Replacing/repairing seatbelts

kidzndogz · Apr 1, 2010

I was playing car seat in Shaun's 2000 Volvo S40 awhile ago and noticed there was no middle buckle. I assumed it was lost in the sauce somewhere and got caught up in the seat when it was being folded up and down for groceries.

Tonight I went out there to find it, because I want to put our KF in the center in his car.

Yeah, it's gone. Stalk is there, buckle is gone. Great.

Also, I don't trust the buckle behind the driver. I installed the base in that position and clicked it in, applied force, tightened the belt and put it in the lockoff. About 5 seconds later the buckle tongue popped right out of the buckle. :thumbsdown:

The rear passenger side is fine, but if the other two are in that condition I don't really trust it.

Any info on typical cost/repairs/what the heck they'll do for me if we take it to the dealership? I thought seatbelts were typically covered under a lifetime warranty...

ginny4 · Apr 2, 2010

in our van i had to replace a ripped seatbelt (shoulder/lap combo). perhaps like that when we bought it? anyway i bought the part at the dealer & had our mechanic replace it for us. it cost a fortune. $350 i believe all together. i don't know how much it was atthe dealer themsleves tho next time i'll check there first

Melanie · Apr 2, 2010

I think some manufacturers have a lifetime warranty and some don't. I know for sure Kia doesn't. It seems like it shouldn't be difficult to do the labor as long as you aren't fooling with the shoulder belt part. They are just attached to the car by a big bolt. Unbolt, take out the old, put in the new and tighten the bolt.

They are pricey. I looked at replacing the female stalk in my 3rd row and it was about $200 just for the part. That was through Kia though, and they are well....Kia. Perhaps Volvo would be better.

Maybe check body shops. They'd have experience replacing seat belts and shouldn't charge the high dealer labor prices.

PurplePeony · Apr 2, 2010

I have an old odyssey minivan and had a problem w/ a buckle unpopping w/out any force at all. I took it in to the dealership and they replaced it no charge. It actually was working when I got to the dealership, but the guy said he didn't want to take any chances.

safeinthecar · Apr 2, 2010

Could it have been the outboard buckle that was missing and the center buckle you were trying to buckle the outboard latchplate into?

kidzndogz · Apr 13, 2010

safeinthecar said:
Could it have been the outboard buckle that was missing and the center buckle you were trying to buckle the outboard latchplate into?

Just checked that...nope.

Called the dealership, Volvo has a 5 year warranty so that's a no go. The part itself is $64, but the labor quote was $209. I didn't even bother to ask about the other belt since a simple buckle has a labor cost of that much.

I'm gonna look at it again, but I'm assuming the buckle should just be pretty simply bolted to something right? I wonder if there's a reason I can't do what Melanie said and unbolt the old, rebolt the new. DIY stuff for seatbelts makes me cringe but if it's that simple....

But there has to be a reason the labor is that freaking expensive. Ugh.

Jennifer mom to my 7 · Apr 13, 2010

kidzndogz said:
Just checked that...nope.

Called the dealership, Volvo has a 5 year warranty so that's a no go. The part itself is $64, but the labor quote was $209. I didn't even bother to ask about the other belt since a simple buckle has a labor cost of that much.

I'm gonna look at it again, but I'm assuming the buckle should just be pretty simply bolted to something right? I wonder if there's a reason I can't do what Melanie said and unbolt the old, rebolt the new. DIY stuff for seatbelts makes me cringe but if it's that simple....

But there has to be a reason the labor is that freaking expensive. Ugh.

You would probably need a torque wrench, and need to know what the ft/pd is for tightening it, like you need to do a top tether by yourself.

kidzndogz · Apr 13, 2010

Jennifer mom to my 7 said:
You would probably need a torque wrench, and need to know what the ft/pd is for tightening it, like you need to do a top tether by yourself.

My dad built a Jeep from the ground up and is working on another now so I'm not worried about tools and all that (he has his own garage out back) or even parts.

I guess I'm just more worried about making it a DIY. If it's a straight forward thing that anyone can do than I guess it's okay. I called my dad and he's like, "Oh yeah, that's easy, you just take the back seat out and replace the buckle. I can order a part for that."

I called a body shop and they suggested just going to a junk yard for a part and putting it in. I'm not doing that because I can't tell if it's been crashed. My dad said he'd just order a new one, but again, I'm wondering if this is something a dealership should be doing?

That being said, it would be awesome to buy a $50 buckle and knock it out in an hour in my dad's garage as opposed to paying almost $300 for Volvo to do it.

francisauto · Apr 21, 2010

I would never put a junkyard seat belt in any car. The rear buckle bolts th the floor under the rear seat. If your father can work on cars, he should be able to do it. The bolts may require torx sockets and you must apply thread locker to the threads of the bolt.

Replacing/repairing seatbelts

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