Hello, everyone.

My girlfriend owns a 2003 Honda Civic Coupe with a standard transmision. A few weeks ago I was trapped in the front passenger seat when the seatbelt buckle initialy refused to release. After five minutes of trying I managed to get the buckle to release. At first I thought perhaps a coin or some debrise had gotten down into the mechanism and caused it to jam. When I examined it more closely, I could see what looked like what what might be a broken part inside. The next day, my girlfriend took her car to the local Honda dealership and the service adviser there told her the buckle was broken and would cost about $450.00 in parts and labour to repair.

My questions are:

1. Are essential safety items like seatbelts and such covered by any kind of extended or secret warranty other than the usual 36 month/60,000KM bumper to bumper warranty?

2. Is it possible that the buckle isn't broken at all and there might be another problem causing it to jam? That particular buckle seldom gets used at all. I could see the driver's buckle which gets used daily wearing out or breaking but one which is rarely used should last much longer.

Any and all sincere opinions, recommendations or information you can give would be of great help.

Cheers, lvlagnum.

 

It could just have soda or something spilled in it making the mechanism sticky. Try pouring water in it and working the button to wash it out.

The buckle appears to have some sort of SRS function as well (maybe a charge that pulls the seat belt tighter during a crash), thus it is rather expensive. But you can get it new for about $120 from Majestic or about $160 normal dealer list. Installation appears to be simple bolt in. Used ones should be available too. With any SRS part you need to download the service manual and follow directions exactly.

 

it is required by government law if you have any problems with seatbelts the dealer must fix them and cannot charge you.

 

It does appear that Honda indeed has a lifetime warranty on their seat belts. It is a Honda program and not a federal law. The only way the feds would get involved is if enough failures occur to prompt a recall on the car for faulty seat belts.

Like any other warranty it covers only "normal use" and not problems resulting from abuse or neglect. But your situation where it simply got stuck would seem to qualify.

Go to a different dealer if you can because the first one was lying to you to get more money. Dealers get paid by the factory for making warranty repairs, but not as much as they typically charge the consumer for non-warranty work.