Seatbelt fraying

I have a 2018 4runner Limited with a little less than 55000 miles on it. The seat belt on the passenger side and passenger rear had become very difficult to retract and extend and have frayed. Picture below as example. There has been no known damage other than trying to retract and expand the seatbelt.

Anyone else have this problem?

Much appreciate any sharing as Toyota doesn't seem to want to repair at their cost for SeatBelt warrantee.

 

This happened to my old MDX and it was a mouse/rat that got in there and chewed the seatbelt no joke. Take a good look all around the interior to see if there is any evidence of mice/rats activity

 

Well that would be gross. But very much appreciate your response.

 

That looks Dale Earnhardt bad for a belt. Did they give you the cost to replace?

 

$700 +|-

 

The OEM seatbelt is expensive to replace. Mine is old and does not retract fully but enough to not be in the way. With you, your retractor motor etc should still be in good shape. Unfortunately, it's a seat belt. Not an item one want to cheap out.
That does look like it was chewed by a rat or someone cut it. The material around it still looks in good shape. Normal wear and tear is uniform.

 

Check with a body shop. They can sometimes do it cheaper.

 

send someone in TX, they replace all belts with color choice, I think around $100 each, I did mine when It was brand new, I hate black color anyways.

Google: seatbelt restore if you're interested.

 

So, good news and bad…

Total cost almost $900, good news is they ordered one of the two belts incorrectly, so have only replaced the back seat.

I will go to a repair shop for the second one.

Thank you all for your input.

 

So you decided it’s not defective belts?

 

Check with the dealer. I don't recall for sure, but I think components related to the SRS system might be covered under an 8year 80K mileage warranty. I believe that is enforced by the federal government. Those seat belts have a pre-tensioner in them so they are part of that SRS system, and may be covered. Don't quote me on this but I think I'm recalling it correctly.

 

The dealer corresponded with Toyota who indicated they were not defective but damaged. I felt they were damaged due to defective retration system.

Daddykool, Toyota did, not me…

 

That’s a bummer. Maybe you can make a stink with corporate…

 

I kept the old seatbelt and thought it was worth another try with corporate Toyota. I appreciate your note.

due to a parts snafu they had the wrong belt part for the passenger front, I may check with a trusted mechanic to see if they can do that safely but less than the 450 the dealer wants for the front seat

 

They are actually pretty easy to change. Just have to be certain the battery is disconnected while doing so, so you don’t set off the pre-tensioner. You are supposed to detonate them before disposing of the old one. That was always fun in the shop! Lol

 

Same thing with getting rid of sodium filled valves. Good times!

 

I know that I'm late to the conversation but, that looks like damage from it being shut in the door sticker/latch.
If you bought the vehicle used, no telling what could've frayed it like that. Possibly a sharp edge on a child safety seat or...
Glad its been replaced for your piece of mind.

 

I have a similar seatbelt issue. Mine is almost severed. NO rats, no mice, nor has it been slammed in the door. I saw the (what looked like a cut) and then from showing a few people, it had another cut looking frayed area, then another and now I cannot pull it out, it is stuck. It is my suspicion that something like the teeth of the mechanism inside is cutting it up. Today I Googled and found this page. Anyone else have this issue? I have not had many people sit behind me so it cannot be wear. From what I understand, if you have an accident, cutting these belts take determination.

 

A sharp knife makes pretty easy work of it. I had to cut my son out of his seatbelt once ( kind of a long story but it was not because of an accident or anything like that).

 

"In the unlikely situation that there are issues with the seatbelts or airbags, this warranty will cover all repairs for 60 months or 60,000"

 

I had this type of damage happen in a new Honda once. Turns out it was flash on the plastic trim piece opening were the belt enters/exits. The flash was almost razor sharp and sawed the belts while in use. This particular case was the rear passenger side and required a lot of the interior to be removed to replace.

 

Great point. Follow it all the way back to the winder. Has to be something causing this.