Volkswagen Seat Belts: Buckle Assembly

Volkswagen is recalling about 5,000 vehicles over a problem with the seat belts. In the event of a crash, the passenger's frontal airbag will not deploy and will not be able to properly protect an occupant, increasing the risk of injuries.

Campaign
09V097000
Manufacturer
VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC
Reported
24 March 2009
Vehicles
5,000
Built between
May 2008 – Nov 2008
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
8 April 2009
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between May 2008 and November 2008. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2009 Volkswagen CCBuilt May 2008 to November 2008

What the defect is

Volkswagen is recalling approximately 5,000 my 2009 cc vehicles. Some affected vehicles may have an incorrectly routed right front passenger seat belt buckle wiring harness, creating the potential for wires to become damaged when the seat is moved fully up or down or back and forth. If this wiring damage occurs, the airbag control module will switch to a fallback algorithm and deactivate the passenger's frontal air bag.

What could happen

In the event of a crash, the passenger's frontal airbag will not deploy and will not be able to properly protect an occupant, increasing the risk of injuries.

What gets fixed

DEALERS WILL INSPECT AND ADJUST THE ROUTING OF THE RIGHT FRONT PASSENGER SEAT BELT WIRING HARNESS. IF A DAMAGED WIRING HARNESS IS FOUND, THE HARNESS WILL BE REPLACED FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING APRIL 2009.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtMay 2008 to November 2008
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA24 March 2009
  3. Owners notified8 April 2009

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 24 March 2009.

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 may contact volkswagen at 1-800-822-8987.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
69H3/S3
Recalling manufacturer
VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC
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

Volkswagen recall no. 69H3/S3.OWNERS may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to <a href=http://www.safercar.gov>http://www.safercar.gov</a> .

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