— Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango seat belts that failed to retract caused the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to open an investigation in September 2019.
Owners of 2014-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs filed at least 356 complaints about upper front seat belt plastic guides that cracked.
The plastic guide is the mounted D-Ring on the front seat B-pillar, and a cracked component will keep the seat belt slack on an occupant.
In addition to 356 seat belt complaints, NHTSA learned of 1,431 warranty claims received by Stellantis (Chrysler).
More than 532,400 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Durangos were included in the seat belt investigation that has been closed after Chrysler said it would extend the warranties for the subject components on 2014-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs.
At first the seat belt investigation included only the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee, but during the investigation 2013-2015 Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango vehicles were added. By the end of the investigation the subject models years were 2014 and 2015.
Owners said cracked plastic pinched the seat belt webbing at the D-rings and prevented the seat belts from retracting. Drivers also reported it was possible to manually feed the webbing back into the retractor to remove the slack.
NHTSA believes changes of material from nylon to other materials caused the seat belt problems, but no matter what the cause, occupants had warning of a problem based on the detectability of the condition.
With no reported injuries, along with the announcement of the extended warranty, NHTSA closed the investigation but will take further action if circumstances change.
