Selling car after failing NCT?

jmcwobbles

Hey all,

I currently own a 2000 Ford Focus, which has a faulty airbag and has done for years. The air bag light came on a few years ago and during a service the guy told me it won't deploy and would cost about 1500-2000 to fix. At the time I didn't have anywhere near that kind of money and am not too bothered about it anyway - not all cars even have air bags. My mechanic disabled the actual indicator light so that it wouldn't be on all the time and that was that.

Now, I have my NCT on Saturday, and when I got the confirmation letter and leaflet they said they've started testing for those additional safety features, like if your car is fitted with an airbag the indicator light must be working and must not show a defect blah blah blah - so now I'm expecting my perfectly functioning car to fail a ridiculous test over an EXTRA feature that not all cars even have, which just annoys me so much grrrr... :mad:

The car is 10 years old and it isn't worth putting 2000 into to fix this (and anything else that might fail - I hear a lot of people have been failing on some new tire regulations lately too so am expecting that) - so my plan is just to get rid of the car and try to survive with a bicycle for a while - can't really afford a new car at the mo and am trying to convince myself it'll be great saving the insurance/tax/petrol money too - even though I love my car and am dreading the thought of losing it!!

My question is - is there any chance of being able to sell the car to a garage or something if it has failed it's NCT, and get any money for it? Similar cars are on carzone for about 2K-3K, which obviously I wouldn't get at all, but any chance of getting anything for it? What's the best thing to do?

majnus

The cost of fixing it is not even near €2,000... get airbag for around €50, fit it (VERY easy) and then just reset the computer, that's it. I did it myself in BMW, done for less than €200.

keithclancy

jmcwobbles wrote: »

Hey all,

I currently own a 2000 Ford Focus, which has a faulty airbag and has done for years. The air bag light came on a few years ago and during a service the guy told me it won't deploy and would cost about 1500-2000 to fix. At the time I didn't have anywhere near that kind of money and am not too bothered about it anyway - not all cars even have air bags. My mechanic disabled the actual indicator light so that it wouldn't be on all the time and that was that.

Now, I have my NCT on Saturday, and when I got the confirmation letter and leaflet they said they've started testing for those additional safety features, like if your car is fitted with an airbag the indicator light must be working and must not show a defect blah blah blah - so now I'm expecting my perfectly functioning car to fail a ridiculous test over an EXTRA feature that not all cars even have, which just annoys me so much grrrr... :mad:

The car is 10 years old and it isn't worth putting 2000 into to fix this (and anything else that might fail - I hear a lot of people have been failing on some new tire regulations lately too so am expecting that) - so my plan is just to get rid of the car and try to survive with a bicycle for a while - can't really afford a new car at the mo and am trying to convince myself it'll be great saving the insurance/tax/petrol money too - even though I love my car and am dreading the thought of losing it!!

My question is - is there any chance of being able to sell the car to a garage or something if it has failed it's NCT, and get any money for it? Similar cars are on carzone for about 2K-3K, which obviously I wouldn't get at all, but any chance of getting anything for it? What's the best thing to do?

Someone else is going to have to spend that money to drive it.

An Airbag is a feature that cars have had for the past 10 years man.

Christ .. by that logic you could say that Seatbelts weren't needed before so why bother with those

kildare.17hmr

Well can i have the number of the guy selling airbags for €50 please????:cool:

majnus

There was that guy, i don't have his number on me but when i'll get home i'll post it here

kildare.17hmr

majnus wrote: »

There was that guy, i don't have his number on me but when i'll get home i'll post it here

good man:D

jmcwobbles

Yeah I did Google it and found that the cost of airbags alone are at least a grand, nowhere did I see anything for €50!!! Post that number

Not all cars have had airbags in the last 10 years, and they have never been compulsory - and I wouldn't compare them to seat belts :rolleyes: I'll leave the debate about how effective they are to someone else, I simply don't care that mine doesn't work and don't want to fork out to fix it when the car is still driving fine and still "road-worthy", which is what the NCT is supposed to check. Bloody scam.

I know I wouldn't be able to sell it privately for use, but thought I might at least get something out of a garage if they used it for parts or something?

kildare.17hmr

na sure even scrap yards take them out of every car as its coming through the gate provided they arent out, ring any scrap dealer and ask for your 50 quid airbags and see what they say:p

OP if i was you id send it in for the test, they may pass it for you and there may not be much else wrong, unlike the airbag it'll only cost ya 50 quid:D

cooltown

Have a look here!
http://www.airbagsireland.com/

jmcwobbles

Ah yeah I'm gonna bring it in for the test anyway on the slim chance that they don't check it and it passes - you never know!

