Changing a seatbelt

[Wet Kipper]

Hi 

 

Has anyone had cause to replace a seatbelt in a Fabia mk 3 ?

 

in my wife's Fabia, something sharp has been catching on the seatbelt and the belt is starting to fray at the far reaches of the belt (photos when I can get a chance to look at it) 

 

on top of that, the catch (thankfully on the same seat) is broken - it catches fine, but is sticky to release - and when released the "press" part doesn't come all the way back to flush with the top. This was thanks to the kid getting a piece of tissue / sweet wrapper stuck down that tiny hole for the belt buckle, and then just ramming it in to try and get it to work. By the time I fished out the offending part, I could see that the innards weren't quite right, but as I say, the important part is that it holds when connected.

 

Any ideas on how much this will cost to repair ? essentially replacing the belt + mechanism + the catch ?

 I'll be taking a close look at the belt mechanism to see if any sort of manufacturing default could have caused the fraying

 

 

Edited 21 May, 2018 by Wet Kipper
removed a duplication

[Wet Kipper]

[Wet Kipper]

Of course, the mechanism is all hidden behind the plastic casing of the the sides of the boot 

[abaday789]

I can only recommend the standard forum answer and say; Take it to your local dealership to have them take a look and at what cost it will be to repair.

[peter3197]

If your car is still in warranty I would think the fraying is a warranty issue, particularly as you say the fraying is at the far end of the belt. MOT failure.

[RickW]

Be prepared for a fight though!^^

[Wet Kipper]

exactly - I don't expect the dealers to roll over and accept it as a warranty issue, and will probably blame it on some sharp bit of plastic somewhere on a kiddy seat that we haven't noticed.

 

My wife sent photos to our local dealer. They asked her to bring it in for a proper look, and suggested a price in the high 200s to get everything replaced

 

she then also popped into a local independant garage - the guy looked at it  and pronounced that it was "only a little bit of fraying" and that seeing as it was right at the end of the belt, where it's not always used and it seemed to be working, that we should just trim off the fraying bit with scissors to avoid it jamming in the mechanism.

 

who to believe ??

Edited 1 June, 2018 by Wet Kipper

[vc-10]

I would be wary of trimming bits off a seatbelt... they're kind of important.

[Keithchesterfield1]

Did you ever get this problem sorted out, and if so, what did you have done to the seat belt ?

[rum4mo]

Go on, just ask it out straight:- " did they need to employ the services of a specialist engineering company?" - there I've done it for you.

[Yetiman140]

On 01/06/2018 at 16:27, vc-10 said:

I would be wary of trimming bits off a seatbelt... they're kind of important.

Absolutely. I took my Yeti for its first MOT recently and it failed because of the front passenger seat belt fraying at the connection end deep down in the pillar where it never moves (!) Dealer said wear and tear not covered by warrantee (which was running out in 2 days!) Started arguing with Skoda UK and had it replaced @ >£200. The dealership that did the job was very helpful negotiating my case with Skoda UK who have confirmed they will cover the cost as 'good will'. I still can't believe  defect in a seatbelt 3 years old is not warrantable unless it has clearly been abused.

 

Anyway, do not mess with your seat belts because they are now rigorously inspected in MOTs and if you have this problem, definitely argue your case with the manufacturer.