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Buick Century seat belt problems

23 of the 1,688 owner complaints about the Buick Century describe seat belt won't latch or retract, most of them for the 1997 model year.

owner complaints
23
worst model year
1997
Is there a fix? There are 3 recalls for this area of the car. See below

By model year

  • 2000
    4
  • 1999
    1
  • 1998
    3
  • 1997
    4
  • 1995
    1
  • 1994
    3
  • 1992
    3
  • 1991
    2
  • 1990
    2

Often reported together

Steering lock-up 1Power windows 1

What owners say

Filed May 28, 2008 · Seat belts, Visibility · 4,000 miles · TX

Tl*the contact owns a 2000 buick century. None of the rear seat belt buckles function. The rear driver and passenger side seat belt buckle assembly would not release. The middle seat belt buckle assembly has failed. Normally, the contact gets some silicone and fiddles with the vehicle for thirty minutes before she can get the seat belt to loosen up and come out. The contact was not informed if the federal safety agency campaign id numbers 01v109000 and 00v228003 (seat belts) apply to her VIN. In addition, all four window motors have been replaced, and the front window motors were replaced twice. Currently, the rear passenger window is rolled down and will not roll back up. The current mileage was 81,786 and failure mileage was 4,000.

Filed May 19, 2005 · Seat belts · 1,842 miles · VA

Consumer stated the rear seat belt retractor jammed on 4 occasions.

Filed Feb 17, 2005 · Seat belts · NH

Both rear passenger and driver side seat belts are inoperative. Consumer is unable to pull out the seat belts. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection. The mechanic informed the driver that both seat belt retractors needed to be replaced. Please provide further details.

Filed Nov 17, 2004 · Seat belts · FL

The front passenger's side seat belt retracts after clicking the seat belt in to stay connection. The passenger would hold the seat belt retractor. This caused the seat belt to tighten. The consumer took the vehicle to dealer for inspection, and the mechanic told the consumer that the seat belt was not recalled for this vehicle, and the warranty expired. The consumer informed the mechanic of this problem and they adjusted it twice but the problem recurred. *ak *nm *sc

Filed Nov 15, 2004 · Seat belts · 80,000 miles · FL

Heat is causing the plastic seat belt latch cover to deteriorate. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.

Filed Mar 14, 2002 · Body, Seat belts · 54,696 miles · FL

The vehicle drifted to the left, noises seemed to have been coming from the steering, the power steering locked up, the rack and pinion had gone out and leaked, the A/C control was inoperative, the seat belt button latch had fallen and the button was missing, the wheel alignment was out of specifics, the driver door was hard to open, the panel had moved when the window was rolled down, the power window(s) were inoperative, the shifter goes in and out, the right front door exterior trim was hard to open, the passengers seat coushin was too soft and had collapsed, and the door's mirror was loose. The service dealer had found no problems with the steering. Scc

Filed Feb 12, 2002 · Seat belts · GA · crash

Vehicle was involved in a head on collision in which driver's seat belt failed to lock up during impact, dealer and manufacturer have not been notified. Feel free to provide any further information.

Filed Dec 10, 2001 · Seat belts · MI

Seat belt buckle twists to opposite side of belt. Causes belt to be twisted when on.

Filed Oct 5, 2001 · Seat belts · MO

Belt buckle of rear drivers side seat belt was replaced, at this time rear passengers side seat belt buckle will no longer latch. *ak consumer stated that the passenger side seat belt also would not latch.

Filed May 25, 2001 · Seat belts · SC

Left rear retractor on the seatbelt kept getting stuck and had to be replaced*ak.

Related recalls

Seat beltsReported April 6, 2001 · 116,007 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Vehicle description: certain passenger vehicles, equipped with sunvisor located air bag labels, fail to conform to federal motor vehicles safety standard no. 208, "occupant crash protection." these vehicles have a message area less than 30 cm which does not meet the requirements of the standard.
Risk
These vehicles do not comply with the standard.
Remedy
Gm will mail a new bilingual air bag label with installation instructions. However, the customer may bring the label to their dealer for installation free of charge. Owner notification began may 4, 2001. Owners who do not receive the free label and installation instructions within a reasonable time should contact oldsmobile at 1‑800‑442‑6537 or buick at 1‑800‑521‑7300.

Recall number 01V109000 · Recall details

Seat beltsReported August 7, 2000 · 156,305 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles, light duty trucks, sport utility vehicles, and mini vans equipped with trw seat belt buckle assemblies. The buckle base of these seat belt assemblies were not properly heat treated and therefore do not pass the load bearing requirement of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 209, "seat belt assemblies."
Risk
In the event of a vehicle crash, the occupant may not be properly restrained.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect the vehicle's safety belt buckle assembly date codes and, if necessary, will replace any safety belt buckle assembly.

Recall number 00V228003 · Recall details

Seat belts: front: anchorageReported September 15, 1995 · 2,216,325 vehicles affected
What is wrong
These vehicles were assembled with rear outboard safety belt anchorages that may not withstand the required load. This does not comply with fmvss no.210, "seat belt assembly anchorages."
Risk
Consequence of non-compliance: in a collison, stress can cause the attachment metal to tear and allow the anchorage to separate from the body of the vehicle. The safety belt may not protect an occupant in the event of a vehicle crash.
Remedy
Dealers will replace the existing anchor bolts with a new shoulder bolt and thread locking adhesive. Additionally, noise control patches will be applied at each anchorage.

Recall number 95V173000 · Recall details

Questions about the Buick Century seat belt

Which Buick Century years have seat belt won't latch or retract problems?

The model years with the most reports are 1997 (4 complaints), 2000 (4 complaints) and 1992 (3 complaints).

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