I was demonstrating my cool ride to the kids of a family friend yesterday, two boys aged 14 and 7. The teenager sat in front and the little boy in the back. We al got in and I told them to put on their seatbelts. The 7 year-old in the back complained that he couldn't get his belt buckle to clip in, so his big brother got out again to help him. He also could not get the buckle to clip in, so he just clipped in into one of the others (there are two buckles next to each other on one side). I grumbled something about the car being under warranty and I'll have the clip fixed with the next service. We headed off... [fade to black] Arrived at work this morning and decided to take a look at the "faulty" buckle when I noticed the word "center" written on it. I then examined the metal clip parts on the belts. They are different, like keys. The center belt will only clip into the center clip, and so on. Nothing is broken. This is the fisrt car I even owned with rear seatbelts that do not clip into ANY rear buckle. This shows the detail japanese engineers can go into. cool
Maybe I drive too many Toyotas, but the last car I remember riding in that didn't have that feature was a 1980 Buick!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ichabod @ Aug 13 2007, 08:55 PM) [snapback]494848[/snapback]</div> Well, this is my first ever Toyota. A buddy of mine just told me his 1995 BMW 740i had this feature but his 1994 540i do not, neither did my 1994 735i.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Albertus @ Aug 13 2007, 02:52 PM) [snapback]494845[/snapback]</div> I noticed this on our Prius test drive. I figured it was some sort of drunken assemblyline error. The salesperson told me that most newer cars have their seatbelts this way to give more room for our ample bodies in the back seat. I guess the thought it that the odds of all three seats being filled up are lower than one slightly larger person needing more room. Tim
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pvpost @ Aug 13 2007, 01:10 PM) [snapback]494856[/snapback]</div> I'm confused. How does preventing the outside belts from connecting to the center buckle (and preventing the center belt from connecting to either of the outside buckles) give a slightly larger person more room?
i know i'm only 20 years old, but seriously? they make cars where the rear seat belts clip into the center buckle??
What a coincidence. I had my two nephews and brother-in-law in the back seat and they had the same exact problem. Then later we too looked are realized that the center buckle was specific. Guess I know for the next trip.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Danny Hamilton @ Aug 13 2007, 03:38 PM) [snapback]494873[/snapback]</div> It's just the opposite of that; the center belt buckles ONLY to the backseat driver's side buckle, not the center buckle like you'd think. I had the coolest diagram drawn showing letters and symbols to show why it gives more room and, dang it, when I previewed the post they were all adjusted to the left. Have you ever installed an infant car seat? Think of the gigantic base it sits on. Imagine putting the car seat in the center position and having a few more inches of space to the farther buckle. This also applies to the typical American bum, mine included. It's not acres more space, but it does provide a few more inches to spread the belt. Tim
In the manual and a safety feature. You could be injured by the belts in an accident if the belts were fastened incorrectly. All vehicles I've owned have been this way. From 1979 model year and beyond.
