Trouble with Honda seat-belt warranty

Originally Posted by CKN
There is no federal law stating the car makers need to fix their seat belts-NONE. It just needs to meet safety standards when new. AS far as bad press-they all get that every time they announce a recall. Currently it's the airbag thing........It's a '04 Honda-with what -at least 200,00 miles on it. Personally-I think carting around a family in a 200,000 mile mini van IS A LIABILITY.


You're absolutely right! No federal warranty exists requiring repairs for seat belts. Do you want an award?

There is however, a law on the books that says if you warrant something, you have to stand behind it, so long as certain conditions (in the case of a limited warranty) are met. I read the all the fine print and I believe my issue easily meets said conditions (not cosmetic, not abused, accidental damage, etc.) Now if the dealer wanted to have a discussion about how the belt came to be in the condition it is (perhaps they think I snagged it on something, for example) that would be one thing. But to say nope, no warranty, umm I mean the miles are too high, on second thought err it's limited warranty, we just won't cover it-- that's not acceptable to me. You might think my car is an old raggety deathtrap, good for you.
thumbsup2.gif
But that notion has no relevance at all to the issue at hand.

Honda opted to include a lifetime seat belt warranty for their US cars. I think that's great of them and a nice gesture in the name of safety. That said, no manufacturer can arbitrarily opt out of their own warranty simply because they think the car is too old, it doesn't work that way.
 
Regarding getting seatbelts from a junkyard, if the car those belts were in was in a accident, I have heard they should not be used. So some caution is advised.
 
I would be shocked if Honda corporate doesn't replace the seat belt for free. Its small potatoes to them.

Show the OWNER of the dealership these manual pictures, showing the lifetime warranty. Ask to fix. Advise that you will escalate to Honda corporate and to Honda's social media team. Lifetime means lifetime. Fix it.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Regarding getting seatbelts from a junkyard, if the car those belts were in was in a accident, I have heard they should not be used. So some caution is advised.


They lock up, and stay locked up if the srs system has been deployed. All 2004 Hondas have pre tensioner belts.


OP, if you do not get this covered under warranty, you should be able to buy a driver belt at a salvage yard for $80.00 to $90.00. As long as it pulls out of the retractor, and the plug for the srs "Yellow Plug" is the same its good.

You can replace it yourself, just disconnect the battery, and the plugs outer housing pushes forward so you can press the tab to disconnect the connector. To put back together, just push it together, and it locks its self, done.
 
Go to another dealership or go straight to HoA Corporate. They're giving you a load of baloney. The shifting excuses is one huge sign. The other is when they attempt to use "limited warranty" as some kind of excuse. It's "limited" because it has conditions (the ones clearly listed on the right side of the page, not because it's limited to whatever conditions they want to set).
 
+1 in contacting Corporate. I know FCA dealers are incredibly hit and miss (more miss) but the one thing they'll bend over for is a call from corporate. Never been to a Honda dealer but I'd imagine you'd get a similar response.
 
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We had a Honda seat belt that did not retract. The dealer pointed out to us the seat belt lifetime warranty and fixed it for free.
 
Originally Posted by CKN
Originally Posted by eljefino
Originally Posted by PimTac
Read the seat belt warranty that is in the photos above:

Quote:
"Honda will repair or place, at its option, any seat belt component that fails to function properly during normal use."


There is a key part there. It's worth a call to Honda support to confirm.


They will set you right, either by repairing the belt or replacing it. I imagine 99% of the time it will mean replacement. Their option is how they're going to get safe, working belts back in your car.

If you take before pictures (and they look as bad as you describe) and they refuse service, imagine the bad press and liability.


There is no federal law stating the car makers need to fix their seat belts-NONE. It just needs to meet safety standards when new. AS far as bad press-they all get that every time they announce a recall. Currently it's the airbag thing........It's a '04 Honda-with what -at least 200,00 miles on it. Personally-I think carting around a family in a 200,000 mile mini van IS A LIABILITY.

So...have you not read the thread?
 
Originally Posted by 92saturnsl2
Honda opted to include a lifetime seat belt warranty for their US cars. I think that's great of them and a nice gesture in the name of safety. That said, no manufacturer can arbitrarily opt out of their own warranty simply because they think the car is too old, it doesn't work that way.

That's the same as my wife's 2002 Civic. It says lifetime warranty on the seatbelt with the exact same text.

Your issue is that if it's frayed they might consider that "abuse". I've dealt with warranty replacement on an item (an electronic cable) and they considered any fraying or tears of the jacket material or strain relief to be "abuse" where it wouldn't be covered under warranty. I'm not saying that's right because that could allow them to use substandard materials and claim it's abuse when the fail, but dealing with it can be a pain.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Regarding getting seatbelts from a junkyard, if the car those belts were in was in a accident, I have heard they should not be used. So some caution is advised.

