Rather annoyingly my drivers side rear seat won't release to fold flat.

 

The plastic "pulley" for what of a better expression is snapped and even with pliers pulling on the remaining bits of plastic it won't release the rear seat.

 

I can't see anyway to get to the release mechanism from anywhere in the boot am I thinking it's a case of bite the bullet and just unstick/rip/break the seat cover and get to it that way and see what's up and try and fix it.

 

I had a quick search and there was one other topic with very few replies so wondering if anyone else had come across this and any potential solutions that don't involve attacking my rear seats

Not had this myself, but, can you get a flat screwdriver in to the catch?

I've got an ibiza down the yard I'm using as a spares car if you need any bits.

Not had this myself, but, can you get a flat screwdriver in to the catch?

I've got an ibiza down the yard I'm using as a spares car if you need any bits.

 

Not that I can see unfortunately, I've got spare rear seats so I'm not too worried about that just trying to avoid mass destruction where possible

I am not sure if you have solved your problem (from over 2 years ago lol), but I have the same problem and have to use a large flat blade screwdriver to release the latch whenever I need to lay the rear seat down on the drivers side. It is really annoying as I have a bad back and it is a horrible position to bend over into when needed. The only difference in my case is that the black plastic piece no longer has enough grip to release the latch and just pops out of the hole. I am thinking about replacing that section of the rear seat to fix the issue, if there are no better ideas. 

My passenger side has broken so I use a flat head to lower the seats when needed. PITA though.