Buick Seat Belts: Webbing

Buick is recalling about 77,952 vehicles over a problem with the seat belts. When the shoulder belt webbing becomes jammed in the retractor, the belt may be unusable.

Campaign
00V117000
Manufacturer
GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Reported
18 April 2000
Vehicles
77,952
Built between
Apr 1996 – Oct 1997
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
NHTSA investigation
Owners notified
31 August 2000
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between April 1996 and October 1997. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 1997-1998 Buick Park AvenueBuilt April 1996 to October 1997

What the defect is

Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. Some of these vehicles have front seat shoulder belts that may twist, allowing the webbing to become jammed in the retractor.

What could happen

When the shoulder belt webbing becomes jammed in the retractor, the belt may be unusable.

What gets fixed

DEALERS WILL INSPECT FOR THE PRESENCE OF UPDATED FRONT SHOULDER BELT BEZELS AND WHERE NECESSARY, INSTALL NEW FRONT SEAT SHOULDER BELT OPENING BEZEL KITS.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtApril 1996 to October 1997
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA18 April 2000
  3. Owners notified31 August 2000

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 18 April 2000.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
00039
Recalling manufacturer
GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Recall initiated by
ODI

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owner notification began august 31, 2000.OWNERS who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact buick at 1-800-521-7300. Also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand