- Vehicles
- 31,561
- Built between
- Sep 1999 – Sep 1999
- Models
- 1
- Recall type
- Equipment
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 1 March 2001
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between September 1999 and September 1999. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- Am Safe Seat Belt ConnectorsBuilt September 1999 to September 1999
What the defect is
Equipment description: center push button seat belt buckle connectors (tongues) from lot 9909 and assemblies using these connectors manufactured between september 1 and september 30, 1999. Connectors for the affected lot were sent through a secondary process after stamping. The secondary process formed a chamfer in the contact surface of some of the connectors. A chamfer in the surface will allow the connector to disengage from the buckle during a vehicle crash leaving the occupant unrestrained. These buckle assemblies fail to comply with federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 209, "seat belt assemblies."
What could happen
Serious injury or death could occur if the vehicle occupant is not properly restrained.
What gets fixed
AM-SAFE IS NOTIFYING CUSTOMERS THAT THEY WILL INSPECT AND REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE BUCKLE ASSEMBLIES FREE OF CHARGE. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN MARCH 1, 2001.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtSeptember 1999 to September 1999
- Recall reported to NHTSA20 February 2001
- Owners notified1 March 2001
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 20 February 2001.
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.
Manufacturer contact
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 am-safe commercial products at 219-266-8330.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- AM SAFE, INC.
- Safety standard
- FMVSS 209
- Recall initiated by
- MFR
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
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.