Hope this provides a really good laugh for a few folks. My son hopped in the back seat, grabbed the first seat belt he saw, and fastened the front seat belt into the back seat belt latch. Then he shut the door, pulled on the seat belt and locked the seat belt just about as tight as it can go. Managed to get the poor kid out of the car, but have no idea how to get the seat belt to release. Any ideas? I'm beginning to think that I will have to completely remove the back seats in order to get at the bolt that connects the seat belt latch. I've already removed the upper harness for the front seat belt (gave me just enough give to get my son out of the car, then it locked the belt even tigher than before). Please oh please oh please tell me I'm not the first bozo to have done this.

I think this was done before and if I remember correctly, it is a real pain if this happens. It is very hard to get that thing out. Have no idea what exactly needs to be done though.
Sorry for the bad news...

According to RX8web.com they cannot be separated.
http://www.rx8web.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=757&highlight=how+well+do+you+know+your+car

Someone did this before. They had to break the plastic part of the latch to get it open.

Oops on Mazda's part. :D

granted its weird to use different belt clip housings/parts but in mazda's defense I will say that anyone that plugs the front seat belt to the back end is retarded (kid or not)

If that was my son he'd get an "ass whoopin" from daddy's belt. or take his allownece away or something to pay for the damage. Maybe then he will know not to fuck around with dad's toys. :)

I am surprised it hasnt happened more often. even when I was older I would see how far the seatbelts stretched. When two of my friends would drive around in my car, whoever sat in the back would sit in the middle and stretch the right ahdn seatbelt to the left hand buckle and cive versa to provide a 4 point safety harness. it was quite snug, but it kept you from sliding all across the back leather bench seat.

anyway, sorry I cant help you out bazookajoe, but I dont think your kid is retarded, maybe just curious

granted its weird to use different belt clip housings/parts but in mazda's defense I will say that anyone that plugs the front seat belt to the back end is retarded (kid or not)

If that was my son he'd get an "ass whoopin" from daddy's belt. or take his allownece away or something to pay for the damage. Maybe then he will know not to fuck around with dad's toys. :)
Wow, glad you're not my dad ;)

Isn't toxin also the guy who "went to one of the best universities in the country", can't spell "towels", and hates immigrants?

Damn dude, for the love of all things beautiful please never procreate!!

Retarded? Look for the thead where some guy was laying in the back seat or floor area and locked himself in that position by grabbing the wrong belt. He had to send his kid in to get his wife to come out and "rescue" him. I do think you have to disassemble or break the buckle to get them apart, though. Try searching, there might be a solution in an old thread.

Isn't toxin also the guy who "went to one of the best universities in the country", can't spell "towels", and hates immigrants?

Damn dude, for the love of all things beautiful please never procreate!!


1) I don't understand where having pride in my accomplishment of graduating from a great university should be cast in the negative?
2) I suppose you have *never* had a typo in your life?
3) I never said I hate immigrants - i said I hate the way our country is flooded with people who refuse to make an effort to learn the language this country is based on.


Back on topic though -- am I the only one that as a child if i did something bad or acted up my parents whipped me with a belt or grounded me? It's called discipline, something most children arent taught these days. All of this Dr. Phill "lets talk it out" bullshit is a waste of time and energy. At what point did it fail to mean anything that in family matters of dealing wtih children "I'm the parent, you are the child - live by my rules or there will be consequences" I'm not saying I would take enjoyment in whipping my kid with a belt, but if its the only way to make them understand, so be it. I'm only 24, so no kids yet thank god but I know when my parnets whooped my ass it wasnt because they hated me its because it got me to do what needed to be done. (at least until I was old enough to outrun them both)

1) I don't understand where having pride in my accomplishment of graduating from a great university should be cast in the negative?
2) I suppose you have *never* had a typo in your life?
3) I never said I hate immigrants - i said I hate the way our country is flooded with people who refuse to make an effort to learn the language this country is based on.


Back on topic though -- am I the only one that as a child if i did something bad or acted up my parents whipped me with a belt or grounded me? It's called discipline, something most children arent taught these days. All of this Dr. Phill "lets talk it out" bullshit is a waste of time and energy. At what point did it fail to mean anything that in family matters of dealing wtih children "I'm the parent, you are the child - live by my rules or there will be consequences" I'm not saying I would take enjoyment in whipping my kid with a belt, but if its the only way to make them understand, so be it. I'm only 24, so no kids yet thank god but I know when my parnets whooped my ass it wasnt because they hated me its because it got me to do what needed to be done. (at least until I was old enough to outrun them both)
Did you ever stop and think that maybe the kid did it by mistake? Are you going to beat your kids for making mistakes?