Thanks for that link cooltown, if it does fail on the airbag I'll defo go to them!

mickdw

Who said you need an actual airbag? The fault could be fixed with some solder & 5 mins of someones time for all you know as many cars airbag faults are loose connections under the seats
Put it through the test of course but if it fails for this issue, take it to someone who knows what they are doing for a proper diagnosis & quote to repair.

majnus

By the way, how do you know it is airbag faulty? Friend of mine got a passat '04, with flashing airbag indicator, went down to mechanic and turned out side sensor got wet and damaged, he just replaced and it's fine now

jmcwobbles

When I brought it in for a service back when the light first came on, the mechanic said the airbag itself was faulty and would need to be replaced. It's the same crowd my Mum had been going to for years with her car I so didn't really question it and admittedly didn't get a second opinion - if I do fail on it though I'll investigate further before giving it up for good.

It's just so hard to find a good trustworthy mechanic though, I don't know anyone personally, and am always afraid they'll try to rip me off when they realise I don't know too much about cars!

JoeySully

just get a after-market steering wheel like the boy racers have

No air-bag - no warning light - No problem

challengemaster

Find someone breaking the same car, get the steering wheel + airbag, and fit it to your own. Sorted.

Idbatterim

as has been said, that job is nowehere near a 2k one, put it through nct and see if you get away with it, if you do and are happy as it is then leave it.

cats.life

op, if you dont pass the nct and go on to sell it will you tell the buyer about the airbag??????

jmcwobbles

cats.life wrote: »

op, if you dont pass the nct and go on to sell it will you tell the buyer about the airbag??????

Of course! The NCT is actually out since March (was late applying anyway but then had to wait 3 months for the test date) so I'd have to tell them anyway if it fails what it failed on - and I'm aware that just cos I don't care about the airbag doesn't mean someone else doesn't, and as I've disabled the light it would be pretty bad to let them go off thinking it's working :eek: Chances are I'd try to sell to a garage anyway, not a private buyer.

kildare.17hmr

if you did manage to get a garage to buy it off you you would only get a couple of hundred

djimi

jmcwobbles wrote: »

Of course! The NCT is actually out since March (was late applying anyway but then had to wait 3 months for the test date) so I'd have to tell them anyway if it fails what it failed on - and I'm aware that just cos I don't care about the airbag doesn't mean someone else doesn't, and as I've disabled the light it would be pretty bad to let them go off thinking it's working :eek: Chances are I'd try to sell to a garage anyway, not a private buyer.

You might, but not everyone would. If the NCT allowed the car to pass with a faulty airbag and a disabled warning light, you then sell the car to some poor sod who thinks that the airbag is working perfectly and given that the car has just passed the NCT they would have no reason to suspect otherwise, then you have will have sold them a potentially unsafe car. Im not saying you wouldnt tell any potential buyer about the airbag issue, but there are a lot of sellers who wouldnt say anything, and I presume that is what the NCT is trying to prevent.

That said, its not illegal to have an airbag disabled. Might be worth looking into. Youd have to inform your insurance company of the mod, but if they were okay with it then it might be the easier solution. Im not sure how that would affect the NCT tho, and obviously it will make the car less valuable and desirable when it comes to selling it, but it might be a cheaper option for you and one which might get her thru the NCT.

Gary ITR

majnus wrote: »

The cost of fixing it is not even near €2,000... get airbag for around €50, fit it (VERY easy) and then just reset the computer, that's it. I did it myself in BMW, done for less than €200.

It's usually the sensors around the car that are knackered and not the bag itself. A seconhand bag can be got cheap but the sensors can't.

OP if the light is out it should pass. They don't actually test the bag or plug any diagnostics in, they just check to see if the light is out

kildare.17hmr

Onkle wrote: »

OP if the light is out it should pass. They don't actually test the bag or plug any diagnostics in, they just check to see if the light is out

the airbag light comes on everytime you start the car and then shuts off if everything is ok, this is what they will be looking for not just to see the light is out

Gary ITR

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

the airbag light comes on everytime you start the car and then shuts off if everything is ok, this is what they will be looking for not just to see the light is out

A lot of the testers miss that though

rugbyman

it sounds to me ,from what you say that your air bag is ok. If it was not it would be blown. you have only mentioned the air bag light on. Until recently this did not matter for nct. you may only need the light put out (dealer,easy) or your module reprogrammed (euro 100)( airbags ireland)

Regards Rugbyman

kildare.17hmr

Onkle wrote: »

A lot of the testers miss that though

I think ignore would be more appropriate

jmcwobbles

Miss, ignore - as long as they let it go I don't care!

I'm really keeping my fingers crossed but feeling a bit more optimistic either way if the problem may not be as expensive as I was told previously. Sure I'll let ye know how I get on anyway - and if it fails I'll be back looking for recommendations for a good garage/mechanic!!

