Last september the centre rear seat belt became jammed.

 

I took it to the local dealer and they fixed it under warranty. Apparently they had to take the seat out , clean the mechanism and reasemble.

 

Nobody has used that belt since, but I've flattened the seat a few times.

 

It's jammed again.

 

I went back to the dealer.

 

As the car is now out of warranty they say I'll have to pay, which seems a bit unfair to me.

 

What do you think?

 

 

Difficult as its a classic 'my word against theirs' situation if you have not used the buckle since it was last fixed (although I appreciate your frustration).

It's probably not a difficult fix - go and chat with the dealer again and try to strike a deal e.g. I'll pay parts if you do the labour costs etc.

Dave

I think the cause of the fault might be something to do with the action of folding the seat back flat. So next time, I intend to pull out all the slack on the belt and tie it in a knot before folding.

To be honest as a safety feature I don’t think they should be taking a belt mechanism to pieces to clean it should have been a straight replacement. You say the car is just out of warranty, so I’m guessing it’s just over 3 years old. Something as important as a seat belt should not be failing as quickly as that particularly the centre rear one which is probably least frequently used. I’d contact Skoda direct and say you are concerned about the safety of the car and perhaps they need to look in more detail at the belt as it has now fail twice. If you have no joy then Trading Standards would be my next step as it is clearly not fit for purpose, belts are tested 10’s of thousands of times to ensure they don’t fail so clearly there is a fault with this. When phrasing your letters I would constantly use terms that relate to safety.  

I agree with harryweld above.  Seatbelts are an integral part of the car's safety and the fact that it is just outside the warranty period should be overlooked on this occasion by Skoda IMO.  If they were sensible they would certainly get this sorted.  No car manufacturer wants to be associated with seat belt issues.

Thanks for the imput. I'm taking it in first thing in the morning and will let you know how I get on. To be fair to the dealer when I went in last week he said that Skoda might look kindly on the situation as it is only justThey out of warranty. I will stress the importance of the safety aspect as you suggest.

Took it in. They couldn't free it. Got to fit a new mechanism. I have to pay 55%. (Abt £95)

Will pay then write complaining letter to skoda head office

Got car back. £92.

Have sent off letter

Result ...

Have heard back from Skoda and after talking to the dealer they are going to refund what I paid, so we'll pleased

Result ...

Have heard back from Skoda and after talking to the dealer they are going to refund what I paid, so we'll pleased

Well done, persistence usually pays!  Glad you got a result!

Dealers,who do they think they are ?        's   in disguise. :clap:  :clap:  :clap: .

the refund has been credited to my cc a/c.

impressed with skoda customer services

Congratulations. Just make sure you go to a different dealership in the event of something else going wrong with the car, or you may end up paying more than you should for the next repair.

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