12th May 2019, 02:09
In some countries, like New Zealand, if a car is fitted as standard with ABS, a warning light (or if the warning light does not come on during initial start-up as a test, for those who simply removed the bulb) means the car is not roadworthy, will not be issued a Warrant of Fitness, and therefore cannot be registered. Plus insurance companies will not pay out in an accident if the car was not in "warrantable" state at the time of the accident. Yes, there are cars which don't come with it as standard - that's OK, but if fitted, it must work. Ditto with airbags. So, yes - some cars will be junked if it gets too dear to repair (like when the repair costs more than the car's present market value).
11th May 2019, 18:44
Not nonsensical at all. I agree with the previous few comments about getting rid of a car when it is too much trouble, no matter how good it is. It depends where you live. In the UK an airbag light or ABS fault will make the car fail an MOT test. I think in the USA there is a yearly inspection for similar things, though it may not be as strict.
If an MOT or inspection is due, the simple math is scrap the car if it's not worth repairing, as you will have to pay thousands for it to be road legal. Here in UK electronic faults are notoriously expensive to fix. So if the car is worth only £1000 and your dashboard is lit up with fault indicators, it's time for it to go.