Front Seat Belt Buckle Assembly problems of the 2000 Ford Ranger

The contact owns a 2000 Ford Ranger. While the contact's daughter was trying to fasten the passenger side front seat belt it would not latch. The contact inspected the latch , and there did not appear to be anything lodged in the latch to cause it not to lock. The contact stated that there seemed to be plastic part of the seat belt that broke off. The vehicle has not been inspected by a dealership yet, because when the consumer contacted the dealership they stated that it would cost approximately $100 to replace the seat belt. The manufacturer stated that there was a five year, 50,000 mile warranty on the seat belts, and there was nothing they could do to replace the seat belt without the consumer covering the cost. Updated 11/29/2005- a local gas station was able to repair the seat belt for under $60. The consumer still has the broken belt in his possession.

Buckle on driver's side seatbelt will not fasten due to something breaking inside of buckle. Dealer has to order part. Part is on back order and passenger's buckle was moved to the driver's side so consumer could drive safely.

Received recall notice about defective trw seat belt buckles. I am not going to wait until my child or I am injured or killed. Ford denies any knowledge of this, but a NHTSA person told me Ford initiated the recall based on customer complaints. This run around is ridiculous.