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My well serviced and good condition for age 1991 Toyota Corolla failed it's Warrant of Fitness because one of the front seat belt stalks had minor cracking.

It is still able to hold its self upright, the seat belt itself is okay, the other front belt was floppy and I accept that needs replacing but why both?

Diana

From the "Ask Jack" archives - 7 October 2009

Thanks for the email. I guess for many it comes down to the costs of fitting new parts compared to the cars overall value or what the owner can afford.

Remember also, if a manufacturer does not recommend an overhaul, then any repair is going to be compromised in some way.

Unfortunately CVT is starting to become tagged as being high risk across the board which is not always the case. Nissan for example have some very good CVT's in their current new product range.

My best advice to potential buyers of second hand cars (especially used imports), is to always check with the manufacturer and confirm whether their Constant Variable Transmissions can be repaired and what is an average cost to do so.

Any automatic repair is expensive and for many the good old manual is a much better option if you wish to lower future running cost risks.