$72 Seatbelt Button!??!?!?!

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SwampSurvivor

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The little button on the seat belt that stops the buckle part from ending up falling below the seat fell off of my Focus and got lost sometime this year.

I'm almost out of warranty and that's the only thing wrong with the car. Finally got a free weekend, so I stopped by the ford delaer to get it replaced.

Ford considers it a trim piece, and, since it is a trim piece its considered normal wear and tear and not warrantied.

The dealer said that they could order me a new "one" for $72. I asked if it was the seatbelt, and - no - it does not include a seatbelt. For $72, you get three seatbelt buttons for all of the interior colors available, the dealer installs the correct one and throws the other two away.

$72 DOES NOT INCLUDE THE WHOLE SEATBELT???

One of these little guys costs $72 (See picture).

I went to the junkyard and popped one off of a junkyard car. They didn't even charge me for it!

This little guy ... cost $72!?!

I keep mentioning it because I can't imagine how a little piece of plastic costs that much!

Anyway, got the junkyard one on pretty easily.
1078885_704624082553_1513991794_o.jpg
 
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What do you expect for an oddball part that the manufacturer has to stock, inventory, and provide for many years,

I'm just surprised that one would break on a 2yo car.

And that something couldn't be used as an alternate. I'd probably have my wide sew a button on there if I didn't have a better solution.

But junkyard was a great move. Some of this stuff is absolutely crazy - amazing it would be priced like that.
 
I would have considered buying a whole seatbelt for $72 ...

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
What do you expect for an oddball part that the manufacturer has to stock, inventory, and provide for many years,

I'm just surprised that one would break on a 2yo car.

And that something couldn't be used as an alternate. I'd probably have my wide sew a button on there if I didn't have a better solution.

But junkyard was a great move. Some of this stuff is absolutely crazy - amazing it would be priced like that.


It is an oddball part, but the ones I saw on Chrysler products were exactly the same as on Ford products; one they could stock for a F350 would be the same as for my focus ...

I was considering using a sewing button but it wouldn't have looked stock.

They are meant to be one time use, and it's possible the junkyard one will fall off. But when it happens, I will just grab more.

I did have to file it down a bit and plastic cement it in to get it to stay. But that's fine.
 
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Yup, it is insane. I emailed our support center about it and the response was "price is correct per our buyer." BTW that is literally the right price for it.
 
So is it ford, or the dealer being greedy?
Next time I get a stupid expensive part price from a dealer, I will ask. I know they have to keep the lights on, but that's nuts.
 
First, that little button should not felt off ever. Second, if it ever did then the replacement button should costs no more than $1-2. More than $5 for that little sucker is a rip-off, $72 is out of this world.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
So is it ford, or the dealer being greedy?
Next time I get a stupid expensive part price from a dealer, I will ask. I know they have to keep the lights on, but that's nuts.


There isnt much markup on it from what i remember. i think dealer cost was somewhere around $55 or so last i checked.
 
I like how they just throw away the other 2 that are the wrong color. If they kept those on the side they could fix 2 cars for free and build a little customer satisfaction. Or they could just flush over $150 worth of parts down the toilet....
 
I'm flabbergasted, that's absolutely nuts. This is the type of thing in a sane world the dealer would install gratis, perhaps with a friendly reminder to "Remember us next time you're shopping for a car".

I bet you'll remember the junkyard that gave you the free replacement and will frequent their establishment in the future.

The manufacturers need to be reminded that sometimes the little things count.

Just another thought, here we are reading about this, "talking" about this, again it's a little thing but it's leaving an impression with the folks that frequent BITOG and I'll wager it comes up in other Internet forums...
 
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We needed a relay for my buddy's John Deere a few weeks ago. The part was $120 from JD. I punched the number on the broken one into ebay, and found them for $10. The exact part without the JD stamp. Outstanding.
 
I went to the jeep dealer to buy a horn I was guessing about $25. I hit the floor when they wanted $92+tax+$15 shipping! I ended up at picapart and grabbed some from a caravan for $15.
 
I was just watching Shark Tank last night and these two women were on there selling their jewelry line. One of the investors asked how much their cheapest piece of jewelry cost to manufacture, the girl replied with $3. The judge then asked how much that piece retails for, the girl replied $96. Even the investor seemed shocked that they were selling it for so much.
 
Jewelry is a little difference, the materials may cost only $3, but the design and labor to put the parts together are expensive. The little plastic button that Ford likes to charge $72 is totally nut, while the similar part for a BMW is only $1.50.

Not all parts at dealers are expensive, I bought a hood latch for my E430 from a local dealer, the part looks complicate/expensive but it costs only $12 while I guess it may be in the $80-100.
 
Originally Posted By: Bandito440
We needed a relay for my buddy's John Deere a few weeks ago. The part was $120 from JD. I punched the number on the broken one into ebay, and found them for $10. The exact part without the JD stamp. Outstanding.

I dealt with the same issue on a Honda Civic
One A/C fan relay was needed. ACDelco had the cheapest price. I open the box, and find a Denso... The OEM relay was a Denso.

There are so many pricing games in the auto business that would never be able to name them all.
 
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