2017 Ford Explorer: seat belt won't latch or retract

Filed Sep 3, 2026 · Airbags, Seat belts · CO · crash · 1 injury

Head on collision occurred XXX. A man was traveling east on XXX and ran the light at the intersection of [XXX]. I was heading south on [XXX] and hit his white truck. My air bags did not deploy. Also, within the last year a seatbelt was not latching properly and I had to get it replaced. In addition to repairing the roof rack cover which flew off as I was driving one day. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Dec 4, 2025 · Seat belts · MN

Rear passenger side seat belt strap is twisted and stuck in fully extended position.

Filed Jun 25, 2025 · Seat belts · 85,000 miles · IL

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while attempting to use the 2nd row seat belts, after further inspection, the 2nd row driver’s side seat belt buckle remained latched and failed to release from the buckle and the 2nd row passenger side seat belt failed to latch securely as intended. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer; however, parts were not yet available to repair the vehicle, and the warranty was not valid. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000.

Filed Apr 11, 2025 · Seat belts · IL

Passenger side/right side second row bucket seat = seat belt broke. Called numerous dealerships and were on a waiting list of over 350 that need a seatbelt. No seat belts available. Unable to fix problem. Safety issue due to no seat belt. No warning lamps or messages.

Filed Feb 8, 2025 · Seat belts · MN

In a 2017 Ford Explorer Platinum the passenger 2nd row seatbelt malfunctions and will not extend. It is available for inspection. The seatbelt first binded (or became stuck) March 2024 and taken into Ford dealership and they reported "Upon inspection of seat belt, found to be internally binding at the retractor. Requires replacement." They ordered replacement but said it was on backorder, it took months before replacement arrived. When replacement arrived it was taken in to Ford dealership to replace but Ford reported "Replaced RR seat belt retractor. After installation, found a faulty part was sent. Reinstalled old seat belt and ordered new belt." Returned to Ford dealership for the second replacement seatbelt and it was installed and at time was working. Now for the third time (During the next several months after the third seatbelt is installed) it has gotten stuck (binded) and unable to extend several times and unusable. Resulting in having to relocate the passenger to another seat. Safety concern: users may not have a working and reliable seatbelt. Passenger may not be restrained with seatbelt or it may force a child from sitting in the rear seat to relocate to a more dangerous front seat due to lack of working seatbelts. This seems to show that the seatbelt mechanism must be defective in that 3 seatbelts are having similar problem in a 6-12 month window. Have also seen similar reports of this issue on Reddit.

Filed Jan 11, 2023 · Seat belts · MI

2017 ford explorer. Consumer stated that the seatbelt buckle would not release. The consumer stated took the vehicle to be repaired the dealer lost the step panel and also need additional parts to install the new seatbelt.

Filed Aug 5, 2022 · Seat belts · 78,000 miles · OH

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle previously had the driver's side rear seat belt retainer replaced; however, the failure recurred with the passenger's side rear seat belt retainer. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the passenger's side rear seat belt retainer had fractured inside the buckle assembly. The dealer informed the contact that the passenger's side rear seat belt retainer needed to be replaced; however, the part was on backorder. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.

Filed Jul 13, 2021 · Seat belts · 104,000 miles · IA

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the driver’s side seat belt would not latch after multiple attempts. The seat belt chime sensor would active due to the seat belt not latching securely. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer nor an independent mechanic to be diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 104,000.

Filed Sep 7, 2019 · Seat belts · 63,000 miles · NY

The rear passenger side seatbelt buckle assembly broke when my passenger was attempting to buckle herself. A spring popped out of the center seatbelt mechanism and the seatbelt would no longer latch. The car was parked and off at the time. We brought the car to the dealer for the seatbelt to be fixed. The part # for the seatbelt buckle assembly is db5z-7860044-eb. This part was not covered under the manufacturer's warranty due to the mileage and was not considered a covered part on our extended warranty. The regional service manager informed me that this was considered normal wear and tear on our vehicle which is only 2 years old.

Filed Jul 7, 2017 · Brakes, Seat belts · 3,694 miles · MI · crash · 1 injury

Tl* the contact owns a 2017 ford explorer. While driving at an unknown speed, the contact was involved in a front end collision with a wall due to brake failure. The contact struck the steering column because the seat belt failed to properly restrain her. The vehicle was taken to the contact's residence and then to the gorno ford dealer, where it was deemed destroyed. A police report was not filed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The contact suffered from moderate chest pain from striking the steering column and required medical attention. The failure mileage was 3,694.