MoTs and airbag lights

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MoTs and airbag lights

My wife's 2002 renault clio will next year be ten years old. The car has only done 21,000 miles and is immaculate, so we wish to keep it.

However, in the service maintenance book there is a statement that the airbag and seat belt pretensioners must be replaced at ten years. Now the cost of this I am told is astronomical and is probably more than the car is worth.

So my question is - if this task is not carried out would it affect 1. the MOT and 2. the insurance in the event of an accident?

Asked on 29 November 2011 by Vic Cozens

Answered by Honest John

It might affect the MoT from next April when the rules become considerably stricter. But I have never heard of anyone routinely replacing airbags and seatbelt pretensioners. This could be an underhand new form of scrappage scheme, forcing older cars off the road because they are simply not worth repairing. ABS failure is already doing this quite successfully.

Tags: old cars owning

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