[DrunkLahey]

I think these are great cars but the rear seatbelts are the worst I've seen when using child seats. I've tried 4 different models and some of the narrowest on the market and OMG what a pain. Its almost like there was zero testing done by Ford on this car with child seats. My son is 7 and I still have to buckle him in everyday and even I struggle to do so. I use the passenger side which is worse because there's two latches side by side giving you even less room to snap the latch plate into. Its a width issue. I also have the inflatable belts not sure if this makes things worse vs regular seatbelts. Anyways after a couple years of struggling with this the other day the latch broke. Part of the plastic inside completely broke off rendering the seatbelt useless. Guessing this is due to the heavy pressure we put on it every time we buckle the seatbelt. That and its been very cold as of late so the plastic becomes somewhat brittle.

I also have a Ford Edge and have the same problem getting the seatbelt buckled so its definitely a Ford thing.

I read that seatbelts have a lifetime warranty does anybody know if that's true before I call Ford Canada?

 

[bbf2530]

I think these are great cars but the rear seatbelts are the worst I've seen when using child seats. I've tried 4 different models and some of the narrowest on the market and OMG what a pain. Its almost like there was zero testing done by Ford on this car with child seats. My son is 7 and I still have to buckle him in everyday and even I struggle to do so. I use the passenger side which is worse because there's two latches side by side giving you even less room to snap the latch plate into. Its a width issue. I also have the inflatable belts not sure if this makes things worse vs regular seatbelts. Anyways after a couple years of struggling with this the other day the latch broke. Part of the plastic inside completely broke off rendering the seatbelt useless. Guessing this is due to the heavy pressure we put on it every time we buckle the seatbelt. That and its been very cold as of late so the plastic becomes somewhat brittle.

I also have a Ford Edge and have the same problem getting the seatbelt buckled so its definitely a Ford thing.

I read that seatbelts have a lifetime warranty does anybody know if that's true before I call Ford Canada?

Hi DL. The US warranty on the SRS/"Safety Restraint System' is 5 years/60,000 miles. That is taken from the US Warranty Guide, which is what I have access to. Are you still within those warranty limitations?

So a couple of caveats: First...although Ford of US and Canada warranties are generally similar/the same, perhaps Canada has longer coverage than the US on the Safety Restraint System (if you are outside those limits).
Second...Although I am naturally assuming the seat belts are considered part of the "SRS" system along with the airbags etc, I would say it would be best for you to take a look in your Warranty Guide (if you purchased new), or download it from the Ford of Canada Owner website, or check with your Ford Dealer and/or Ford of Canada Customer Relations.

Sorry I can not give a more precise answer.

Let us know how you make out and good luck.

 

[DrunkLahey]

Hi DL. The US warranty on the SRS/"Safety Restraint System' is 5 years/60,000 miles. That is taken from the US Warranty Guide, which is what I have access to. Are you still within those warranty limitations?

So a couple of caveats: First...although Ford of US and Canada warranties are generally similar/the same, perhaps Canada has longer coverage than the US on the Safety Restraint System (if you are outside those limits).
Second...Although I am naturally assuming the seat belts are considered part of the "SRS" system along with the airbags etc, I would say it would be best for you to take a look in your Warranty Guide (if you purchased new), or download it from the Ford of Canada Owner website, or check with your Ford Dealer and/or Ford of Canada Customer Relations.

Sorry I can not give a more precise answer.

Let us know how you make out and good luck.

Hey thx for the quick response. In Canada its 3yrs/60,000kms bumper to bumper and 5yr/100,000kms powertrain. I only have 30,000kms on the car but the 3yr hit one week ago. If there's no lifetime warranty on the belts, which I thought was unusual, then I doubt its covered on my powertrain warranty. Which means I'll be paying out of pocket due to exceeding my bumper to bumper by a couple days.

I'll check with Ford Canada.

 

[LeVeL]

I have no problem with my seat but my kid is a lot younger than yours. I have it seatbelted in AND strapped down to the LATCH anchors.

 

[bbf2530]

Hey thx for the quick response. In Canada its 3yrs/60,000kms bumper to bumper and 5yr/100,000kms powertrain. I only have 30,000kms on the car but the 3yr hit one week ago. If there's no lifetime warranty on the belts, which I thought was unusual, then I doubt its covered on my powertrain warranty. Which means I'll be paying out of pocket due to exceeding my bumper to bumper by a couple days.

I'll check with Ford Canada.

Hi DL. We had a "Failure to communicate". Take a look at page 8 of the Warranty Guide I attached below.

Yes, the US Bumper to Bumper Warranty and Powertrain warranties are also 3 years/36,0000 miles and 5 years/60,000 miles.

However, the SRS/"Safety Restraint System" has a 5 year/60,000 mile warranty. So at 3+ years/30,000kms, your car would seem to still be covered...assuming the Canadian SRS system coverage is at least equal to the US.

Sorry if my first explanation was a bit confusing.

Let us know how you make out and good luck.

 

[DarkArkAngel]

I think these are great cars but the rear seatbelts are the worst I've seen when using child seats. I've tried 4 different models and some of the narrowest on the market and OMG what a pain. Its almost like there was zero testing done by Ford on this car with child seats. My son is 7 and I still have to buckle him in everyday and even I struggle to do so. I use the passenger side which is worse because there's two latches side by side giving you even less room to snap the latch plate into. Its a width issue. I also have the inflatable belts not sure if this makes things worse vs regular seatbelts. Anyways after a couple years of struggling with this the other day the latch broke. Part of the plastic inside completely broke off rendering the seatbelt useless. Guessing this is due to the heavy pressure we put on it every time we buckle the seatbelt. That and its been very cold as of late so the plastic becomes somewhat brittle.

