Owner-reported complaints naming the seat belt system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming seat belts, buckles, retractors and pretensioners. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 1998 Pontiac Grand Am submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 8 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
DT: THE HARNESS OF THE CAR SEAT LOOSENS AND POPS OUT. THE PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED SINCE THE PURCHASE OF THE CAR SEAT. HAS NOT CONTACTED MANUFACTURER TO SEE IF THERE IS A WAY OF REPAIRING THE CAR SEAT. HAS NOT CHECKED TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY RECALLS. AFTER PLACING THE CHILD IN CAR SEAT, WHILE DRIVING, STRAP POPS OUT OF THE BRACKET IN THE BACK OF CAR SEAT. PROBLEM ONLY HAPPENS SOMETIMES.*AK
CONSUMER STATES SEATBELTS DO NOT LOCK UP WHEN BRAKE IS APPLIED IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION. DEALER STATED THAT SEATBELTS WERE WORKING AS DESIGNED.*AK *SCC
DRIVER'S SIDE SEATBELT CONSTANTLY KINKS AND TWISTS IN THE UPPER DRIVERS SIDE ANCHOR AND HAS TO BE STRAIGHTENED OUT BEFORE IT WILL RETRACT OR BE ABLE TO BE PULLED OUT. NLM
DRIVER SEAT BELT CONTINUED TO TWIST BY ITSELT WHILE RETURNING INTO THE RETRACTOR. DEALER NOTIFED, AND REPLACE BELT ON THREE OCCASIONS, BUT PROBLEM IS STILL OCCURRING. MANUFACTURER NOTIFIED, AND INFORMED CONSUMER THAT THEY WERE AWARE AND LOOKING INTO THE PROBLEM. *AK
VEHICLE EXPERIENCING PROBLEM WITH SEAT BELT UNLATCHING. ON TWO OCCASION THE SEAT BELT ON DRIVER'S SIDE UNLATCHED BY ITSELF FOR UNKNOWN REASON. CONSUMER COULD HEAR THE CLICK WHEN FASTENED. BUT LATER ON, THE SEAT BELT WOULD UNLATCH. DEALER NOTIFIED. DEALER NEEDED TO ORDER REPLACEMENT PARTS WHICH WOULD TAKE TWO WEEK OR MORE. CAN NHTSA HELP IN TIS MATTER. *AK
THE SEAT BELTS HAVE A BLACK PLASTIC PIECE THAT WITHOUT THE SEAT BELT DOES NOT LATCH I WAS TOLD BY THE DEALER THAT THIS HAPPENS IF THE SEATBELT GETS JAMMED IN THE DOOR. MY CONCERN IS THAT MY SEATBELT BROKE WHEN IT WAS NO WHERE NEAR A DOOR DOES THIS MEAN IT BECAME WEAK DUE TO A PRIOR INCIDENT AND WOULD IT HAVE HELD UP IN AN ACCIDENT OR WOULD IT HAVE GIVEN WAY AND PROVIDED NO PROTECTION. I WAS TOLD THIS HAPPENS QUITE OFTEN
SEAT BELT FAILED ON THREE OCCASIONS. *YC
CONSUMERS CHEST WAS INJURED BY A SAFETY BELT DURING A CRASH.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
Data on this page last refreshed .