Seatbelt warranty. How long?

[peter210]

Driver's side seatbelt in my '98 S500 is not tensioned properly. Once I move and my seatbelt retracts it refuses to roll back unless I release it from the buckle. Does MB have longer warranty period for restrain system, just like for emissions?

[JCE]

I didn't see anything in my 1998 MB warranty book about extended warranty on safety equipment, just on emission stuff. Maybe the fed DOT or NHTSA web sites will have info about required warranty periods. Or MB may 'GoodWill' the replacement.

OTOH, when our 1988 Acura Legend rec'd notice from the feds that the seatbelts were defective, they initially refused a recall or free repairs, and treatened to fight the Gov in court. But media reported a Japanese Acura VP as saying something about Americans being messy and eating in their cars, gumming up the mechanism. The resulting PR headach caused Acura to agree to replace entire seat belt assemblies at no charge.

I recently replaced the seat belt on my 1987 300E as a preventative measure. The entire belt, retractor, and explosive charge tensioner are one unit, and was a couple hundred dollars as I recall. No idea what it is for a 1998 S class - maybe Phil in Fastlane can get you the numbers. It didn't look to be a difficult DIY job from watching my tech work. The most difficult part was SAFELY (as in firearms safety!) setting off the old belts powder charge so that it could be disposed of properly and legally.

[peter210]

Thanks JCE,
I guess it goes beyond the seatbelt replacement... Now my real issue is how to go around it and "have somebody else" pay for it. I do have an extended warranty on my car, but when it comes to couple of hundred dollar repair bills they look for any reason not to pay. Their best way is to use mechanics "wrong choice of words" and deny the authorization for the repair. I guess I'll see what happens.