Seat Belt complaints by model year
Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (buckles, retractors, anchors and pretensioners).
Mileage when the problem started
What owners report
Dt: the consumer was rear ended by another vehicle. When this happened the front seat belts failed to lock. The consumers vehicle was pushed into another vehicle. The passenger sustained minor injuries. The incident took place on October 5, 2005, and a police report was taken. When the consumer took the vehicle to a dealership they checked the vehicle. At first, the dealer said that the seat belts were alright. Then, he test drove the vehicle with the contact, and the seat belts worked on/off. Afterwards, he thought that the seat belts were not suppose to lock when being hit from the rear. The dealer said that the contact should turn vehicle over to the insurance company. Updated 11/29/05.
Tl*- the contact owns a 2001 Buick Century with an odometer reading of 95000 miles. The contact stated that the front drivers side seat belt webbing did not pull from the retractor. When she tried to use her seat belt the webbing would not pull out from the retractor. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer, and found that the retractor failed, and the dealer repaired it. Updated 03/07/07.
Tl contact owns a 2000 Buick Century. None of the rear seat belt buckles function. The rear driver and passenger side seat belt buckle assembly would not release. The middle seat belt buckle assembly has failed. Normally, the contact gets some silicone and fiddles with the vehicle for thirty minutes before she can get the seat belt to loosen up and come out. The contact was not informed if NHTSA campaign id numbers 01V109000 and 00V228003 (seat belts) apply to her VIN. In addition, all four window motors have been replaced, and the front window motors were replaced twice. Currently, the rear passenger window is rolled down and will not roll back up. The current mileage was 81,786 and failure mileage was 4,000.
My sister owned vehicle above until I purchased it in 2004 from her. She nor I have never received any recall letters from GM on the 7 recalls that your records show that needed to be corrected or replaced. Would it be possible for you to check into this as to why we didn't receive notices from GM. I have not have any incidents,but would like to know why I did not receive any recall notices. Nor did my sister the previous owner . Thank you . [redacted]
Consumer's child was strapped inside of carseat. Shoulder belt was strapped against child's waist and it tightened . Mother had to cut seatbelt. To release the child. The dealer refused to replace the seat belt under warranty because it was cut by the customer.
Belt buckle of rear drivers side seat belt was replaced, at this time rear passengers side seat belt buckle will no longer latch. Consumer stated that the passenger side seat belt also would not latch.
The vehicle drifted to the left, noises seemed to have been coming from the steering, the power steering locked up, the rack and pinion had gone out and leaked, the A/C control was inoperative, the seat belt button latch had fallen and the button was missing, the wheel alignment was out of specifics, the driver door was hard to open, the panel had moved when the window was rolled down, the power window(s) were inoperative, the shifter goes in and out, the right front door exterior trim was hard to open, the passengers seat coushin was too soft and had collapsed, and the door's mirror was loose. The service dealer had found no problems with the steering. Scc
I have a 1998 Buick regal with rear seatbelts that jam inside and cannot be re-extended. I have paid $200 to have the back seat removed and the seatbelts realigned so that they work. I was warned at time of repair that this was a common problem in this model car and it would probably reoccur. Despite our great care in using the realigned belts, the problem did in fact reoccur and now both rear belts are jammed again, with the result that our children cannot be properly restrained in the car and we cannot use it when traveling with them (unless we pay to have it repaired again). My mother has a Buick regal roughly the same age with similar problems.
Related recalls (3)
Seat belts
Vehicle description: certain passenger vehicles, equipped with sunvisor located air bag labels, fail to conform to federal motor vehicles safety standard no. 208, "occupant crash protection." these vehicles have a message area less than 30 cm which does not meet the requirements of the standard.
Remedy: GM will mail a new bilingual air bag label with installation instructions. However, the customer May bring the label to their dealer for installation free of charge. Owner notification began May 4, 2001.
Seat belts
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles, light duty trucks, sport utility vehicles, and Mini vans equipped with trw seat belt buckle assemblies. The buckle base of these seat belt assemblies were not properly heat treated and therefore do not pass the load bearing requirement of federal motor vehicle safety standard no.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the vehicle's safety belt buckle assembly date codes and, if necessary, will replace any safety belt buckle assembly.
Seat belts › Front › Anchorage
These vehicles were assembled with rear outboard safety belt anchorages that May not withstand the required load. This does not comply with FMVSS no.210, "seat belt assembly anchorages."
Remedy: Dealers will replace the existing anchor bolts with a new shoulder bolt and thread locking adhesive. Additionally, noise control patches will be applied at each anchorage.
Frequently asked questions
Which Buick Century years have seat belt problems?
By NHTSA complaints, the 1997 (15), 1998 (12), 2000 (9), 1995 (5) and 1999 (5) model years. Seat Belt complaints make up 14% of all complaints for the 1997.
Is there a recall for Buick Century seat belt problems?
Yes — 3 recalls, including 01V-109 (seat belts, Apr 6, 2001); 00V228003 (seat belts, Aug 7, 2000); 95V-173 (anchorage, Sep 15, 1995). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers; check a specific car with the VIN recall check.
At what mileage do Buick Century seat belt problems start?
Across all years, half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 79,000 miles; 32% happened before 50,000 miles.
What part fails most often?
Owners most often name the front › retractor (12 mentions), followed by the rear/other (9).
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.