I also have a Ford Edge and have the same problem getting the seatbelt buckled so its definitely a Ford thing.

I read that seatbelts have a lifetime warranty does anybody know if that's true before I call Ford Canada?

Never had the same issue with my kid nieces' car seat, but I don't have the inflatable belts either.

If you do have to replace it out of pocket you might consider just purchasing the regular seatbelt assembly and getting that installed rather than the inflatable seat belt.

 

[Shawnski]

I’d be cautious about replacing with non-inflatable - it might set off warnings as to inoperative safety equipment.

 

[DarkArkAngel]

I’d be cautious about replacing with non-inflatable - it might set off warnings as to inoperative safety equipment.

Great point.

 

[Shawnski]

I’m not 100% certain, but when the airbag module went bad for my front drivers seat (actually located in the center console), I was under the impression that not only the drivers airbag, but none of the airbags were functional. I only think this because at the time it failed there was a waiting list for an appointment, the part was going to take 3-5 days to arrive, and my dealership had no loaners. I kind of flippantly said, “I’ll just drive it until I can bring it in,” and my service manager was really pushing me to park it (he’s literally a friend) because he said it wouldn’t have “any airbags”. As luck would have it, the part came in 2 days and they wedged me into the schedule. I’d be concerned that if any one section of the airbag system was non-functional, that it would compromise the entire system.

 

[bbf2530]

Hi gang. Many good points mentioned in the replies above. However, just to avoid confusion for DrunkLahey's situation: A broken and/or non-functional rear passenger seat belt buckle would not stop the front airbags from working. Even with the inflatable rear seatbelts.

And even if it hindered rear seat inflatable seat belts, the inflatable rear seat belts are of little to no use, safety wise, with a children's car seat anyway.

However, as Shawnski stated, replacing an inflatable rear seat belt with a non-inflatable one would likely set off constant Safety Restraint System warnings.

DrunkLahey's vehicle is still well within the 5 year/60,000 mile SRS warranty. So luckily, it should not be a problem to have the seat belt buckle/latch replaced. Even if it was not, replacing a broken rear buckle/latch would not be that expensive of a proposition. More just a possible pain in the neck to access/remove/replace.

But still, a lot of good points made above.

Good luck.

 

[Engineer]

If it helps any, when I was doing a lot with ForScan a while back I did see settings in one of the modules for the inflatable belts. I don't remember the module or where it was exactly but there was a setting for that. So if someone replaced the inflatable belts with standard belts they should be able to shut that off with Forscan.

 

[Skipe]

That's interesting, mine has them, only the second or third car I've ever seen with them. My 13 went in for a bunch of stuff before I bought it from my boss, RCM, all the door latches, and the three bolts in the rack got replaced. No recalls on the Sport so far though that I know of.

 

[DrunkLahey]

I have no problem with my seat but my kid is a lot younger than yours. I have it seatbelted in AND strapped down to the LATCH anchors.

Do you have the regular seat beats or inflatable ? Mine was an issue since my son was 4. And I've tried 4 different size seats in it. No way around it. What makes it worse too is the latch is stationary and doesn't move.

 

[DrunkLahey]

Hi DL. We had a "Failure to communicate". Take a look at page 8 of the Warranty Guide I attached below.

Yes, the US Bumper to Bumper Warranty and Powertrain warranties are also 3 years/36,0000 miles and 5 years/60,000 miles.

However, the SRS/"Safety Restraint System" has a 5 year/60,000 mile warranty. So at 3+ years/30,000kms, your car would seem to still be covered...assuming the Canadian SRS system coverage is at least equal to the US.

Sorry if my first explanation was a bit confusing.

Let us know how you make out and good luck.

This is good news thank you haven't had time to contact Ford yet. Waiting to hear back from the dealership about getting it looked at.

 

[LeVeL]

Do you have the regular seat beats or inflatable ? Mine was an issue since my son was 4. And I've tried 4 different size seats in it. No way around it. What makes it worse too is the latch is stationary and doesn't move.

I believe I have regular seatbelts, if it makes a difference.

Also, at least on my kid seat, if I couldn't close the clasp over the seatbelt, I simply wouldn't use the seatbelt. The instructions for the seat say you can just use LATCH, I'm going overboard by also using the seatbelt.

 

[DrunkLahey]

I believe I have regular seatbelts, if it makes a difference.

Also, at least on my kid seat, if I couldn't close the clasp over the seatbelt, I simply wouldn't use the seatbelt. The instructions for the seat say you can just use LATCH, I'm going overboard by also using the seatbelt.

I think it does make a difference, the latch is a bigger size with the inflatable belts. I didn't have this problem with my previous car (2013 Fusion SE) which just had regular belts.

 

[LeVeL]

Why do you even need to use the seatbelt? These cars have LATCH anchors specifically for child seats. Or is it different for older kids? I don't know if 7 year olds wear the regular seatbelt or not...

 

[DrunkLahey]

Why do you even need to use the seatbelt? These cars have LATCH anchors specifically for child seats. Or is it different for older kids? I don't know if 7 year olds wear the regular seatbelt or not...

Using a booster seat. I have one with a back rest and one without (shown below). You use the two seat latches in the seat and then use the seatbelt.

 

[LeVeL]

Got it, I see what you're struggling with now. Does anyone make a buckle extension?

 

[DrunkLahey]

Got it, I see what you're struggling with now. Does anyone make a buckle extension?

Good thinking. One of these would help. Doubt they make one specific for this vehicle with the inflatable belt though. Found this pic of one.