Third-row passengers in 2022-2024 Jeep Wagoneers and Grand Wagoneers could not be in a position to buckle up due to a manufacturing error that brought on the buckles to turn into broken or totally inaccessible.

That has prompted the automaker to launch a recall campaign of 97,066 autos. Jeep believes that just 1 % of these will in fact have a broken or disappearing seatbelt, but should verify examples constructed in between February 24, 2021, and September 11, 2023, to be confident.

It’s not clear how the seatbelt buckles came to be broken throughout the manufacturing procedure, but Jeep initial became conscious of the situation on October 20, 2022. At that time, its Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance group was alerted to an situation connected to third-row seatbelt buckles that had been “scratched” or otherwise broken in some autos.

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 Jeep Recalls 97,000 Wagoneers And Grand Wagoneers Over Damaged Seatbelts

It looked via its production records and determined that the situation was not connected to the part’s building. Rather, the seatbelt buckle was getting broken at its Auburn Hills, Michigan, plant although the autos had been getting assembled.

Naturally, regulators had some issues about the seatbelts not functioning, as they kind a fairly crucial portion of a vehicle’s occupant security method. Without a seatbelt, a passenger is considerably likelier to endure an injury in the occasion of an accident, and could even hurt other folks in the car.

The very good news for Jeep is that considering that this is not a components situation, the resolution is just to replace the third-row seatbelt buckle. In order to figure out which autos are in want of this replacement, it will start off reaching out to buyers on December 15. They will be asked to return their Wagoneer or Grand Wagoneer to a nearby dealership, exactly where the portion will be inspected. The repair will be completed at no expense to the owner.

 Jeep Recalls 97,000 Wagoneers And Grand Wagoneers Over Damaged Seatbelts