Your guide to getting free new seatbelts from Honda.
MOD_MAN_EXTREME
Wagonist
So we all know that getting new seat belts in your car is supposed to be free for Hondas, but that dealers like to either charge or flat-out refuse on older vehicles in the hope that you gravitate towards the new stuff in their lots. Well here's my guide to getting new ones.
So today I'm at Honda getting my belts inspected for free as the front driver and passenger belts don't lock when they get tugged on sharply or in accident like braking conditions. They flat-out refused to look at it using the age and it's mileage as an excuse. Ten minutes later and a frank conversation with the service center manager and he still refuses to even look at it. So I walk in, talk with the dealership's owner, point to my manual and the guarantee poster on their wall followed with a curt "I don't want to call Honda or send out a complaint email over a simple issue you're obligated to fix". Three seconds later and he forces the service center guys to follow policy and give me a complete belt change and inspection for free. No cost on parts and labor and the victory of keeping my car on the road and street legal made my day.
The only time there should ever be a fee is if your car has auto-belts which I don't have. If they fail to even activate at all when you close the door then head on in to your local dealer. In that case it's considered a computer/electronic part issue and should cost at the extreme most $59 for the inspection. It's a flat rate set in the computer and shouldn't cost a penny more. Afterwards all the replacement parts and labor should be free no matter what.
So the moral of the story is, if a dealer tries to give you crap about getting your belts inspected or changed get back at them by being stiff and making them comply to the policy laid out in the warranty and posted around their dealership.
If you have a normal manually seat belted wagon your inspection and parts along with all accompanying labor should be completely free.
If your belts are the automatic type then your belt, motor and computer inspection should cost no more then $59 as it's set that way in the dealer's computers and all accompanying parts and labor should be 100% free.
I hope this helps anyone who's been trying to get their belts changed out or fixed and has been getting quoted bullshit fees.
So today I'm at Honda getting my belts inspected for free as the front driver and passenger belts don't lock when they get tugged on sharply or in accident like braking conditions. They flat-out refused to look at it using the age and it's mileage as an excuse. Ten minutes later and a frank conversation with the service center manager and he still refuses to even look at it. So I walk in, talk with the dealership's owner, point to my manual and the guarantee poster on their wall followed with a curt "I don't want to call Honda or send out a complaint email over a simple issue you're obligated to fix". Three seconds later and he forces the service center guys to follow policy and give me a complete belt change and inspection for free. No cost on parts and labor and the victory of keeping my car on the road and street legal made my day.
The only time there should ever be a fee is if your car has auto-belts which I don't have. If they fail to even activate at all when you close the door then head on in to your local dealer. In that case it's considered a computer/electronic part issue and should cost at the extreme most $59 for the inspection. It's a flat rate set in the computer and shouldn't cost a penny more. Afterwards all the replacement parts and labor should be free no matter what.
So the moral of the story is, if a dealer tries to give you crap about getting your belts inspected or changed get back at them by being stiff and making them comply to the policy laid out in the warranty and posted around their dealership.
If you have a normal manually seat belted wagon your inspection and parts along with all accompanying labor should be completely free.
If your belts are the automatic type then your belt, motor and computer inspection should cost no more then $59 as it's set that way in the dealer's computers and all accompanying parts and labor should be 100% free.
I hope this helps anyone who's been trying to get their belts changed out or fixed and has been getting quoted bullshit fees.
Comments
Went in to get my belts changed and hit a roadblock. Apparently they don't have any more front driver's side manual belts......at all. They can get me a black passenger belt but the ones I have now somehow passed their BS inspection.
According to Honda seat belts are only supposed to operate at 10-15 mph while you're ever so slightly leaning forward and applying the brakes gently until the front end dips and the belts lock. If they lock they're supposedly good, but according to the BS at my local dealer locking once every three tries is good enough to consider them working. Not to mention the retractors won't lock in the event of a side impact or rear end collision.
I'll scan and upload Honda's seatbelt test paper (managed to snag a copy) tomorrow so you guys can take a look at it.
I called Honda USA's main customer service hotline and they said the belts are supposed to be taken apart and rebuilt for free in any situations like this where parts are scarce or unobtainable. Tomorrow I'm going to go back by Honda with some more stuff and attempt again to get my belts completely fixed. The customer service guys said that a local junkyard with certain certification's can also be used as a legitimate source of fully functional parts that should be purchased and installed for free by the dealer as well if no replacement parts of any kind are available direct from Honda.
I don't have a parts car (As is I can barely afford to eat right now) so I can't get any seatbelts for it. My other problem was the junkyard only had auto-seatbelts whereas my Wagon has a manual set all around.