NHTSA Complaint #10148039 — 1999 BUICK PARK AVENUE

ON 12/28/2005, THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT BELT BECAME STUCK IN THE LOWER RETRACTION SYSTEM ON OUR 1999 BUICK PARK AVENUE. I ASSUME THE BELT BECAME TWISTED AS IT WAS RETRACTING, BUT I AM UNSURE. THE FAILURE & POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES FOR THIS SEAT BELT FAILURE WOULD BE THE INJURY AND/OR DEATH OF A PASSENGER IN THE FRONT LEFT PASSENGER SEAT. I CALLED OUR LOCAL DEALER (GIUFFRE BUICK) & THEY SAID IT WOULD NOT BE COVERED BY THE FACTORY WARRANTY SINCE IT IS OVER 3 YEARS OLD. TO VERIFY THIS STATEMENT, I CONTACTED BUICK CORPORATE DIRECTLY VIA EMAIL & THEY SAID THE SAME THING. I DID SOME FURTHER RESEARCH VIA THIS SITE & FOUND THE FOLLOWING INFO UNDER THE ODI DEFECT INVESTIGATION SEARCH: NHTSA RECALL CAMPAIGN NUMBER 00V117000. ALTHOUGH THE RECALL IS FOR 1997 & 1998 IT DID MENTION THE SAME TYPE OF SEAT BELT FAILURES ON 784 OUT OF 55,960 VEHICLES ON MODEL YEAR 1999 VEHICLES. I FORWARDED THE DOCUMENT TO MICHAEL REETZ, CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGER, BUICK CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CENTER, TO WHICH HE REPLIED - QUOTE "THANK YOU FOR CONTACTING THE BUICK CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CENTER. WE APPRECIATE YOU TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE US IN REGARDS TO YOUR FURTHER RESEARCH INTO THE CONCERN WITH YOUR SEAT BELTS. INFORMATION ON THIRD PARTY WEBSITES IN NOT ALWAYS ACCURATE. THERE IS NO RECALL FOR THE 1999 BUICK PARK AVENUE FOR YOUR SEAT BELT CONCERN." I AGREE, THERE IS NOT CURRENTLY A RECALL FOR MY 99' PARK AVENUE, BUT I FEEL THERE SHOULD BE. *NM