Drivers side seat belt latch broke in the latched position. Necessitated taking the latch apart to release the belt.
2002 Mazda Protege: seat belt won't latch or retract
13 of the 98 complaints about the 2002 Mazda Protege describe seat belt won't latch or retract.
- owner complaints
- 13
- of this car's complaints
- 13%
- typical mileage
- 86,869
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
Seat belt won't latch or retract by model year
What owners say
I was driving at about 35 MPH and hit a bump on the road that caused the driver seat belt buckle to come loose and it got in my way of the steering wheel. I was lucky to be driving on the left lane on one way street, I was able pull over, and to my surprise the buckle wouldn't latch to the female connector. It seems like the female connector pieces inside it had broken. Please check, this is a huge concern for anyone. If this would have happened on an interstate freeway I can't imagine taking my eyes of the road for even 1 sec. Please investigate!
At first the seat belt locked and I could not get out of it. After about 15 minutes I was able to get it released. Thank god I was in the garage at home. Then approx 6 weeks later I was latching the belt to the buckle and the darn thing fell apart. The right rear door handle broke last year but since no one sits back there I never worried about it. Now with the seat belt issue I was searching for the part and someone suggested I check the recall list for this car, because they are not supposed to do that. I found numerous complaints on line and then this site.
The driver-side seatbelt latch fell apart. The seatbelt is no longer operable.
Seatbelt will not lock in on driver's side and today the handle broke on the inside driver's side to get out of the car!
Drivers front seat belt will not lock in.
Drivers front seat belt will not lock in.
Drive seat belt latch broke into pieces.
I have been working on this car for maybe 2 years and the last few months it has been misfiring on cylinder 3. It seems that many other people have had this problem but cant seem to figure it out. I have replaced everything that had to do with electrical and now I think it might be something to do with the fuel injectors. Also the seat belt would stay locked for about 10 minutes or so.
The driver's side seat belt buckle suddenly stopped latching. There was no way to secure the seat belt and safely operate the vehicle.
Seat belt failed to release upon pressing the release button. After about 10 minutes of trying it finally released itself. Once free the seat belt no longer would work. Had there been a fire I would not of been able to get out in time.
Dt*: the contact stated the driver seat belt would not buckle at all. There was no click when the seat belt was inserted in the buckle, and the belt did not lock into the buckle. The vehicle was taken to a service dealer, where the dealer was unable to determine the cause of the problem. A new part was ordered. The manufacturer was also notified.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2002 Mazda Protege seat belt
Is seat belt won't latch or retract a common problem on the 2002 Mazda Protege?
13 of 98 owner complaints about the 2002 Mazda Protege (13%) mention seat belt won't latch or retract. The model year with the most reports is 2003.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2002 Mazda Protege?
There is no recall or service bulletin for this area of the car on record.
Other symptoms on the 2002 Mazda Protege
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