What could have caused both front seatbelts in my 2006 Mercedes-Benz CLK to fray?

I was surprised last week when my 2006 CLK Mercedes-Benz, with fewer than 15,000 miles, failed its MOT because both of the front seatbelts had some fraying (seven inches). The local dealership does not think Mercedes-Benz engineers can explain the cause of this rare but serious problem. I do know that the two new seatbelts are serious to the extent of £600.

I am retired and the car and belts enjoy light use. I have driven five other Mercedes-Benz cars, two SLs and three other models for hundreds of thousands of miles over the last 30 years, and never had a double failure of anything before. Should I insist on an engineering explanation from Mercedes?

Asked on 2 May 2011 by RGC, North Yorkshire

Answered by Honest John

If memory serves me, this model has electric gizmos that hand the driver and front passenger their seatbelts when they shut the doors. It could be that this mechanism led to the fraying. I hadn't heard of it before but will add to car-by-car breakdown at HJUK.

Tags: seatbelts consumer rights mot safety

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