Torn seat belts

[Kirstin]

Hi. We purchased a second hand 2009 Prius about 8 months ago. A month or two after we pruchased it we noticed both the left and right seat belts in the rear seat were torn. The cut was so straight we assumed they had actually been cut and put in an insurance claim. Three months after having the belts replaced we noticed they had torn again in exactly the same place - obviously a fault rather than a malicious act as we had originally thought. We took this to a Toyota service centre to get it repaired under warranty and to get the fault fixed. They couldn't find anything wrong but, after much discussion, they reluctantly replaced the belts as a good will gesture. Just two months later it has happened again! We can't believe it. I've found three other similar complaints on other forums but none appear to have been resolved. The tear is occurring 1-2 cm BEFORE the belt goes into the retraction mechanism and therefore the service dealer argues it can't be a fault in that mechanism (and they've checked this). We have never put the seats down, we rarely carry passengers and we never carry anything sharp in the boot that could cause this. Since we last had the belts replaced we've been checking them regularly, in fact we had only checked them a few days ago, so it doesn't seem to be something that is occurring after repeated friction. Has anyone encountered this issue before? We can't afford the cost of constantly replacing seat belts and wouldn't want to sell a car with a serious safefy fault.

Edited May 25, 2011 by Kirstin

[lylee]

Hi. We purchased a second hand 2009 Prius about 8 months ago. A month or two after we pruchased it we noticed both the left and right seat belts in the rear seat were torn. The cut was so straight we assumed they had actually been cut and put in an insurance claim. Three months after having the belts replaced we noticed they had torn again in exactly the same place - obviously a fault rather than a malicious act as we had originally thought. We took this to a Toyota service centre to get it repaired under warranty and to get the fault fixed. They couldn't find anything wrong but, after much discussion, they reluctantly replaced the belts as a good will gesture. Just two months later it has happened again! We can't believe it. I've found three other similar complaints on other forums but none appear to have been resolved. The tear is occurring 1-2 cm BEFORE the belt goes into the retraction mechanism and therefore the service dealer argues it can't be a fault in that mechanism (and they've checked this). We have never put the seats down, we rarely carry passengers and we never carry anything sharp in the boot that could cause this. Since we last had the belts replaced we've been checking them regularly, in fact we had only checked them a few days ago, so it doesn't seem to be something that is occurring after repeated friction. Has anyone encountered this issue before? We can't afford the cost of constantly replacing seat belts and wouldn't want to sell a car with a serious safefy fault.

well all genuine toyota parts come with a 12 month parts warranty, i personally have not encountered this at the dealership i work at but this does seem odd indeed i can try follow up this tomorrow when i have a chance