Airbag Question

So my wife and I are the proud parents of twin girls born in January. My car (Chevy HHR) is way too small to accommodate them in their car seats comfortably for all of us. I have an opportunity to get my parents' 97 Nissan Quest for free. It only has 70K miles on it and was well maintained by my parents but the only hitch is that my father a few years ago ran into a light pole which caused it to deploy both driver and passenger airbags. He never got it fixed after this incident and so how would you feel about driving a minivan with no airbags? Let me know if my wife and I should pass on this deal or get it and either drive it around or get it fixed. I have received a quote for the parts alone which would be $2600 for both airbags. I have not received a quote for the labor. Of course airbags do not matter for my girls seeing that they'll be in the second or third row anyway. Thank you.

personally, I think ABS is more important than airbags as far as safety goes. I think the judgement call of having airbags or not is up to you. If it was me ... i'd take the Quest (especially if it's got ABS) and drive extra safe like I do with my little girl anyway!

Free is free, and airbags are only there as a supplement to seat belts in the event of an accident. If you could find a better vehicle than this for free, then I would pass. Take it.

Questions like this are asked and answered all the time here. There are specific items that are required replacement items when a deployment occurs or when an airbag light comes on...and there are some items that are "check only". Check out this website for the EXACT answers to your questions including fault code charts. This site tells you exactly what needs to be replaced and how to access them (seat belts & all) on over 3500 cars. It's a pay site, but it's little money well spent to get the correct answers and to see exactly what you're after...it uses pictures, not text, so you can see what you’re looking for.
http://www.airbagsolutions.com (http://www.airbagsolutions.com/)
Good Luck...it's not too bad of a job & if your state allows it, used parts or parts from ebay should be ok

The airbags are just as important as the seatbelts and ABS. If you aren't willing to pay and have the airbags fixed, then find another car or stick with the HHR. This is your family you are talking about. If you were single then I would I say pass on the repair.