The back right seat belt and the back left seat belt lock up so much while trying to buckle in that we can hardly use them. I have tried everything from moving to up towards the roof to pulling down , getting in the trunk to release the seats. I have had this car for almost 3 years and it always does this. Please help! My email is. [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Chevrolet Cobalt seat belt problems
27 of the 7,681 owner complaints about the Chevrolet Cobalt describe seat belt won't latch or retract, most of them for the 2007 model year.
- owner complaints
- 27
- worst model year
- 2007
- typical mileage
- 70,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
No deployment 6Airbag light 5Power steering loss 2Loss of power 1Door locks 1
Trouble codes mentioned
B0081 2B1370 1B0020 1
What owners say
The airbag warning light comes on randomly. While lit the airbags will not function. It has been looked at by a chevrolet dealer at least twice (12/2010 and 2/2011). Both of those times the error code was b0020. It has been taken to a certified mechanic on 8/2015 and codes b1370, b0081, and b0020 showed. The problem was always fixed, temporarily, by applying connector grease to the wire connections. On 9/2017, the mechanic replaced the passenger seatbelt retractor. This also fixed the problem temporarily. By paying close attention to when the warning light comes on we have determined that the sensor is affected by the interior temperature of the car. When the temperature is above approximately 65f the airbag warning light comes on and renders the safety of the airbags useless! I have yet to find any permanent fix for the issue. However there are numerous complaints by others online. It seems unacceptable to me that a vital piece of safety equipment is malfunctioning yet the manufacturer/dealer will not take any steps to fix it.
The speakers no longer work in front vehicle, cannot hear any warnings such as low fuel, no seat belts, low oil etc. This could be potentially dangerous if warnings cannot be heard. Read that others have experienced this as well. Also, seat belt clip button has broken off, can still use seat belt but the clip slides to floor when not used.
At approximately 90,000 miles, my 2008 chevy cobalt lt sedan intermittently displayed a "service airbag" indicator on the dashboard. The indicator would appear with and without a passenger in the front seat. I took the vehicle into a chevy dealer on 07-22-2016 for a diagnosis. The dealer found history code b0081 and code 23. They stated the front passenger seat belt retractor was not working properly and causing the "service airbag" indicator. They stated the seat belt my not engage in the event of an accident. After researching online, I found service bulletin #270624, action # 10032334 describing the exact symptoms and error codes that my vehicle had. I advised the dealership of the service bulletin, they stated that since it was not a recall, the cost to replace the seat belt retractor was not covered by chevy. I had the retractor repaired on 08-09-2016. I feel that since this is a known issue and could cause severe injury or death, chevy should make this a recall and repair all affected vehicles.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet cobalt. The contact was involved in a front end collision and the air bags failed to deploy. In addition, the seat belt pretensioner failed to retract. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The driver sustained a sprained shoulder, facial abrasions, and minor cuts. The passenger sustained a laceration to the chin. Both occupants required medical attention. The failure mileage was approximately 180,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 chevrolet cobalt. The contact stated that the front passenger side seat belt was locked and could no longer be used. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
Seatbelt will not buckle. Husband had to slide out under the seatbelt and we cannot get it unstuck.
The airbag maintenance light came on in the car, took car to gm dealer and stated that there was broken wire in the passenger side seatbelt retractor. Dealer had to replace retractor and clear code. Having hard time understanding how this is not safety related and why I am having to pay out of pocket to fix this. This part does not hardly move and should be designed to move so many revolutions. My opinion this is a flaw in the design and should be covered by gm.
Put my car in park, turned the ignition off, pressed the release button on the seat belt and it failed. I was stuck in my car for over five minutes before I decided I had to slide under the waist/lap restraint in order to avoid cutting the seat belt.
"service seatbelt" warning displayed on dash. Dealer diagnosed the passenger side seatbelt retractor was defective. Dealer wants $500 for the repair. I found many complaints online with the same problem.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Chevrolet Cobalt seat belt
Which Chevrolet Cobalt years have seat belt won't latch or retract problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2007 (6 complaints), 2008 (6 complaints) and 2005 (5 complaints).
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