Stock Drivers Seat Failure

[afritz]

For several weeks I have had a pop in my seat. It happened randomly and I was never able to track it down. I've actually had the seat out to look for it a few weeks ago, but found nothing. As the car is beyond the basic 36K miles warranty for interior, etc, I haven't called the dealer.

Today, as I got out of the car, the seat broke loose.

More precisely, the seat did NOT come off the floor. Instead, the actual seat broke away from the top half of the slider on the front left corner (there is a bolt there).

I pulled the seat out of the car, and inspected it. The bolt actually TORE through the steal, taking a chunk with it!?!?!? The front edge of the rail is split down the center to where the bolt hole was.

I'm a big guy (6' 3", ~280lb), but not that big. If broke like that with everyday use, then the seat would have completely failed in an accident, even with a light weight in the seat.

This seems like a manufacturing defect and REAL safety hazard. I'm going to call the dealer tomorrow and see what they say. There aren't any recalls or service notices are there?

This post is mostly FYI. I'm also curious if anyone has any advise in terms of dealing with Subaru to make them fix this?

[SubyTechMaster]

My advice in dealing w/Subaru:
Since your basic "bumper-to-bumper" warranty period has expired, very civily and humbly request they repair your seat because you noticed the problem while it was within the warranty period. Hopefully you are a loyal customer who has had their services done at the dealership and everything about your car is up to date, this will influence the dealership and Subaru to want to take care of your needs.

If you approach any problem with a hostile attitude and expect to meet an adversary instead of a friend, you probably will.

[Geoff]

If they shaft you, I have an '02 WRX driver's seat I can let go real cheap. I'm in Cypress.

[afritz]

My backup plan was to aquire a used seat, so thanks for the offer.

I approached it like I do most things: polite, but making sure what I wanted was known. I expected Subaru to fix the problem. A seat failure like this could be fatal in a rear ending, etc and it had to be a manufacturing defect. The seat has to deal with 1000s of pounds of load in an accident, so it should never fail under any human who can walk.

As it turned out Gilman did right. I didn't here what SOA said, if they even contacted them, but dealers have some descretionary money to handle unusual cases like this and Gilman is paying for a new seat rail with that. I'm sure it wasn't that much as the rail can be ordered by itself (I didn't think it could be).

Andrew

[DeusExMachina]

I just had this happen to me on Saturday night. Fortunately it wasn't while driving, but my seat suddenly turned into a rocking chair. Happened exactly as you describe it, front left bolt tore through the seat rail. I got in the car (granted I'm not small either, similar build as you), leaned back, *snap*. I was pissed. Its scary to drive it.

I'm going to try and get a brand new seat out of it, I've had the car 2 years/20k miles, so I'm well within warranty.

[afritz]

They probably won't replace the seat. The rail assembly is a seperate item and probably pretty cheap in the end. Good luck. The seat has air bags, so I'm sure it is very $$$$.

Andrew

[bluesky]

I had exactly the same thing happen a couple of weeks ago. Out of warranty. The bolt split the rack and tore through it just as I was driving to the dealer to have them look at it. It had started making that cracking noise just minutes earlier.

Also a big, but not HUGE guy... 6'2" 240 lb. Is there a driver template you should have to fit through before they sell you the car?

I calmly observed that I had brought this bolt to their attention several times while the car was under warranty, and the fact that it finally failed while out of warranty shouldn't really be an issue. I've taken to carrying a socket wrench to tighten that bolt up periodically, as it's been loosening since the car was new.

No dice. I was told that the one time that they had tightened the bolt was under warranty, but the warranty for that particular repair had expired. So I paid full parts and labour (and shop supplies, of course) to have the seat rack replaced.

Since I got the car back barely a week ago, I've had to tighten the bolt three times. I'm quite surprised at this, and wonder if my situation is unusual.. I'm getting the feeling that it's not. I'm VERY surprised that there's not a lockwasher or locktite or something as part of the assembly. MOST surprising is that there is only one bolt on that side of the rack. There is no rear bolt, just a front one. I would think a second bolt would reduce the likelihood of rocking, loosening, and eventual failure.

It really does seem like a serious safety hazard, as it would be pretty easy to lose control of the vehicle if it let go while driving.

This is all pretty recent, so if I have any grounds for recourse to Subaru Canada, now would be the time to go for it... any suggestions would be appreciated.

[kaitak98]

Hey guys...

I just found this thread. Same build, same problem. I have had the bolt on the left front side of the driver's seat tightened twice at the dealer and now it is loose again. It has to be a design fault. I think the root of the problem is that the high bolsters on the bottom of the seat and the position/size of the door opening and wheel lead me to put more lateral pressure on the seat frame while getting in and out. But the parts shouldn't be this fragile.

I'm glad I'm not the only one having this issue and I do share your safety concerns. Getting it repaired won't be an issue for a long time since I have a 6yr/80k SOA warranty.

The thing is I am tired of going to the dealer to get the seat tightened. When this first started happening I couldn't see an easy way to get to the bolt on the bottom of the seat rail. I can't get to the car to look right now but is there a way to get a wrench in there without taking the seat out? What size socket. Maybe a little thread lock would help if the rail isn't damaged.

This should be addressed by SOA before someone gets hurt.

