2000 Honda Odyssey: seat belt won't latch or retract

Filed Feb 12, 2015 · Seat belts · 185,000 miles · OR

We are trying to resolve what we believe to be a safety issue with american honda motor company regarding the function of our seat belt system. Our seat belt is covered by a lifetime warranty by the manufacturer. The belt material has degraded and frayed creating long strands of fiber that restrict it sliding through the latch mechanism. In addition, the width of the belt has been reduced by over 10% due to the material fraying and unraveling. Honda has refused to acknowledge this an issue - choosing to solely focus on whether or not the seat belt will retract and "latch" --- ignoring that the belt itself has been severely degraded. Clearly the material chosen by honda is defective and has not provided the lifetime benefits offered in our warranty. The vehicle has never been in an accident. The seat belt has never been altered or modified. We are not concerned about the cosmetic appearance of the belt. Honda claims the system is still full functional and this will not address it under warranty - which contradicts their owner's manual which states that the belt should be replaced. It simply was not engineered to provide the necessary protection for the lifetime of the vehicle.

Filed Aug 8, 2009 · Airbags · 92,000 miles · NC · crash · 1 injury

2000 honda odyssey ex. On 5/25/09 I was rear ended by a vehicle going approximately 125mph; I was traveling 45 MPH. Once hit, I had no control of the car, it jumped the curb, went into the woods while still moving. The front of my van then hit a tree. There was substantial front end damage. None of the air bags deployed. I don't know if the seat belt locked properly either. When the front was hit, battery and air filter area was bent upwards towards the dash and bumper came off, along with major wheel damage/bending along with hood damage. Inside the van under steering wheel the panel underneath bent inside, front panel near radio fell off with wires hanging. That is how hard I was hit from the front with the tree, along with the major frontal damage. My car was totaled. I had broken ribs, bruised lungs, deep abdominal bleeding that caused very deep red bruising on my stomach, pelvic region, and vaginal area along with swelling, fractured bone in right foot, swelling on left foot, bruising and knotting on legs, knees, deep gash in right side, cut on left foot, etc. Also knot on my head and a closed head injury including speech problems, and back and neck injuries/pain. I am still recovering from them 12 weeks later and going through physical therapy. Some bruising/knotting on my leg still not healed. I have seen many honda accords have air bag deployment problems with sensors and seat belt sensors not working, perhaps this is the same thing that occurred with my odyssey. I have digital pictures I can send to you if needed.

Filed Sep 26, 2005 · Seat belts · 30,000 miles · CA

Second row seat belts do not remain in locked position when using with an infant car seat. The seat belt will remain locked for 1, 2, or 3 days. But we have found the belt locking mechanism to eventually release. Checking the belt to see it's locked at the start of your trip only to find at the end of the trip the lock has released. Since the van is out of 3 yr / 36,000 mi warranty, we were told we would have to pay for the repair. The van is model year 2000 with 32,000 miles.

Filed Mar 23, 2004 · Seat belts · FL

The seat belt locking mechanism activated when the consumer's grandson attempted to pick something off the floor with the seat belt on. *ph the seat belt retracted even more when the child tried to pull the shoulder strap in the process to unlatch himself. Consumer tried to look for a method to deactivate the locking mechanism of the seat belt in the owner's manual but with no avail. That LED to a decision to cut the belt with scissors.

Filed Jan 31, 2004 · Locks, Seat belts · 39,930 miles · NJ · 2 injuries

1)power sliding doors do not operate properly. Intermittently, doors won't open, doors open partially and stop, and doors close partially and stop. More importantly, power doors do not stop and retract when pressure is applied in accordance with manual. Today was the fourth time that one of my children hesitated when exiting the van and was stuck within the doorway when the door was automatically closing. Not only did the door not stop and retract when it reached my child's body, but did not stop even when I placed the full pressure of my body against the door. Today, my daughter was thrown out of the van to the ground and I incurred bruising on my left shoulder where I had braced my body against the door to stop it from advancing over her body. I have reported these problems to the dealership time and again. In 2000, they replaced some parts but the problems still occur with regularity. 2)some of the seat belts, particularly the one in the second row, driver's side, jams constantly. We are very often unable to use that seat because the seat belt gets stuck when being drawn out to be buckled. 3)the rear hatch is sometimes inoperable. The unlock button of the remote must be pressed 5 or more times for the hatch to unlock, and even then, it releases only partially. Since there is no release inside the car, this is extremely inconvenient and could be dangerous, in combination with the doors not working properly.

Filed Jan 22, 2002 · Seat belts · WA

I am filing this with you because I cant seem to understand hondas logic in dealing with a serious safety equipment malfunction on a newer car that is supposed to be under warranty. The specific problem is that the middle passenger side seatbelt on my 2000 honda odyssey ex has broken and will not retract. The general problem is that I need to go all the way to canada from seattle to get it fixed. My wife and I purchased our 2000 honda odyssey ex four months ago with 29,000 miles on it. The van was purchased from a private party who had bought it with 192 miles on it from a dealer. With the purchase came an extended warranty leading us to assume that we would be taken care of if the honda odyssey ex had any serious problems. I think of a broken seatbelt that holds in my children as a serious problem. My regular mechanic told me to take it to a dealer because he said honda has a lifetime warrantee on their seatbelts. My extended warrantee company (heritage) does not cover seatbelts or airbags but insisted that honda should. We took it to a honda dealer (burien honda) who said that seatbelts are always covered by honda. They took my info and said they would order the parts. A few hours later I got a call from the dealer stating that because the car has a VIN indicating it was purchased in canada it was not covered. I then called honda (in america) customer service center they were nice but told me that cars sold in canada are not covered by honda we did not know the vehicle was from canada, although that should not matter. It is my understanding that all 2000 honda odysseys were made in canada and all have the same familiar honda logo on the hood. I can not imagine seat belts being very different between canada and america. In an auto accident, someone could get injured or even killed because of this broken seatbelt. This week, we go to canada. Thank you for your help, marc, natalie and madison its my seat belt that is broken mccann.

Filed Jul 11, 2000 · Seat belts · NJ

Driver seatbelt buckle has become inoperative, will not latch in seatbelt, causing a loss of protection. Defect has occurred only after 1 week of owning vehicle. Dlr claims cannot determine cause of defect. Part replaced by honda. *ak