Female driver requires help

[Keithchesterfield1]

After extending the seat belt fully, to secure a load when the back seat was down, it will not retract.

 

Any advice on attempting to get it to go back and work correctly again would be appreciated

 

Fabia Colour Edition MP1 2016

[penguin17]

Could have twisted when winding back, have an obstruction or the the mechanism could just be designed to lock when at 99.9% of it's range (?)  Have you tried pulling the seatbelt back out, as far as it will go without too much force?  When you feel it's not going to go any more just give it a further quick pull and allow it to release.  Might want to make sure the rear window won't take a hit, if it retracts suddenly. 

 

P.S; I would have responded if this was a male driver requiring help too 

[rum4mo]

This is not one of these "car needs to be parked on level ground" issues is it?

 

That idea came from a very dark corner in my brain, but I'm sure that I am just repeating what someone else discovered with a car in the past!

 

Edit:- well maybe the "female driver requires help" did get my attention, but I've probably been duped!

Edited 4 October, 2018 by rum4mo

[Keithchesterfield1]

Thank you Gentlemen,

 

I've tried the pulling the belt out fully and the level ground tips but still not had any joy with either.

 

Inside the boot, on either side, is an oblong plastic cover below the moulded covering for the seat belt mechanism.

 

Is it easy to remove the cover, as you know plastic breaks easily, and I don't want to force the covers ?

 

I presume that once the cover is off it might be relatively easy to fiddle about with the seat belt mechanism and hopefully get it working again

[punyXpress]

Does the mechanism have an explosive pre-tensioner?

That might surprise a 'female' driver 

[Ootohere]

Best not attempt to get the Seat Belt to retract by tampering, because if it happens again and you are out of Manufacturers Warranty you are paying yourself if it needs parts.

Report ASAP and get it booked in for a repair if anything needs taken apart to get the belt sorted out.

[Robjon]

14 minutes ago, Offski said:

Report ASAP and get it booked in for a repair if anything needs taken apart to get the belt sorted out.

 

^^^This^^^

 

Your 2016 Fabia has a three-year warranty, which covers faults like this.  I had a very similar problem with one of my Roomsters, which was repaired free-of-charge under warranty.  Don't mess with it - get it reported and booked in.

[Keithchesterfield1]

Thanks for those replies.

 

I was thinking there might be a 'quick' fix but you are right - it's under warranty and it will be taken back to a Skoda dealer.

 

I was hoping to avoid that - the last time I needed a warranty repair at the Dealer on an earlier Skoda Estate it took them two days to do a job that should have been completed in an hour or so.

 

I've not much confidence in them but common sense had better prevail and I'll get it booked in.

 

Again, thanks.

[Ootohere]

If it suits you it is best to Book First Appointment of the day.

That is 8.30 at my Local Dealership.

Then if it is simple and nothing needs doing it is all over in 30 minutes while you wait, or 1 hour if parts taken off require replacement and not in stock and needs ordered,  they are not keeping the car in the workshop just putting it out to the pound,

and with the likes of a seat belt you leave with the car & it is needing fitted later,

If you need a 4 or 5 seater, childrens seat fitted, then if a car is unusable you get a courtesy car, and if one is not available they the Dealer or Skoda UK the Warranty Provider can get a hire car.

The Sales Executive or principal Dealer will have a nice perk parked outside that the HMRC give a tax break on that Skoda UK own or the Dealership does, 

let the Employees drive your car and you get the Demonstrator after they remove their personal bits and pieces...

 

No need for them to turn a little fault into a Customer / Owners disrupted life.  

Edited 7 October, 2018 by Offski

[Keithchesterfield1]

 

I took it in to my Local Main dealer to have the water pump replaced on a Fabia Estate, it had a minor leak, under warranty.

They had checked a week before that it needed replacing and presumably had the correct parts in stock when I took the car in seven days later.

The car was delivered at 10 am as requested by them and the bonnet went up to begin the replacement about one hour later.

Four hours later the water pump was fitted and the bonnet closed.

An hour and a half later the car was parked up on their forecourt.

Despite me phoning regularly to find out if the car was ready I was only told to come and collect three and a half hour later – yes, 3 and ½ hours.

Finally I drove it home at 18.20 – almost half past six at night.

A smidgen off eight and a half hours to change a water pump.

And you wonder why I don't really want to go back to them ?

 

[Ootohere]

& we know why their Technician is not with Skoda this weekend at Rally GB Wales.

