Interpretation ID: nht73-4.45

DATE: 08/07/73

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Richard B. Dyson; NHTSA

TO: Blyth Eastman Dillon & Co.

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of May 15, 1973, concerning your dealer's refusal to move back the driver's seat in your new car. I apologize for the delay in our reply.

You state in your letter that adjustment of the seat was made a pre-condition of the sale. A dealer who adjusts a seat prior to sale in this fashion will have to be able to certify that the seat, as modified, conforms to the Federal motor vehicle safety standard governing passenger car seats (Standard No. 207) and to other standards that may be affected by the seat position, such as the seat belt anchorage standard (Standard No. 210). A dealer is not prohibited from making changes in the seat so long as the modified seats continue to perform in the manner required by the standard. Often, however, dealers decide not to assume the burdens of certifying modified components and therefore decline to modify such components prior to sale.

he Federal Safety Standards do not apply to motor vehicles after they have been purchased by the consumer. After you purchase the car, the standards do not prevent you from modifying it, even if such modifications affect the ability of the car to meet the standards. If you purchased your car with the seat in its modified position, you can modify it or have the dealer modify it without incurring liability under the standards.