Seat belt retractors are failing in order of most frequent use (e.g. Driver, front passenger, rear passengers). The driver's belt retractor fails to pull the seat belt back into the columnar storage area 100% of the time (front passenger belt 50% and rear passengers ~10%). This presents a safety hazard as the belts will not provide the life saving tension required during an accident. The belt hangs limp over the wearer. Seat belts are required to be worn by law. Yet, auto manufacturers are not required to warranty these parts for the life of the car. The great majority of manufacturers only warrant seat belts for 3 years or 36000 miles. As consumers, are we to believe that this means manufacturers only expect the seat belts to function during this time period. This is absurd and should be changed via legislation requiring auto makers to warranty legally required safety devices for the life of the car. It would force manufacturers to make these parts to last instead of engineering them to last until just after the warranty period is over.
1999 Mercury Sable seat belts complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 20 of 20, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I purchased the used vehicle april 03. Early august, I went out to lunch with a friend-when he attempted to put on the vehicle seat belt in the front passenger seat it would not work. We drove his car instead. I thought it was a fluke. I decided to check the internet and located this problem as a manufacturer recall and figured it would be no problem for the dealer to take care of it. This problem continued to happen but because of my work schedule I was unable to get the vehicle to the dealer because of the hours of the service department. From august to date no one has been able to ride in the front seat. I was on vacation and I contacted the dealer to schedule a service appointment. I took the car in on 12/30/03 and was told that I needed to pay a $75 diagnostic fee as no information came up for this vehicle indicating a recall or a warranty. The warranty situation was corrected but I received a message from tonia cooper (service department) after I faxed over the recall information from the federal safety agency that my vehicle would not be covered under the recall. I thought this was absurd; I am experiencing the same problem that is noted on all of the documentation of the recall but because ford neglected to include my VIN number no one would help me. What's worse is that I called fords' customer relations on 12/30/03 and spoke with syed who refused to give me a last name or an id# and he told me there was nothing I could do and no one outside of customer relations at the dealership that I could contact to get this matter resolved. I find it most irritationg that no one could conceive the notion that this VIN# (& perhaps others) were erroneously omitted from the recall. I looked at the 3 complaints from other owners & one has a VIN# very similiar to mine. Thank you for your assistance in this matter, I only wish that I could have resolved this matter with ford directly. Passenger safety & michigan's "click it or ticket it" law has makes this an extrememly important issue!
Problems with safety belt becoming undone after being secured. *mr when the seat belt latch was pushed into the socket firmly it occasionally popped out. It had to be pushed into position then juggled in order for it to latch correctly. The belt would also tighten so snugly on the occupant that they could not lean forward to adjust the dash controls or see through the mirrors. *scc
Vehicle's driver side seat belt defective. *mr when pushed into the socket to secure the driver, it would pop out and would not remain unless forced. The belt would also tighten and fit snug to the point where the driver was unable to lean forward. (the consumer would be unable to see if anyone was coming) the dealer would not fix the vehicle. *scc
Front passenger side seatbelt does not release from retracting mechanism, causing seat belt to become inoperable. Please give any further details.
Driver's rear seat belt was retracing and choking a five year old child. Was unable to release the belt, fireman had to cut the belt to free the child. Dealer notified and will replace belt without cost. *ak the consumer says that the seat belt should be designed with a release on the retractors to avoid this kind of horifying accident.
The dealer tried 3 times to replace the seat belt but twice the replacement part was also broken.
The rear center shoulder belt hooks over a pin on the buckle. There is no positive lock or unlock mechanism. We followed the instructions in the owner's manual about how to connect the rear center shoulder belt. The shoulder belt suddenly disconnects when the passenger happens to move a certain way. The belt rapidly retracts and the metal buckle hits the right rear passenger in the face or eye. A positve lock should be installed so the rear center shoulder belt will stay latched until it is intentionally released. This car was rented from hertz company in maui, hawaii, so I do not know details such as VIN number.
Driver's side lap and shoulder belts lock up without application of the brakes. Dealer says it's normal.
Front passenger side seatbelt retractors do not retract in cold weather; temperatures of minus five degrees or less. Has to be brought inside to function correctly. Dealer can't fix.
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