And you're the one to call someone else retarded? It wasn't like the kid was trying to break something, it was an accident. I could agree with you if the kid had defiled the car with a marker or set the car on fire with a lighter but this wasn't mallicious. Beating the poor kid isn't going to solve anything...

C'mon toxin, everyone knows you are an over achieving racist who cant spell...JK

Retarded? Look for the thead where some guy was laying in the back seat or floor area and locked himself in that position by grabbing the wrong belt. He had to send his kid in to get his wife to come out and "rescue" him. I do think you have to disassemble or break the buckle to get them apart, though. Try searching, there might be a solution in an old thread.

I just remember laughing hilariously at that thread. Pretty funny in the end. He actually ended up taking his car back to the dealer to get them to fix it. As someone said before, apparently the latches are different for the front and back seats so that they won't fit together. Too bad Mazda didn't think to make it to where they just wouldn't latch in or something, huh. Oh well...guess they couldn't think of everything!!

Oh yeah...here it is:
Seatbelt Disaster (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=14232&highlight=seatbelt)

Thanks for the info, everyone. Let me add a bit of detail so as to exonerate my son:

He is seven, very responsible, and very consciencious about making sure that his seat belt is always fastened. It is the first thing that he does when he gets in the car. He also always sits in the back due to the air bag and my desire not to decapitate my son if we get in an accident. When the back doors are open, the front seat belt pulls to the back because it is harnessed on the back door. When you look for the seat belt, the one attached to the door is the first one you see. He hopped in the car, fastened the belt, and realized immediately that something was just not right and asked for my help. Being the bright guy I am, I too realized something was not quite right and tried to get the belt undone. When I couldn't, my son began to cry and cried for the next hour and a half because he knew this was daddy's special car that he had saved for and now it was broken. He told me he would pay for it. He told me I could have his allowance for the rest of his life to pay for breaking the car. Are you seriously going to tell me that you would paddle a kid under these circumstances? I have tanned his hide for lying to me before or for deliberate disobedience - things where serious discipline was in order. This was not one of those times, so please get off the kid's case.

I took the car into the Mazda dealership and it is impossible to separate the front seat belt from the rear latch and I was the third guy this month that was in there with the problem. For those who happen to find themselves in my same situation, you have to break the back seat belt latch to release the belt and then install a new rear seat belt assembly. Cost around $26. Rear seat comes out with one bolt, and seat belt assembly attaches with one bolt. The Mazda dealer gave me the necessary instruction and diagrams to make this fairly painless.

C'mon toxin, everyone knows you are an over achieving racist who cant spell...JK


Nah - i know im not a racist I hate everyone equally :evil_laug :evil_laug :evil_laug

I took the car into the Mazda dealership and it is impossible to separate the front seat belt from the rear latch and I was the third guy this month that was in there with the problem. For those who happen to find themselves in my same situation, you have to break the back seat belt latch to release the belt and then install a new rear seat belt assembly. Cost around $26. Rear seat comes out with one bolt, and seat belt assembly attaches with one bolt. The Mazda dealer gave me the necessary instruction and diagrams to make this fairly painless.
Seems like a bad design. Guess one more way to get owner money into the system.

Dude, $26 and you think that's a revenue stream for Mazda?

Sounds more to me like they REDUCED the price of the part once they realized their mistake.

Thats why I replaced my back buckle with buckles identical to the front....latches as well....so no more getting stucky....I just kid

Dude, $26 and you think that's a revenue stream for Mazda?

Sounds more to me like they REDUCED the price of the part once they realized their mistake.
Then why not fix it?

I had some guy from the track do that!

Got lucky. It was stuck but came out.

Then why not fix it?

Do you mean a recall? How else do they "fix it?"

I'd assume that next you'd like to see a recall on manual transmissions. You know if you don't use those as designed they break things too.

Lighten up gang...this car is all about fun and anything we learn along the way is just icing on the cake. Can't we all just get along? :grouphug:

Thanks for the original post, we all learned something from this.

