Warranty work on mud damaged part

Good evening fellow Tacoma enthusiasts,

The other day I was out on the trail and drove into what I thought was a shallow water/mud hole. Come to find out the ground under that water was actually about 3ft of soft clay. Lesson learned...never again will I be driving into an unknown puddle.

Anyways, seems the driver side seat belt retractor mechanism took on some mud and was causing it to somewhat malfunction. I cleaned the assembly and it seems to have fixed it but with it playing such a large part in safety, I'm thinking it would be better to just replace the entire assembly. Do you all think the dealership would replace it or should I bite the bullet and just buy a new one on my own?

 

I think there is a slim chance the dealer will cover it since it was user induced and not a manufacturing/mechanical issue. If they like you they may for good will purposes though.

When I brought my jeep in for a rock stuck in something that I couldn't find (making noise) they billed me.

 

Clean everything up the best you can and bring it in. They should replace it

 

If it operates correctly, regardless of what got it dirty in the first place, I don't think they will replace it just because you want a new, clean one.

Case 1- you say " I got mud in my assembly, cleaned it, and it works now but I want a new one for safety"
- OK, we can sell you one.

Case 2 - you clean it up perfectly pretending you didn't get mud in it and say " I have this perfectly functional assembly that I just don't trust for some reason."
- OK, we can sell you one.

 

I just brought mine in to get the seat belt retractor replaced. It wouldn't retract. Maybe there is an actual safety issue with the belt retractors that they used

 

That, of course, is a warranty issue and unrelated to a functioning retractor. Nobody else is reporting that issue, so I wouldn't lose sleep over the safety of their retractors in general.

 

Bite the bullet. You damaged it and getting it replaced has nothing whatsoever to do with the warranty.

 

All valid points. It doesn't retract as quickly as it use to but it does lock up when jerked hard. I'll probably just fork over some cash and buy a new one and not try to go through warranty. Trying to do a warranty claim seems dishonest anyways since it was, as mentioned earlier, not a manufacturer defect.

 

Yea, you're doing the right thing. Toyota had nothing to do with this part failing or underperforming; they shouldn't be on the hook for replacing it. Kudos to you for taking the high road.

 

Take it to Toyota and ask them to replace it. If it is a safety item, and it is, they will probably not fight you on it. Who knows, maybe it is just coincidence that it failed at the same time you went mudding... Who are we to make that call?