1999 Buick Park Avenue: seat belt won't latch or retract

Filed Jan 26, 2006 · Seat belts · IL

1999 buick park ave front passenger seat belt became stuck in the lower retraction system. *ts a recall was issued, however the consumer's model year was not included.

Filed Jan 18, 2006 · Seat belts · IL

On 12/28/2005, the front passenger seat belt became stuck in the lower retraction system on our 1999 buick park avenue. I assume the belt became twisted as it was retracting, but I am unsure. The failure & possible consequences for this seat belt failure would be the injury and/or death of a passenger in the front left passenger seat. I called our local dealer (giuffre buick) & they said it would not be covered by the factory warranty since it is over 3 years old. To verify this statement, I contacted buick corporate directly via email & they said the same thing. I did some further research via this site & found the following info under the odi defect investigation search: the federal safety agency recall campaign number 00v117000. Although the recall is for 1997 & 1998 it did mention the same type of seat belt failures on 784 out of 55,960 vehicles on model year 1999 vehicles. I forwarded the document to michael reetz, customer relationship manager, buick customer assistance center, to which he replied - quote "thank you for contacting the buick customer assistance center. We appreciate you taking the time to write us in regards to your further research into the concern with your seat belts. Information on third party websites in not always accurate. There is no recall for the 1999 buick park avenue for your seat belt concern." I agree, there is not currently a recall for my 99' park avenue, but I feel there should be.

Filed Feb 13, 2004 · Seat belts · 31,500 miles · VA

From time to time the front set passenger shoulder seat belt becomes stuck in the retractor. It usually takes several minutes of playing with it to get it unstuck so that the seat belt can be used as designed.

Filed Jan 14, 2004 · Seat belts · 47,479 miles · MD

Driver's side shoulder belt stuck in the release position. As a result, consumer was unable to tighten the belt. Dealership replaced the entire seat belt, but the cause of the failure was yet to be determined.

Filed Dec 10, 2003 · Seat belts · NY

The passenger side seat belt failed to retract, and seat belt interlock will not lock. *ak ninety percent of the time the front passenger seat belt will not unlatch. You have to pull and pull inch by inch until it releases. It is very slow in retracting and sometimes won't retract at all.

Filed Jun 28, 2003 · Seat belts · 65,000 miles · DE

Front passenger seat belt will fully retract after use and then for no reason seat belt will not release. The seat belt is unavailable for use for extended periods of time. Thus causing us to use the vehicle with out the use of a safety feature that is required by law to be buckled when automobile is in use. Had dealer look at car and was informed that seat belt would need to be replaced at a cost of $600.00. I see that there are other complaints about the seat belts not working yet no service bulletin has been issued or a recall for this very important safety devise.

Filed Oct 9, 2000 · Seat belts · TX

Either left or right front seat belt fail to extend from the retract mechanism when the seat belt has been fully retracted. Service dept. And buick's dealer district manager, state that seat belts are working as "designed"! When this condition occurs there is an unknown amount of time that will pass before the seat belt will "release itself" from this "fully retracted position" and allow the person to extend the belt and buckle to the latch receptacle. When this "condition" occurs, [ the service manager and the buick district manager have seen the condition occur on my buick and also on '2000 buick p/a, VIN: [xxx]'. The buick district manager as "o.k.'ed the replacement of the seat belts, but under the statement "that the replacement seat belts will have the same design" implying that I can expect the same conditions. I did not purchase this vehicle to sit in the garage. My wife and I expect to drive the buick. We need seat belts that work correctly, not one's that have defects that will not allow them to be extended in a normal operation and buckled in the latch. Please provide assistance e to me and other gm and buick product owners. This condition was also demonstrated on the 2001 buick lesabre on the show room of the dealer. Vehicle detail not available, this condition exist on multiple years of vehicles and must be resolved quickly! There are perhaps numbers of persons operating their gm and or buick vehicles without having their seat belts buckled due to this defect in seat belt design. ***help!*** information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).