2009 Ford Escape: seat belt won't latch or retract

Filed Feb 28, 2014 · Seat belts · WI

Drivers seat belt is stuck in the partially extended position. This has happened several times over the past few years. In the past it has eventually retracted on its own after a few days. This time I can only use the seat belt if I move the drivers seat back farther then I'm comfortable with. I believe it's a safety issue not only because it's stuck but also the belt pretty much pins me to the seat when I use it.

Filed Sep 30, 2013 · Seat belts · 84,815 miles · NY

The driver's side seat belt locked up tight on me while driving. I tried to pull it off of my chest to try to reset it but it did not reset to the loose, unlocked position. In order to try and reset the lock, I unplugged the seat belt and let it retract to the door. When I tried to put it back on, it was locked now in the retracted position. I brought the car to the dealer right away and he was unable to unlock the seat belt. While waiting for a replacement part, I had to drive without a driver's side seat belt for one week, as the dealer also didn't have enough rental cars to provide me with one while waiting for the part. I looked online and there are many, many complaints about ford's seat belts locking up like this. To have a faulty safety restraint as such is inexcusable and dangerous.

Filed Jul 31, 2012 · Seat belts · 70,000 miles · UT

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 ford escape. The contact stated that while attempting to exit the vehicle, the seat belt would not un-latch. After four minutes the contact was able to un-latch the seat belt and exit the vehicle. In addition, the contact stated that the seat belt could no longer be latched. The contact did not take the vehicle to the dealer nor call the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 70,000. The VIN was not available.

Filed Apr 19, 2011 · Seat belts · 45,500 miles · TX

2009 ford escape - driver's seat belt malfunction and locked in closed position. Cannot re-latch. Ford dealer in galveston, texas not responding to repeated request to schedule to have it repaired. Dealer says they do not have the part....?

Filed Dec 30, 2010 · Seat belts · 18,400 miles · MA

Passenger seat belt locked arbitrarily. The only way to release seat belt was to unbuckle and allow seat belt to fully retract. Took vehicle to dealership on (3) occasions to have seat belt replaced, problem continued. Took vehicle to 3rd party and had seat belt replaced and problem is now resolved. Original seat belt was defective and in the case of an accident, persons sitting in the passenger seat would have been injured or killed. Ford refused to honor factory warranty and repair problem.

Filed Dec 3, 2010 · Seat belts · 17,000 miles · MA

Tl*the contact owns a 2009 ford escape. While driving approximately 35 MPH, a passenger seated in the front passenger seat informed him that they could not move because the seat belt retractor was locked. In order to get the seat belt to operate normally it had to be unbuckled. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer but the failure could not be diagnosed; it was not repaired. The failure continued intermittently. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000 and the current mileage was approximately 21,000. Updated 01/18/11 *bf updated 01/31/11

Filed Jul 9, 2009 · Airbags · 3,300 miles · CA

On june 2nd 2009 I was driving my new ford escape on highway 101 heading west when both side airbags instantly deployed. I did not hit anything or get in an accident. The seatbelt locked me into the seat, I pulled off the next exit which was topanga canyon. I drove around the corner to vista ford and they inspected the vehicle and found nothing wrong with it other than the airbags had deployed. Ford has been shipped the restraint control module and says it will take 3 months to analyze. Ford will not warranty this until they determine it was a defect. In the mean time my insurance is having vista ford replace the module and airbags. I will get the vehicle back and have to drive it. I consider this vehicle unsafe and do not want to drive it. Unfortunately my job requires me to drive 2500 mile a month all around southern ca. I can not afford to pay for a rental car for 3 months, I've already incurred $650.00 of rental car expenses since june 2nd so that I can continue working. I am being forced to drive an unsafe car by ford.