Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (buckles, retractors, anchors and pretensioners).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
I have had my Tahoe in the the dealer several times. Where to begin. We have had middle seat latches catch and need to be replaced, the front dash and radio bubbled up and peeled...that was replaced. A component in the steering column was replaced when the car would just up and die everytime you turned left. That was replaced. The back window latch broke while on vacation. It too was replaced. All the seat/seatbelt recalls were repaired. Then on 5/18/03 our power steering went out without any warning. They replaced it on 5/19/03 at the dealer. We took it back in on 5/30 with the complaint of it still not "feeling" right. It was hard to turn to the left. They found no problem. Then on 7/13/03 while driving with a car full of boys, then the car died and started on fire. …
My passenger seat cot on fire. My truck was parked in the mall parking lot as my self husband and two children came out from shopping to my the car I opened my passanger door I got in and adjusted my passanger seat for comfort and my husband was getting the gift and kids in the truck and then all of a sudden I smelled smoke.I got out of the car and I started to look where the smell was coming from and looked under my passenger seat and there was sparks coming from under the seat there was a black box under the seat that was sparking I called 911 and the fire department came and put the fire out my whole passanger side burned and the fire department said it was the motor box under the seat that cot fire bad electrical wiring he said. …
My son and I was in an accident Saturday February 16. My right front tire went off the road and I tried to correct it when my back right tire went off the road and I tried to correct and went to the left when my left back tire dug into the earth and caused my truck to flip over. When the truck flipped over my son was ejected from the vehicle and he was wearing his seat belt but the belt came undone. Also in the rollover no side air bags deployed when if they did it might have kept him in the vehicle. Beware is all I can say.
Tl* - the vehicle owns a 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe. The contact stated the vehicle was in a head on collision while driving 40 MPH. The seat belt failed on the passenger's rear side seat belt. The seat belt assembly failed to secure the passenger during the impact. The passenger was forced into the front passenger seat. The passenger sustained minor injuries. The contact has a police report. The seat belt was replaced, and the contact also has the old seat belt. Updated 02/21/07.
On August 3, 2003, christopher moffeit, audrey moffiet and their twin daughters, mackenzi moffiet and mallory moffeit, were involved in a motor vehicle rollover accident while traveling in their 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe. Mackenzie and her sister, mallory, were securely buckled into their child safety seats which were fastened into the backseat of the Tahoe with seatbelts. Forensic evidence indicates that the seatbelt securing mackenzi's child safety seat released during the rollover collision. Mackenzi's child safety seat was ejected from the Tahoe. As a result of the injuries she sustained, mackenzi passed away several days after the accident. Forensic evidence indicates that the seatbelts of christopher and audrey also released during the rollover collision. Both were ejected and died August 3, 2003 as a result of the injuries they sustained in said accident.
My Chevy Tahoe was being driven back from watching the nascar race in the poconos pa when driving along interstate 84 two of the third row passengers complained that their shoulders hurt from the seat belts not moving. The seat belts locked in place and only would loosen up when the seat belt was released from the clip. Before passenger female girls ages 12 & 11 used the adjustment straps in the vehicle so the belt would sit properly on their shoulders. After stopping to eat. The 11 year old was unable to strap in again since the belt would not extend the 6 inches more to get it to lock into place. Both girls did receive bruising to there shoulder. GM says there is nothing wrong with the sea belts in the Tahoe and refuses to fix or replace the Tahoe/seat belts.
Shoulder restraint fails to lock, it continually retracts while driver is wearing it. With every movement seat belt continues to tighten restricting any movement of your upper body. Driver restraint is very dangerous. The driver is forced to make a decision as to whether wear the shoulder restraint and cause an accident or not wear it and be in danger as well as breaking the law! Although the retracting mechanism squeaks all the time, the retraction difficulties are intermittent. The problem started when the vehicle was less than 3 years old, but general motors refuses to repair the seat belt under warranty because the vehicle has 49K miles, despite the obvious hazard to the vehicle owner and others sharing the roadway at the time.
While driving down rote 17m in monroe ny two of the passengers complained that their seat belts locked up on the again. These the 2 females now in the 2nd row seats who were injured by the seat belt failure in the 3rd row seats just one week prior. Both girls had the factory adjust on so the seat belt sat properly on their shoulders. The seat belt only loosened up after being released from the buckle. Chevy refuses to repair/replace the seat belts/Tahoe. At this point this have made failures of all 6 seat belts with shoulder straps. This time the girls were sitting on opposite sides of the Tahoe as compared to the 6/12/2005 incident and were lucky not to have received bruising on the opposite shoulders as last time
I bought a 2001 chevrolex Tahoe used in March of 2004. Since then the front seat belts have not worked properly. It has been to the dealer 6 times for 3 replacements. Still not fixed. GM has moved my issue to custoimer relations and I was supposed to call me back on novemeber 8 and as on novemeber 29 I still have not been called back. Contact person at GM is craig king [phone]. Driver belt locks up as you try to put it on and sometimes can not get belt on. Passanger belt locks up on passanger and will not unluck even when passanger leans back. Person gets trapped against seat and realesing belt from buckle only way for person to move.
I bought a 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe in March of 2004. Since that time the front seat belts have been replaced 2 times. Currently the Tahoe is in hawthorne Chevrolet in hawthorne nj, trying to get it repaired for the third time. I have contacted chvrolet themselves about this. I am worried that it will be unable to be repaired. If that happens Chevrolet seems resistant to stand behind the safety defect of there manufactored truck. My truck obviously can not be released from the dealer until fixed. October 13 was the 5th day in the shop for the truck and it was returned there that day and is still there.
Related recalls
Seat belts › Front › Retractor
Vehicle description: pickup and utility trucks. Some of these vehicles have an internal component in the outboard seat belt retractors for the 2nd and 3rd row of seats that could be cracked. With repeated actuation of the locking mechanism, the crack could spread to the point such that the seat belt would no longer lock.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the outboard seat belts for specific lot numbers and replace the belts if necessary. GM is enclosing an inspection procedure for the owners to use or they can have their dealers do the inspections.
NHTSA investigations
Alleged failure of 2nd row seatbelt alr
The automatic locking retractor (alr) is a feature incorporated in the subject vehicle for locking the webbing to properly secure a child safety seat into a vehicle.this pe was opened based on a GM technical service bulletin stating that with certain child safety seats the webbing May not remain locked.there are no complaints in the odi database and only two complaints to GM.GM's instructions state for the final…
Seat Belt complaints in other Tahoe years
Frequently asked questions
How common are seat belt problems on the 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe?
NHTSA has 29 complaints about the seat belts of the 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe, 6% of the model year's 512 complaints. The component named most often is rear/other (7 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe seat belt problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 01V-159 (retractor, May 17, 2001). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe seat belt problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 50,000 miles, and 8% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 3 crashes, 2 fires and 7 injuries and 3 deaths to seat belts problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
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.