General Motors Co. - Seat Belt Buckles

[markopolo]

Vehicle Recall
GM recalls 425,000 vans
December 21, 2005

General Motors Co. is recalling about 450,000 full-size passenger and cargo vans because of reports that the seat belt buckles will not latch or unlatch.

Certain full-size passenger, cargo and cutaway vans may have front and rear seat belt buckles that will not latch or will not unlatch. There are two conditions that render the buckle inoperative after customer usage. Specifically:

With a damaged ejector hood, the latch tongue cannot fully enter the buckle and will not latch, and;
If the release bar moves permanently out of position the buckle will either be unable to engage the latch or the pushbutton will be unable to unlatch the buckle.
The recall affects the Chrevrolet Express and GMC Savana from the 2003-2006 model years. Dealers will inspect buckles and, if found to be inoperative, the entire buckle assembly will be replaced.

General Motors says it discovered the problem through an analysis of warranty claims. Consumers reported problems latching the buckle or unlocking it once it was in place.

GM says it has not received any reports of injuries relating to the problem.