[rum4mo]

One of my pet hates with dealing with main dealerships, I book the car in maybe 14 days ahead and make sure that they know that I’m handing it in at 08:00 as soon as the service receptionists turn up and request it back at 12:00 if it is for work taking only 2 hours, I turn up on the day and get told it will be ready for 17:30, I say no, lunch time, waiting for the promised phone call normally does not work, so I shuffle in at 13:30, job completed but paperwork just starts to move after I turn up.

 

What is so hard about offering timed work periods for simple jobs, and not trying to get these jobs done in time, and ready for collection including paperwork?

 

My Audi main dealer, tries to claim that they have never ever done MOTs by appointment, so every time I need to refer them to the Audi claimed way their dealers operate, that works and they accept my timed MOT, surely the motor trader could try to stop wasting customer’s time.

[Keithchesterfield1]

rum4mo - thoroughly agree, paperwork could be done before we arrive to collect but it never is with Main Dealers - that's why I avoid them if possible.

 

I had some work done on my Ducato based Motorhome recently by a private Commercial garage and not only was it ready at the time they said, they picked me up from home and drove me to their garage and the paperwork was ready and waiting at the price they'd quoted.

 

They want my business again - Main dealers don't give a fig.

[Skinneroo]

On 07/10/2018 at 19:27, Keithchesterfield1 said:

rum4mo - thoroughly agree, paperwork could be done before we arrive to collect but it never is with Main Dealers - that's why I avoid them if possible.

 

I had some work done on my Ducato based Motorhome recently by a private Commercial garage and not only was it ready at the time they said, they picked me up from home and drove me to their garage and the paperwork was ready and waiting at the price they'd quoted.

 

They want my business again - Main dealers don't give a fig.

 

Who is your Skoda dealer?

 

Edited 12 October, 2018 by Skinneroo

[2ndskoda]

We seem to be wandering away from the original subject!

 

The question is, what happened about the seat belt - its now 8 days since the original post. Perhaps I have missed something here? OR it has still not been repaired.

[Keithchesterfield1]

Sorry for the delay but Main Dealers rarely rush these things.

 

First they had to ascertain if there was a problem - yes, there was.

 

It needed to be replaced under warranty.

 

Booked in last Friday for a full day for the repair - in at 0830 - to be notified on completion.

 

They rang at about 1600 to say there was a 'problem' and a specialist engineering firm was required to sort out the 'problem'.

 

Picked up courtesy car at 1700 Friday.

 

Should be ready on Tuesday this week - they said.

 

I wait with trepidation.

 

To be continued ........

 

 

[AGFalco]

9 minutes ago, Keithchesterfield1 said:

specialist engineering firm

 

 

Bigger hammer required. 

 

Thanks AG Falco

[Ootohere]

Lock Smith to free the apprentice from the car after they were locked in by mistake.

[rum4mo]

If only to provide yourself and us with some mild amusement, why not ask they exactly what the specialist engineering company had to do to your personal property?

 

Maybe some bodywork and/or paintwork repair?

[Keithchesterfield1]

They rang me during yesterday afternoon and when I picked it up the rear seat belt had been replaced and now works as it should.

 

The only reply to my enquiry as to the problem they had encountered when taking out the 'old' seat belt was ' the threads were removed from the bolt'.

 

That's the best I could get from them, remember it was under warranty, and it didn't cost me anything.

 

A very nice Lady phoned me today from Skoda to ask what I thought of my experience of the service they had provided while they had the car in for repair - on a scale of one Star to five Stars.

 

I didn't give a rating but I think she got the gist of my opinion of the service provided and I wait in anticipation of some 'goodies' being sent between now and Christmas by Skoda to calm me down.

 

Thanks for your interest in my Skoda issue.

[rum4mo]

I'm not trying to be a smart ass, but stripped threads was the first thing that came into my mind when you mentioned specialist engineering company, that should not happen, but that is the way things went!

[AGFalco]

I seem to remember that on some bolts for seat belt parts that you do them up until they strip.

I think this is designed so that the bolts cannot come loose at a later time.

They do stay tight though and the thread will not move.

Some sort of security bolt set up.

 

Thanks AG Falco

[rum4mo]

They do or can seem to have a fine thread on these bolts from distant memory, though I would have thought that if that was the issue, then the standard defined workshop method of replacing them would involve using some retained specialist tooling, and not involved an unexpected longer stay in the workshop so that a specialist engineering firm could attend to sort things out.  The reason that dealership workshops get approval for carrying out these repairs is because they are trained up and tooled to handle all work they accept through the front door.