install a child car seat and deactivate the passenger side airbag. What is needed, the passenger airbag deactivation bar and a compatable child seat.
The airbag deactivation bar is a black U shaped bar with a female buckle attached by about 4 inches of red seat belt material to the bottom of the U. The female buckle also has a small black cable that is wired into the car on installation. The bar is installed by the dealer under the passenger seat. Once installed the female buckle sticks out from under the front of the passenger seat in between the passengers legs. The bar follows the contours of the bottom of the seat and is also visible if you are looking for it. Labor for installation of the bar is free at a dealer for certain older model years. I do not know the cutoff. In a post by Scott Slauson at PCA.org, he indicates that the labor is free provided you purchase the bar from the dealer.
The compatible child seat has a male seat belt end attached to it. After installing the car seat into the passenger seat like a normal car seat. You insert this additional male buckle into the female buckle on the airbag deactivation bar. For the forward facing car seats, the male buckle is attached to the lower front center of the car seat (in between the child's dangling feet). For the rear facing shild seat, the male buckle is hangs down from the lower center of the rear of the car seat.
According to other posts by Scott Slauson. The airbag deactivation bar sends a signal to the car to deactivate the passenger side air bags when the male end of the car seat buckle is inserted into the female end buckle on the airbag deactivation bar. He also says that the connection purely mechanical, all thats needed is a male buckle of the right size and shape to be inserted into the female end. When this is done, the airbag light will flash when the child seat buckle is latched for a short time at every start up.
On the Porsche Website there are 3 child seat options. Porsche BabySeat, (part no. 955 044 800 82, 0-26 lbs., Approx. 0-18 months) Porsche Junior Seat, (part no. 955 044 800 39, 20-55 lbs., Approx.9 months -7 years), Porsche Plus (part no. 955 044 801 03, 33-80 lbs., Approx. 3.5-12 years).
My dealer indicated that all 3 came with the airbag deactivation bar. It is surprisingly difficult (or maybe not surprisingly) to get a straight answer when you ask the dealer about price. The Porsche Baby Seat was about $700, The Porsche Junior Seat was $675 and the Porsche Plus seat was around $350. In one conversation they told me the airbag deactivation bar itself was about $500. Later, much later, they told me the bar alone was under $300. All these prices are with taxes included.
What I chose; they told me they were out of stock of and that Porsche was not making any more of the Porsche Plus seats. Since I was under the impression that the airbar deactivation bar cost $500. I decided to just buy the Porsche Junior Seat. Which came with the bar and a nice car seat seemingly for $140 (675 - taxes - 500 = about 140 right). And this car seat goes from 20 to 55 lbs. so that's a couple years of usage at least.
Now that I know that the bar alone is under $300. What I would have done and recommend anyone else do is buy only the bar from the dealer. Have it installed for free if your model year qualifies.. Then go on eBay and buy any one of the used Porsche child seats. You can cut the male buckle off that used child seat from eBay and then use your preferred child seat.
Many books make many recommendations on car seats so you should consult them and do what is comfortable to you
I recently had my 2000 Boxster equipped with the compenents necessary to properly install a child car seat and deactivate the passenger side airbag. What is needed, the passenger airbag deactivation bar and a compatable child seat.
The airbag deactivation bar is a black U shaped bar with a female buckle attached by about 4 inches of red seat belt material to the bottom of the U. The female buckle also has a small black cable that is wired into the car on installation. The bar is installed by the dealer under the passenger seat. Once installed the female buckle sticks out from under the front of the passenger seat in between the passengers legs. The bar follows the contours of the bottom of the seat and is also visible if you are looking for it. Labor for installation of the bar is free at a dealer for certain older model years. I do not know the cutoff. In a post by Scott Slauson at PCA.org, he indicates that the labor is free provided you purchase the bar from the dealer.
The compatible child seat has a male seat belt end attached to it. After installing the car seat into the passenger seat like a normal car seat. You insert this additional male buckle into the female buckle on the airbag deactivation bar. For the forward facing car seats, the male buckle is attached to the lower front center of the car seat (in between the child's dangling feet). For the rear facing shild seat, the male buckle is hangs down from the lower center of the rear of the car seat.
According to other posts by Scott Slauson. The airbag deactivation bar sends a signal to the car to deactivate the passenger side air bags when the male end of the car seat buckle is inserted into the female end buckle on the airbag deactivation bar. He also says that the connection purely mechanical, all thats needed is a male buckle of the right size and shape to be inserted into the female end. When this is done, the airbag light will flash when the child seat buckle is latched for a short time at every start up.
On the Porsche Website there are 3 child seat options. Porsche BabySeat, (part no. 955 044 800 82, 0-26 lbs., Approx. 0-18 months) Porsche Junior Seat, (part no. 955 044 800 39, 20-55 lbs., Approx.9 months -7 years), Porsche Plus (part no. 955 044 801 03, 33-80 lbs., Approx. 3.5-12 years).
My dealer indicated that all 3 came with the airbag deactivation bar. It is surprisingly difficult (or maybe not surprisingly) to get a straight answer when you ask the dealer about price. The Porsche Baby Seat was about $700, The Porsche Junior Seat was $675 and the Porsche Plus seat was around $350. In one conversation they told me the airbag deactivation bar itself was about $500. Later, much later, they told me the bar alone was under $300. All these prices are with taxes included.
What I chose; they told me they were out of stock of and that Porsche was not making any more of the Porsche Plus seats. Since I was under the impression that the airbar deactivation bar cost $500. I decided to just buy the Porsche Junior Seat. Which came with the bar and a nice car seat seemingly for $140 (675 - taxes - 500 = about 140 right). And this car seat goes from 20 to 55 lbs. so that's a couple years of usage at least.
Now that I know that the bar alone is under $300. What I would have done and recommend anyone else do is buy only the bar from the dealer. Have it installed for free if your model year qualifies.. Then go on eBay and buy any one of the used Porsche child seats. You can cut the male buckle off that used child seat from eBay and then use your preferred child seat.
Many books make many recommendations on car seats so you should consult them and do what is comfortable to you
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