Front Seat Belt Buckle Assembly problems of the 1996 Volvo 850

Two problems related to front seat belt buckle assembly have been reported for the 1996 Volvo 850. The most recently reported issues are listed below.

1 Front Seat Belt Buckle Assembly problem

Failure Date: 10/01/2002

As a matter of safety I had the buckle assembly of the driver's seat replaced because the buckle release plastic latch had broken and a portion of the plastic piece had fallen into the assembly. I am aware of the takata seatbelt recall dealing with a similar failure mode and the possibility of false latching resulting from plastic pieces becoming engaged in the buckle inner mechanisms. Dt.

2 Front Seat Belt Buckle Assembly problem

Failure Date: 09/11/1998

We purchased this car used. The previous owner had the right rear seat belt replaced, stating that it would fail to latch at times. We personally have had 3 failures with the rear seat belts, 2 on the left rear and 1 on the right. These failures are occuring when we attempt to install our child safety seats. There is a special component on the seat belt latch that prevents the seat belt from retracting when using car seats. This component breaks when we pull on the seat belt in order to tighten it for proper installation of the car seats. If this can occur with manual pulling, it seems sure to fail in an accident. I do not feel that my children are safe in this vehicle and I have expressed my concerns to the dealer with little response as to a solution other than to replace the seat belt. Please contact me as soon as possible to let me know what can be done and if there have been other reports such as mine. I want to sell the car, but do not want to pass this important safety issue along to another owner. I look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your time. Karla cannon.


Other Seat Belt related problems of the 1996 Volvo 850



Fuel Economy of 850 Vehicles
850 Service Bulletins
850 Safety Recalls
850 Defect Investigations