Drivers inboard seat belt broke off when my son tried to buckle up in the driveway. Potentially a fatal situation in an accident. The connecting cable frayed. It would not have held in any type of forward accident.
Chrysler Sebring Convertible seat belt problems
39 of the 733 owner complaints about the Chrysler Sebring Convertible describe seat belt won't latch or retract, most of them for the 2000 model year.
- owner complaints
- 39
- worst model year
- 2000
- typical repair cost reported
- $500
- typical mileage
- 78,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
On 6/18/13, I noticed that the driver's seat latch (the receptacle portion) was being pushed between the seat and the center console when I attempted to buckle. The fourth or fifth time it did this, the entire buckle broke off. Upon inspection, the wire cable connecting the seat belt latch and the anchor had broken. The anchor was still securely bolted to the seat. I have contacted a dealer and chrysler, to no avail.
The following problem concerns the seatbelt restraint system ".the seatbelt control module" has failed on our 2000 chrysler sebring 1. This vehicle is not driven on a regular basis and after setting for a period of time the battery was low requiring jump starting. 2. Two dealerships checked out what was draining the battery and was told there was no problems with the car. 3. With the battery ground disconnected and an ammeter between battery ground and chasis ground my initial reading was .06 amps,. 4. With this same test setup in place the doors were opened and then closed the ammeter read .5 amps draw on the battery after the control for the interior lights timed out. Note:the initial breaking of the ground disguised the problem. (maybe why dealerships did not detect the problem) . I proceeded to pull fuses until I discovered the .5 amp drain went away when the fuse feeding the seat belt control module was pulled. I have not yet had our car repaired however appearances are that the module is defective. This problem may never have showed up had the car been driven on a regular basis keeping the battery from getting too low to start the car. Even with the fuse pulled the seatbelts could be used as normal which we did several times before they locked to where they could not be retracted. What little research I have done tells me this module has many safety functions besides just reminding us to fasten the seat belts. The impact sensor is a component of the seatbelt control timer module (sctm) located under the center console. The g-sensor is sensitive to frontal impact and to a roll or pitch or more than 45 degrees and to acceleration or deceleration equal to or greater than 0.7g in any direction. In closing my concern is that there are many cars being driven daily with the owners unaware of a malfunctioning "seat belt control module".
Tl* the contact owns a 1997 chrysler sebring convertible. The contact stated that the driver side seat belt remained stuck in the retracted position and he was unable to use the seatbelt. The dealer informed the contact that there were no recalls and offered no further assistance. The manufacturer had not been notified of the failure nor was the vehicle diagnosed or repaired. The current mileage was 111,320 and the approximate failure mileage was 111,300.
Tl* the contact owns a 2000 chrysler sebring convertible. The contact stated that at times, the seat belt connectors would fail to align properly, rendering them inoperable. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and the manufacturer was notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 160,000 and the current mileage was 164,000. Updated 8/29/11 *cn the seat belt release module does not randomly belts. Updated 09/21/11
The seat belt light/ chime lights up and sounds when driving, even though the seat belt seems to be securely buckled. Wiggling the seat belt makes the light go off. This occurs at least once per drive 90% of the time I drive the car. This causes a distraction while driving.
Intermittently both front seat belts are locked into the seat belt retractor and can not be used. Took it to a mechanic that could not figure out how to fix it. The car is a convertible and should never be driven without proper restraints.
Seat belt indicator light and tone will not stop even with seat belt securely attached. This causes a major distraction when driving and also leads to uncertainly as to the air bag interconnect system. The dealer was contacted on 05/15/09 and diagnosed it as a seat belt buckle/pretensioner failure and that this was not covered by warranty and wanted to charge $500.00 to fix it. This is a standard safety interconnect system and should not be subject to warranty issues and should be repaired. If this is happening with this automobile, which is a very common model, then it surely is happening to others and may have already caused or is going to cause accidents and possible failure of air bag, safety belt systems as they are interconnected. This is a constant problem and the driver has tried various methods of interfering with the warning system such as locking and unlocking the safety belt, jiggling the safety belt, holding the safety belt away from the body while driving etc. This is a very dangerous situation for drivers to have to deal with as it is distracting and could also result in improper restraint in the event of an accident. Chrysler should fix this problem without question and should investigate to see if a recall is warranted. This began just over 30,000 miles and the owner contacted the dealer about 10,000 miles later when it was obvious that this problem was going to persist and there was nothing the owner could do to mitigate the problem. The dealer said it was not covered because the warranty on this item expired at 30,000. This vehicle has a 7 year, 70,000 mile drive train warranty. The vehicle, a 2005 chrysler sebring convertible, was purchased in 2006 from willits motors in susanville, california. Willits was purchased by susanville auto center, 530‑257‑5092 and that dealership has been the one the owner has been dealing with and who has refused to repair the problem unless paid the outrageous sum of $500.00.
2000 chrysler sebring convertible jxi - seatbelts malfunction seatbelt retractor locks up (both seats at the same time) so the seat belts cannot be used. Intermittent problem but very problematic. I have replaced the seatbelt fuse. I have consulted with a chrysler service dept. Technician who stated that replacing the retractor would be $508 per seat but couldn't guarantee that this would be the solution. I have researched the internet; http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f11c283 which has numerous similar complaints and www.allexperts.com.
Seat belt safety lock sticking. The front seat belt on both sides have a retracting mechanism. It allows the seat belt to retract into the shoulder when not in use. It also locks in place to secure the passenger. Sometimes the seat belt gets stuck and won't release. This prevents the use of the seat belt. This is both unsafe and in some states, illegal.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Chrysler Sebring Convertible seat belt
Which Chrysler Sebring Convertible years have seat belt won't latch or retract problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2000 (12 complaints), 1997 (8 complaints) and 1999 (6 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix seat belt won't latch or retract on the Chrysler Sebring Convertible?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $500 (median of 5 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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