Thanks-
Tom

[ANZAC_1915]

Report it to the NHTSA...

[MINO]

I am a larger guy and have also suffered from the rocking-chair syndrome.
Getting tired of tightening the front, clutch-side bolt, I finally applied lock-tite red to the threads and called it a day. No problems since.

[elijahwrx]

Originally Posted by MINO

I am a larger guy and have also suffered from the rocking-chair syndrome.
Getting tired of tightening the front, clutch-side bolt, I finally applied lock-tite red to the threads and called it a day. No problems since.

where exactly is the bolt and is it easy to get to? i'm about to head to the dealership for my very last piece of warranty work. if i can't get them to deal with the seat, i guess i'll have to fix it myself with some locktite..

[kaitak98]

Maybe I'm just being dense but after having another look at the seat I still can't figure out how to get a wrench on the bolt holding the seat to the upper rail. We must be talking about the same thing. The rail on the floor is "U" shaped and faces up. The rail bolted to the seat is also "U" shaped, faces down and fits inside the lower rail forming a box. The head of the bolt that need to be tightened is inside this box. It comes up from the bottom of the seat rail and goes into a captured nut on the top of the seat frame. I have tried moving the seat all the way fore and aft, up and down and the bolt is still blocked by the floor rail. I might be able to get a box wrench in there but I doubt there is room to turn it.

I hope I'm not missing a simple solution. Not having to go to the dealer for this would be great.

Thanks-

Tom

[quadturbowrxgtr-s]

man there are alot of big guys (in a repsectful way) driving subaurus, so if we were ever to go into brand wars we could really do damage to all the little sparrows driving hondas and mitsu's. (yes i'll finally win at something)

[elijahwrx]

Originally Posted by kaitak98

I might be able to get a box wrench in there but I doubt there is room to turn it.

a wrench like this one would work most likely:

http://www.toolking.com/titan/view.asp?id=3428

sears sells them.. just ratcheting box wrenches.. get a fine tooth version, which will mean it only needs a degree or two of turning radius to work

[MINO]

I can't remember if it's a 12mm or 14mm. I've used both a regular wrench and a socket wrench. I pull the seat forward just enough before the bolt is over the trunk/gas opener. If its over the opener the socket won't go. It's a tight squeeze (especially for us bigger guys) and it takes a little time.

Overall, pretty easy.

[elijahwrx]

Originally Posted by MINO

I can't remember if it's a 12mm or 14mm. I've used both a regular wrench and a socket wrench. I pull the seat forward just enough before the bolt is over the trunk/gas opener. If its over the opener the socket won't go. It's a tight squeeze (especially for us bigger guys) and it takes a little time.

Overall, pretty easy.

excellent info, thanks! i'm going to check mine out when i get it back from the dealer.

[Sublime5260]

All of a sudden, I'm quite happy about being a lightweight.

[thrdeye]

I think I may have this problem too...I have noticed a slight rocking....gonna check it out later. I'm 6-1, 235 lb

[kaitak98]

I would have sworn the seat was a far forward as it would go when I tried it last night but I just tried it again and voila...the bolt is in the clear ahead of the floor rail. The guys at the dealer must think I'm a simp. (I feel the same way about them sometimes.) It did seem like there was a second click to the adjustment lever to get it to go all the way up but I might be imagining that. I'm at work so I don't have my tools but I'll stop on the way home to get some LockTite and get it done tonight. The only bad thing is I was looking for an excuse to buy a set ratcheting box wrenches like elijahwrx mentioned.

The seat rail looks to be in good shape but I'll keep an eye on it for signs of cracking. I hope it doesn't take an injury or worse to get SOA to take notice.

Thanks again for the help-

Tom

[kaos200]

is there not some law that says that safety equipment MUST be warrantied for the life of the car? (Seatbelts airbags etc)
I would imagine that is a safety issue....

[spelk3]

Make : SUBARU Model : IMPREZA Year : 2002, 2003
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 04V342000 Recall Date : JUL 09, 2004
Component: SEATS
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 84574
Summary:
ON CERTAIN SEDAN AND WAGON MODEL VEHICLES, THE LEFT FRONT BOLT THAT RETAINS THE FORWARD PART OF THE DRIVER'S SEAT TO THE SEAT SLIDE RAIL MAY LOOSEN. IF THE SEAT SLIDE RAIL BOLT LOOSENS, IT WILL EVENTUALLY FALL OUT AND THE SEAT MAY SEPARATE FROM THE SEAT SLIDE.
Consequence:
IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH, THE DRIVER MAY SUSTAIN MORE SEVERE INJURIES DUE TO THE SEAT MOVEMENT.
Remedy:
DEALERS WILL INSTALL A NEW LEFT HAND DRIVER'S SEAT RAIL MOUNTING BOLT. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING JULY 2004. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT SUBARU AT 1-800-782-2783.
Notes:
CUSTOMERS CAN ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION’S AUTO SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).

[kaitak98]

Mine is an '03... Maybe I should contact NHTSA.

[spelk3]

It also applies to the 2003 model.

[kaitak98]

Cool. Did the 2003s get added to the post? Just want to make sure I'm not seeing things.

It's good news in any case.

Thanks-

Tom

[spelk3]

Yea, I added the 2003 after I looked it up on the NHTSA website.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...callsearch.cfm