Interpretation ID: nht91-6.32

DATE: October 23, 1991

FROM: Paul Jackson Rice -- Chief Counsel, NHTSA

TO: Earl H. Kester -- President, Seatco

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 9-19-91 from Earl H. Kester to Paul Jackson Rice

TEXT:

This responds to your letter concerning requirements that apply to retail establishments that sell and install replacement seats on used vans and pickup trucks. You noted that a vehicle's seats affect its compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, Occupant Crash Protection, and asked whether businesses which sell and install replacement seats are required by Federal law to use ones that enable the vehicle to continue to comply with that standard. As discussed below, the answer to our question is yes.

The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act specifies that vehicles must conform with all applicable safety standards up until the first purchase for purposes other than resale. After the first purchase, the vehicle is no longer required by Federal law to conform with all safety standards. However, section 108(a)(2)(A) of the Safety Act provides as follows:

No manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business shall knowingly render inoperative, in whole or part, any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment in compliance with an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard . . . .

In order to avoid violating this provision, a manufacturer, dealer, distributor, or repair business which removes and replaces a seat must use a replacement seat which enables the vehicle to continue to comply with Standard No. 208 and other safety standards for which the original seat was designed to ensure compliance. I note that the "render inoperative" provision does not require a company to test a vehicle after installation of a new seat to ensure that it continues to comply with all applicable standards. However, if an analysis of the replacement seat, as installed, indicates that the resulting vehicle would no longer comply with the requirements of Standard No. 208 and other relevant safety standards, the company could not legally perform such an installation.

I hope this information is helpful.