surburban seatbelt stuck

[meandky]

Hi,
my 01 suburban back-seat seatbelt is stuck, I cant pull it out at all. any ideas??? help!

[sub006]

If you have less than 100,000 miles, take it to the dealer! GM has a "secret warranty" of 100,000 miles on safety-related items.

The retractor on my '90 Sub's driver-side lap/shoulder belt was fighting back. I took it in and showed it to my local Chevy dealer's service dept. at 99,900 miles. They told me complete belt systems for the two front buckets were about $500, but Chevy would supply them free and pay the labor. Only problem was, they could only get '91 belts which were a lighter shade of gray than '90's.

Hell, I didn't care about a little color change! Now 400,000 miles on second set of belts, working fine!

[meandky]

Thanks alot for the reply. Unfortunately my suburban has over 150,000 miles on it. I finally did get the seat belt to work after lifting up the seat and jiggling it around. I think it was the automatic lock for child seats that had hung up. Hopefully wont have the prob again as it looks like it will be expensive to fix!

[frogpants]

Secret Warranty?? Plz tell me more ....

[sub006]

Dear frogpants (sounds like a bicycle racer),

It's just as I described in my last post. Many people waste money paying independent mechanics and muffler shops to fix smog equipment problems because their 36,000 or 50,000 mile vehicle warranty is used up. But federal regulations require manufacturers to cover emissions systems for at least 75,000 miles (may be more, I don't know the exact figure). I had a BMW that was well past its 50,000 mile warranty, but the dealer was happy to install a new catalytic converter ($500), even giving me a new X5 as a loaner.

The GM safety deal is a voluntary corporate policy, as far as I know. I picked up the information somewhere years ago and mentally filed it away for possible future use. When one of my front seatbelts didn't retract any more I decided to go to the Chevy dealer and give it a shot. It worked!

[frogpants]

Hi sub,
I love frogs and Spongebob (Squarepants) so that's where that came from
I called the local Chevy dealership and they said to give them my VIN and they'd look up any recalls. Gotta call 'em back. I'll ask about the cat too. I recently failed the emissions check but we think it's the o2 sensors. I've got about 86k on my truck but I'll ask.

[sub006]

frogpants,

Thanks for the name explanation! Sounds like you were talking to a low-level service writer person. The GM blanket safety item policy is not a "recall". If you don't get the answer you want, make sure you're speaking to the service MANAGER. If you don't get satisfaction, the next step is to contact your Chevrolet Zone Office - they often will set a dealer straight on programs the factory will pay for. Your regional 'phone number should be in the back of your owner's manual or warranty book.

Good luck!