The contact owns a 2021 Acura RDX. The contact stated that the front passenger’s side seat belt retractor failed to retract as needed. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and was inspected and repaired. The failure mileage was 42,000
Acura RDX seat belt problems
16 of the 2,191 owner complaints about the Acura RDX describe seat belt won't latch or retract, most of them for the 2019 model year.
- owner complaints
- 16
- worst model year
- 2019
- typical mileage
- 42,000
By model year
- 20241
- 20213
- 20201
- 20194
- 20181
- 20171
- 20141
- 20131
- 20091
- 20081
- 20071
Often reported together
What owners say
I was involved in an accident and upon impact the airbags didn’t deploy although there was a chemical smell that occurred and the check airbag light comes on intermittently. Also driver seatbelt locked up and does not retract out.
Called Southbay Acura in Torrance Ca on 10/23/24.Told them my 2019 Acura RDX has the EXACT same problem that 2019/2020 RDX's has a recall on...Front passenger seat belt Buckle will not Buckle..THe buckle won't allow the seatbelt to lock..Dealer said you VIN number is not part of the recall???? Yet my Acura RDX suffers from the exact problem the recall covers..So i'm asking for your guidance of what to do next. Obviously this is not a safe situation!!! Please advise. Thank you [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2024 Acura RDX. The contact stated that while the child was seated in the rear driver's seat, the seatbelt buckle locking mechanism had malfunctioned. The contact was unable to unlatch the seat belt buckle and eventually scissors were used to cut the the seat belt strap in order to free the child. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 5,000.
The contact owns a 2020 Acura RDX. The contact stated that the rear passenger's side seat belt failed to extend as needed and failed to retract automatically. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times, where unknown repairs were performed; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that the seat belt was inoperable. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 25,000.
The "airbag is turned off" warning light for the front passenger seat is lit (on) while an adult is sitting in the front passenger with the seat belt latched. THIS HAS HAPPENED NUMEROUS TIMES SINCE I PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE.. I have reported this to the Acura dealer where I purchased the vehicle and they said since they are unable to repeat the issue they can't do anything about it. In addition, when this issue is occurring the warning light on the dash and the audible bell regarding the seat belt being unlatched while the vehicle is in motion does not come on.
The buckle stopped latching on the driver’s side seatbelt in september 2023. It would not ‘catch.’ I was not able to use the seatbelt as it would not latch. I took it to my acura dealer who replaced the defective buckle. I was at risk as I was driving without a seatbelt until my appointment. There were no warnings. Today I discovered that there is an active recall 23v158000 describing this same issue for both driver’s side and passenger side seatbelt buckles. My car, identified by its VIN, is not listed for the recall.however, the buckle issue as described in the recall is identical. I believe my passenger side buckle should also be replaced and I should be reimbursed for the cost of my repair to the driver’s side buckle. My VIN should be included in the safety recall. I have called the dealer who verified that my VIN was not included, although my problem was identical to the recall description. 2023-03-2023 23v158000
The contact owns a 2021 Acura RDX. The contact stated that while his son was in the car seat in the rear driver's side seat, he pulled the rear middle seat belt pretensioner and released it; however, the seat belt pretensioner retracted and tightened around his son's neck. The contact attempted to remove the seat belt, but the seat belt remained tightened. The contact stated that he used a utility knife to cut the seat belt. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.
Not sure where to direct this, so please redirect if this is the wrong inbox. I recently went into a local service appointment to have our passenger seat belt buckle replaced at Acura Concord. We had noticed that the belt was not seating securely in the buckle, and could be removed with minimal-to-moderate effort (would guess 15-30 lbs of force) - certainly not safe in a collision. It started to stick intermittently, and slowly got worse over time until it got to a point that it was clearly unsafe. We were concerned and I proactively paid to have it replaced. The service technicians suspected that something might have entered the belt and was preventing the mechanism of working correctly. However, upon replacing the buckle, the service technician reported that the belt buckle had no foreign objects inside it, and appears to have been mechanically failing. This was alarming, and I quickly searched online to find the current seatbelt recall. However, my vehicle is not a part of that, but maybe should be given the technician's findings. The technician's report can be found through Acura of Concord, and has a reference number of RO#203423 / Tag# 172B. I asked the technician for the faulty belt and currently have it in my possession (pictures of it sticking are attached, this is the first and only time I've touched it since the appointment).  Please let us know, we'd like to make sure these vehicles are as safe as they can be for all purchasers.  Appreciate your time and attention here.Â
The rear driver side seat belt has frayed repeatedly over the last 2 years. This puts my young child at risk of the seat belt failing in an accident. The seat belt has been replaced by the local Acura dealership 3 times, but the cause of the fray has not been identified. Fray #1 was first seen with a Nuna Rava child car seat installed in the forward facing configuration. The fray was in the upper section of the OE seat belt between the car pillar and where it exits the child car seat. It was replaced in March 2022. This was replaced on goodwill from Bob Lindsay Acura dealership. Fray #2 was noticed in the same location in the new (March 2022) seat belt and replaced in December 2022. This was replaced on goodwill from Bob Lindsay Acura dealership. Fray #3 was again noticed in the same place in the December 2022 seat belt and replaced in January 2023. This was replaced on goodwill from American Honda Motor Co., Inc. The original thought was the tension from the car seat was causing the fray in the seat belt; however, the dealership and Honda provided no reason or explaination for why the belt was fraying or possible remedy solution beyond directly replacing the seat belt. The child has since outgrown the Nuna Rava child seat in January 2023 and is now a Diono Monterey high-back booster seat. This Diono booster was installed at the same time as the January 2023 seat belt replacement. Fray #4 was seen in the January 2023 seat belt at the same general location as the previous frays on 8 June 2023.
Related recalls
Seat belts: front: buckle assembly
- What is wrong
- Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2017-2020 CR-V, 2018-2019 Accord and Accord Hybrid, 2018-2020 Odyssey, 2019 Insight, and 2019-2020 Acura RDX vehicles. A manufacturing issue with the front seat belts may cause the seat belt buckle channel to interfere with the release button, preventing the seat belt buckle from latching.
- Risk
- An unlatched seat belt cannot properly restrain the seat occupant during a crash, increasing their risk of injury.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the driver and front passenger seat belt buckle release buttons or the buckle assemblies as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 18, 2023. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1‑888‑234‑2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are NDA, QDB, BDC, MDD, LD9. TDF, FDG, ODH, YDI, ZDE.
Recall number 23V158000 · Recall details
Questions about the Acura RDX seat belt
Which Acura RDX years have seat belt won't latch or retract problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2019 (4 complaints), 2021 (3 complaints) and 2007 (1 complaints).
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