This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Starting in 2015, three of the 5 seat belts in my 1998 Camry do not remain latched, or fail to initially latch. As a (retired) mechanical engineer, I disassembled them to understand the problem. The defect is in the anchor mechanism with the "press" button on it. The "press" button has a metal spring mounted on the red plastic part, and the plastic has gradually cracked at the spring mount. This metal spring is what pushes the metal block through the rectangular hole in the shoulder belt coupler, when it is plugged into the seat belt anchor and latched properly. Eventually, the crack grows to the point that the metal spring cannot exert enough force to reliably latch to the shoulder belt. It may initially latch and feel secure, but can then come loose several minutes later when driving the car. I plan to include 3 photos of the problem part, one showing the crack in the plastic. The vehicle has not been in any accidents, so the seat belt problem has not resulted in any injuries to myself or my passengers. The local Toyota service department informed me that there was no extended warranty coverage for seat belts, so I bought new Toyota replacement parts for the defective belt anchors. We live in the desert, so long-term heat and cold cycles could be a contributing factor. The spring has its heaviest load on the plastic mount when the seat belt is not engaged, so the crack could possibly start, or grow, even when the seat belt is not being used.
The rear middle seat belt suddenly will not retract. The rear side seatbelts seem to get stuck every once in awhile. My brother purchased this car from our mom (who has been the only owner) last year, and were wondering if she missed a recall.
- Beaverton, OR, USA
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We purchased our 1998 Toyota Camry from my husband's 70 year old parents last year. There are 82,000 miles as of 1/08. There are two broken seatbelts in the back seat(passenger side and middle), and both front seatbelts either do not retract or have to be manually fed back into the retractor. Is there any kind of recall regarding this issue?
Water pump burst and had to be replaced. In addition, consumer was awaiting a replacement part for the passenger side seat belt mechanism. Cc copy to NHTSA
When the consumer unlatched the seat belt, it did not retract. The consumer contacted the dealer about this issue. Both the front seat belts did not retract and there was a vibration when the vehicle was in motion and was felt more when braking.
Seat belt on driver's side does not retract properly when vehicle is exited. It gets caught in door and is damaged after a period of time by the door being slammed against it.
When parked or driving on an upward slope, or if front of vehicle is higher than rear, seat belts cannot be pulled. Vehicle must be on level ground. Dealer contacted and aware of problem. Problem still exists. Provide further information.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Ridgecrest, CA, USA