The seatbelt warranty specifically disclaims damage as a result of a collision. Not that it means that all collisions result in damaged seatbelts, but there's always that possibility. Granted there might be the chance that the seatbelts were weren't worn, but probably not likely these days.
 
Originally Posted by bubbatime
I would be shocked if Honda corporate doesn't replace the seat belt for free. Its small potatoes to them.

Show the OWNER of the dealership these manual pictures, showing the lifetime warranty. Ask to fix. Advise that you will escalate to Honda corporate and to Honda's social media team. Lifetime means lifetime. Fix it.

I remember the Takata seat belt recall from the 90s. I brought in a 1989 Integra RS to a dealer and they gave excellent service. It was an Acura dealer though. However, I thought that recall was across multiple makes. I remember they added some sort of reinforcement at the buckle area. It was kind of odd though since the suits in Japan were claiming oddball things such as Americans being slobs where food and other debris were supposedly damaging the seatbelt buckles.

Apparently this is why several Japanese automakers started issuing lifetime warranties.

Quote
https://www.autosafety.org/takata-seat-belt-buckle-0/
On May 23, 1995, during "Buckle Up America Week", DOT Secretary Federico Pena and NHTSA Administrator Dr. Ricardo Martinez announced the second largest recall in the 30 year history of the Department of Transportation (DOT), affecting 8,428,402 predominantly Japanese vehicles made between 1986-91 with seat belts manufactured by the Takata Corporation of Japan. (NHTSA Recall No. 95V-103.) In addition to the recalls, many of the individual Japanese automobile manufacturers agreed to issue life warranties for seatbelts in their vehicles.


Not sure what happens now since Takata was bought out at more or less fire sale prices.
 
Originally Posted by y_p_w
Quote
https://www.autosafety.org/takata-seat-belt-buckle-0/
On May 23, 1995, during "Buckle Up America Week", DOT Secretary Federico Pena and NHTSA Administrator Dr. Ricardo Martinez announced the second largest recall in the 30 year history of the Department of Transportation (DOT), affecting 8,428,402 predominantly Japanese vehicles made between 1986-91 with seat belts manufactured by the Takata Corporation of Japan. (NHTSA Recall No. 95V-103.) In addition to the recalls, many of the individual Japanese automobile manufacturers agreed to issue life warranties for seatbelts in their vehicles.


Not sure what happens now since Takata was bought out at more or less fire sale prices.


Interesting reading; nice to know the origin of the lifetime seatbelt warranty. I've noticed that new Hondas no longer have the lifetime seatbelt warranty.
 
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I've got all day today and decided to my wife's 2002 Civic in for the airbag recalls. Also there's a wiring harness recall, but we have aftermarket replacement headlamp assemblies.

Asked about the seatbelt not retracting, and I got a call back that they consider it "normal wear and tear". It's not frayed, but it just doesn't pull back without some help. Maybe I'll try another dealer.
 
Originally Posted by CKN
Originally Posted by eljefino
Originally Posted by PimTac
Read the seat belt warranty that is in the photos above:

Quote:
"Honda will repair or place, at its option, any seat belt component that fails to function properly during normal use."


There is a key part there. It's worth a call to Honda support to confirm.


They will set you right, either by repairing the belt or replacing it. I imagine 99% of the time it will mean replacement. Their option is how they're going to get safe, working belts back in your car.

If you take before pictures (and they look as bad as you describe) and they refuse service, imagine the bad press and liability.


There is no federal law stating the car makers need to fix their seat belts-NONE. It just needs to meet safety standards when new. AS far as bad press-they all get that every time they announce a recall. Currently it's the airbag thing........It's a '04 Honda-with what -at least 200,00 miles on it. Personally-I think carting around a family in a 200,000 mile mini van IS A LIABILITY.

So...have you not read the thread?
We had a Honda seat belt that did not retract. The dealer pointed out to us the seat belt lifetime warranty and fixed it for free.
 
Honda has just approved replacing my seat belts under warranty at 90/10%. Yay!!
My 2010 CRV has 182k mi, clean title, nice car. Now just are not retracing as should.
My manual states a 15yr/150k mi on seatbelts, but they are covering as warranty. Some Honda models have lifetime warranty! Check with more than one dealership is you must to get it covered. I'll only pay $90.
 
I'd find another dealership .
Worked at a Honda dealership service dept 06/07 .

We replaced many seat belt buckles under this lifetime warranty.
We also replaced a seatbelt track (auto seatbelts) on a 1991 Honda Accord under that lifetime warranty.
 
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