Warning: Shoulder strap guide design weakness can tear seat
 

The Subaru District Sales rep warned me that the shoulder strap on one of the demo cars tore the seat when someone pulled it off without unbuttoning it first.

He said the guide design will probably be modified (not sure if that means the seat will be reinforced below the button or something else), but that won't happen in time for the first batch of FRSes and BRZs (obviously).

I'm unaware of any cases of it happening to JDM BRZs or 86s already on the road, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

It's simply a minor design weakness that can result in a torn seat if misused; just be mindful when tugging on the shoulder strap while it's in the guide.

(please pardon the cross post; I thought this was worth putting in both the FRS and BRZ forums)

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1335523152

Didn't realize this was in both forums. I guess I should've typed it here instead. Any word of problems with the leather/alcantara seats?

Imo that whole strap should go and be replaced by some sort of hard plastic bracket. It's too cheesy for words.

Easy solution, just unbutton it and leave it that way unless you need it.

Those straps are pure crap.

Enemies, the blue BRZ that's been making the rounds here (the one Deslock is referring to) had BOTH straps ripped off, buttons and all. It was a Limited with Alcantara seats. It's a terrible design and the straps themselves are flimsy pieces. I assume they rip off because people tug at them to move the seats back (instead of by the shoulder of the seat) or they try to unbutton them forcefully.

The best way is to get rid of that strap altogether and mount an arm on the interior B pillar, as mentioned by Breeze.

Des, did the rep mention anything regarding a possible TSB or recall for first-release cars?

Wouldn't these be covered under warranty? I know Ford replaced the driver's seat in my wife's Mustang under warranty because something like this broke on it. I'm thinking if they do redesign it, the warranty work would cover replacing one if it broke, and if its a completely different design they would have to replace both for the match.

I would think they try to sneak out of it on the basis of "wear and tear". Though, seeing as how it has to do with a safety feature, it would fall under a warranty/TSB/recall fix. It might come down to legal verbiage and/or the frequency of owner complaints.

This is interesting...

How hard do you have to pull it to tear it? I would imagine it would be a fair amount of effort... Maybe it was torn in dealer cars because rude people were pulling unnecessarily hard on it? Demo cars seem to see a lot of abuse in a short amount of time...

Like (K) said, the demo BRZ Limited that we saw had both straps ripped off. Not very comforting! I think it does come from people trying to move the seats forward without unstrapping the seatbelt. As I will likely never use my back seat for anything, hopefully they'll last on my car!

Yea, it can always be up to interpretation, but I don't really think they can argue that this is wear and not faulty design if they start ripping off.

I'd have to work this one all the way up the chain if it came to that. Honestly though, since I ride single about 90% of the time and will have someone in the back only about 3% I don't think this will be an issue for me.

The rep (probably the same one) told me that people commonly mistake it for a handle to pull the seat forward and that's why it tears. It will not just tear under normal operation so I don't think it's something anyone over the age of 7 will have a problem with.

When i saw 2 BRZs here in socal both cars never had their seatbelts going through this strap and they were still there, but i do remember the FRS had its passenger side ripped off. I wouldnt doubt it to be a problem for owners, so hopefully Toyobaru gets it fixed or removed under warranty.

I would expect the problem to be much more prominent in a demo car since they see a lot of people getting in and out compared to someones personal vehicle. If it becomes a big enough problem I'm sure there will be pressure put on Subaru/Toyota to get a fix.

I noticed this too when I sat in the BRZ in socal. The seatbelt was uncomfortably high, so I put the belt back into the strap. What a terrible design! I will worry about this when my strap keeps popping off or tears on my brz. But for now I'll just let it be.