Esel

JoeySully wrote: »

just get a after-market steering wheel like the boy racers have

No air-bag - no warning light - No problem

No airbag does not mean no warning light! Doh.

twitch1984

jmcwobbles wrote: »

Yeah I did Google it and found that the cost of airbags alone are at least a grand, nowhere did I see anything for €50!!! Post that number

Not all cars have had airbags in the last 10 years, and they have never been compulsory - and I wouldn't compare them to seat belts :rolleyes: I'll leave the debate about how effective they are to someone else, I simply don't care that mine doesn't work and don't want to fork out to fix it when the car is still driving fine and still "road-worthy", which is what the NCT is supposed to check. Bloody scam.

I know I wouldn't be able to sell it privately for use, but thought I might at least get something out of a garage if they used it for parts or something?

And why would they pay for something they have to do work on and try make a profit, inho if you want to get some decent money for this car you have to just get the job done get your nct and sell sell sell

Barr

JoeySully wrote: »

just get a after-market steering wheel like the boy racers have

No air-bag - no warning light - No problem

Could you really pass by doing this ?

mickdw

You could always get an electronics geek to wire the airbag light to a 3 second timer. Obviously this would not be a responsible thing to do.

jimmycrackcorm

I'd double check the airbag failure as the vast majority of problems are to do with the sensors. The oh's light comes on regularly due to a loose connection under the seat.

the airbag man

<snip>

feelites

i had my airbag light on the dash in the vts xsara
had i sorted with bit soldering
costed me about 15e....

dont trust to any mechanic who says, something has to be replaced until u see the thing is f*ckd

if the airbags are not blown and hanging out of the place.... it must be something wrong with the wiress or sensor


and by the way - thinking about taking bicycle instead of car is bit mad unless u're not employed and have no family....

book the nct, solve the problem, if it will be delayed.. rebook nct and keep actual confirmation letter with u in the car.. gardais wont say anything

kasper

feelites wrote: »

i had my airbag light on the dash in the vts xsara
had i sorted with bit soldering
costed me about 15e....

where did the xsara need to be soldered i am driving one at the moment and everything is perfect on it , but it would be handy to know where the weakness is on them thanks and sorry for hijacking the thread

feelites

kasper wrote: »

feelites wrote: »

i had my airbag light on the dash in the vts xsara
had i sorted with bit soldering
costed me about 15e....

where did the xsara need to be soldered i am driving one at the moment and everything is perfect on it , but it would be handy to know where the weakness is on them thanks and sorry for hijacking the thread

connection under the driver seat was loosen
common xsara's airbag problem

kasper

cheers for that

Senna

Take the car to a car electrician, they'll plug it into a fault reader that will let you know exactly were the fault is, and it only takes 5 minutes.
I bought a freelander with a SRS warning light, it could have been a number of things, most very easy to fix, in my case it was an airbag coil which was €150. More expansive than i hoped, but really bugger all in the grand scheme of things.

jmcwobbles

Well I failed... but not on the airbag!! He didn't spot that at all, just failed on the front axle alignment, and a brake light, neither of which is a big deal to fix - woohoooo I'm so happy I totally thought I'd be losing the car after today!

Esel

Happy days! You got lucky....

mickdw

Good result OP, just make sure you get it through now on the retest. You certainly dont want to have to go for a full retest.

Spunj

The most common problem on Fords of that vintage is usually the plugs under the seats.

I fixed a similar age Mondeo recently and it took a minute. Before you sell it, you should give it a try as it won't cost you anything.

First, turn the ignition off and leave it off for 15 minutes before starting, or if you have the radio code, disconnect the battery. This is so you don't accidentally set off an air-bag.

Push both seats forward and get into the back and look under each seat. There should be a "+" split in the carpet on top of a hump. Under that there should be a large yellow plug connected to a wire going to the seat.

Unplug and push the connection back in (a couple of times helps, as does a squirt of WD40).

Next time you turn the ignition on, you might get a pleasant surprise.

It is in no way guaranteed, but you should give it a go.

Meeoow

hi,

I agree with last post.
Heard that you should not leave anything under Focus seats, ex. bottles.
They can trigger sensors that affect dashboard.

I have Focus for last 8 years and no trouble

dtynan

Just as a further note to this, Hyundai's have poxy airbag lights. A few years ago, I had an alternator regulator issue which caused the car to over-voltage briefly every few days and only for a split second. The headlights would get brighter momentarily. The other side-effect was that it turned on the airbag light, permanently.

I brought it to the dealer who apparently didn't have an alternator in stock, but reset the light. The next day, the regulator missed again and the airbag light came on again. I brought it to a proper mechanic who had the regulator rebuilt and that fixed the over-voltage. The problem is, his computer couldn't disable the airbag indicator so it's still on until I bring it back to the dealer and pay through the nose for a service I don't want or need, and the use of their computer for two minutes to disable the light.