To the kid's defense (who did it by accident), I've had a couple of girls trying to do the same thing: latch the front seat belt into the rear buckle :spank:
For most of us who have only sat in the driver's seat, it is very disorienting when you sit in the back seat and try to fasten your seatbelt. The first one you see is indeed the front seat belt, so....

C'mon toxin, everyone knows you are an over achieving racist who cant spell...JK

:yelrotflm :yelrotflm

Do you mean a recall? How else do they "fix it?"

I'd assume that next you'd like to see a recall on manual transmissions. You know if you don't use those as designed they break things too.
By changing the design and implementing it going forward. Running changes or improvements. It's a pretty common occurence in the auto industry.

Your whole post: :icon_bs:

Hmm, if I saw some parent tanning their kids ass for no apparent reason, the parent had best be able to outrun me.....

okay, so the same thing happened to me tonight. i went out to do a little light detailing on the car and my daughter was out there with me just hanging out. she went in the back, grabbed the first seat belt she saw and for the last hour i have been trying to get it out. after a while i figured i'd come here to check it out. looks like i'll be breaking it and then going in to mazda tomorrow for a new back seat belt.

Well I read one post that said someone was able to get it out with a butter knife so I guess thats worth a try first. Don't cut yourself though.

so the butter knife trick didn't work for me. i did everything i could and only ended up with cuts, bruises, and ultimately $40 lighter in the pocket and still have no seatbelt. i guess i should have asked how to break the darn thing because i couldn't even do that right. so i had to take it to the dealership thinking it would be about $85 to replace but after they broke the seatbelt they said that would be $40 (1/2 hour labor) and another $120 to replace ($40 parts, $80 labor).

i let the dealer know that i'd be fine with a broken one for now and went on my way. i have to mention this dealer has screwed me over previously but it's the closest one and i was scared enough driving that far without a seatbelt. so now i'm $40 lighter and a few ounces lighter from the seatbelt. i think i felt the HP gain this morning. why didn't i think of doing this earlier?

Lol :)

CRrx8--hopefull you can call around and find a dealer or mechanic who won't screw you putting the new belt in.

so the butter knife trick didn't work for me. i did everything i could and only ended up with cuts, bruises, and ultimately $40 lighter in the pocket and still have no seatbelt. i guess i should have asked how to break the darn thing because i couldn't even do that right. so i had to take it to the dealership thinking it would be about $85 to replace but after they broke the seatbelt they said that would be $40 (1/2 hour labor) and another $120 to replace ($40 parts, $80 labor).

i let the dealer know that i'd be fine with a broken one for now and went on my way. i have to mention this dealer has screwed me over previously but it's the closest one and i was scared enough driving that far without a seatbelt. so now i'm $40 lighter and a few ounces lighter from the seatbelt. i think i felt the HP gain this morning. why didn't i think of doing this earlier?
Don't tell everyone you thought you felt a hp gain from breaking the seat belt. From the way this forums been going there are a few guys who just might try it!

Don't tell everyone you thought you felt a hp gain from breaking the seat belt. From the way this forums been going there are a few guys who just might try it!

if that's the case then i think the extra HP was actually from the $40 i had to pay. i think it must be the ink in those new $20 bills. it must be much heavier and weighing the car down quite a bit. i'll take one for the team and lose some HP by having everyone send me those pesky new $20 bills so that you all can feel the same HP gain i felt. to be on the safe side, better make it any of the new bills that are out. :fingersx:

You can solve problem, open up plastic case for rear buckle with knife in joint and lots of cursing, if your unable to get seperated then use molegrips to break in half. After this you can see locking section and can lever it open and remove front buckle.
But you will need to buy new rear buckle after this ($26 or less from ebay)

Toxin - Belting kids is generally wrong and tends to be done in anger when its totally wrong. Not saying that, for some more serious things, some form of physical punishment is wrong but taking your belt to your son who picked the nearest belt and buckled up is the best way to mark him for life - Toxin, I hate to think what your son turns out like.

http://cdn.head-fi.org/9/9c/9cd17c67_holy20thread20resurrection.jpg
http://cdn.moxiebird.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/willy-wonka-you-must-be-new-here.jpg

Lighten up gang...this car is all about fun and anything we learn along the way is just icing on the cake. Can't we all just get along? :grouphug:

Thanks for the original post, we all learned something from this.
Yes we have...never have kids :P

Opps, 5 years that must be some kind of record.
I was searching for advice on taking seat apart and flopped into this thread and replied without checking dates!