The seat belt on the driver side is stuck in the open position, which gets in the way of the wheel and provides no safety support were I to get in a crash. Also the passenger sides seat belt often goes wild and continuously opens and closes on the passengers neck when trying to exit the vehicle. I can not afford to cover the costs of this repair and feel that ford should do so considering it puts the driver in great danger.
Ford Escort seat belt problems
167 of the 3,480 owner complaints about the Ford Escort describe seat belt won't latch or retract, most of them for the 1995 model year.
- owner complaints
- 167
- worst model year
- 1995
- typical repair cost reported
- $500
- typical mileage
- 80,180
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
No deployment 8Won't shift 1Overheating 1Fuel gauge 1Check engine light 1Grinding brakes 1ABS 1
What owners say
Tl* the contact owns 2001 ford escort. The contact stated that the vehicle would not shift out of park after engine startup. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the dealer confirmed that the shifter and shift console needed to be replaced. The contact also mentioned that the rear passenger seat belt was twisted and causing the seat belt to not lock properly. The manufacturer was contacted but the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 35,000 and the current mileage was 75,000.
My son was driving my 1998 ford escort lx on a 35 MPH road when the driver in front of him slammed on his brakes. My son immediately tried to stop the car, but he rear-ended the other car before he could come to a complete stop. During the impact, the driver's seat belt did not lock in place and the dual airbags did not deploy - allowing my son's upper body to continue forward until his face hit the steering wheel. The lap belt functioned properly, holding my son's lower body in place.
Tl*the contact owns a 1999 ford escort. While driving between 30-35 MPH, the vehicle was involved in a crash on the front passenger side. The frontal seat belt webbings did not lock (the federal safety agency campaign id number 04e048000) and the front air bags failed to deploy. The contact suffered severe strain, sprain, and bruises to her chest and neck. The vehicle was destroyed and a police report was filed. The current and failure mileages were 104,308. Updated 09/12/07
Making left hand turn and was hit on passenger side. My seat belt broke. Car was totaled.
The automatic seat belt in my 1996 ford escort failed to move several times upon opening the door. On one occasion when it failed to release I went to get up under it when it moved forward dragging me with it and injuring my neck.
Driver's side seat belt retracter does not retract.
I have a 1994 ford escort station wagon, the driver side retractable seat belt failed and will not work.
Dt: 1998 ford escort. Both of the rear seat belts do not work. The seat belt straps will not pull out from the seat, which makes it impossible to use them. About a year ago the driver's side rear seat belt stopped retracting. This was in june of 2004. And on 7-25-05 the passenger side rear seat belt stopped retracting. The consumer had taken it to two different dealerships and they told her that the seat belts were not covered under warranty. When she contacted the manufacturer, they told her the same thing. There were no other known problems with the vehicle at this time. Consumer's vehicle was involved in an accident in 2002. But, it was just a fender bender type issue. No one was in the rear of the vehicle at that time.
The 1994 ford escort is a very poorly made car. Most of these vehicles were manufactured with automatic seatbelts, the motors of which almost always fail. Ours was no exception. We had a manual seatbelt installed-- at our expense-- and today that manual seatbelt saved my husband's life in a rollover crash. Imagine if he had only had a lapbelt! Ford repeatedly denies that there is a problem, but for every 10 escorts I see that were made about the same time, 9 of them have at least one failed seatbelt. In addition, the airbag failed to deploy in a rollover crash going some 75 MPH. I can't say if my husband's injuries would have been less severe had the airbag gone off, but I do know that I will never buy a ford again.
Related recalls
Seat belts
- 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 date code on certain seat belt buckles of your vehicle and replace all seat belt buckles that fall within the suspect date code range. Owner notification began october 26, 2000. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1‑800‑392‑3673.
Recall number 00V228001 · Recall details
Questions about the Ford Escort seat belt
Which Ford Escort years have seat belt won't latch or retract problems?
The model years with the most reports are 1995 (47 complaints), 1994 (31 complaints) and 1993 (28 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix seat belt won't latch or retract on the Ford Escort?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $500 (median of 7 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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