2002 Es 300 Seat Belt Replacement

Jeff M · January 23, 2011

I have a quick question my friend has a 2002 ES 300 with about 75,000 which she bought used about 4 years ago. She always brings the car back to the dealer for service and inspections. The prices the dealer gets to work on this car is nuts. I wont get into the $1700 brake job but the question I have about the seat belt is this. The the latch was was hanging up on the drivers front belt assy which is understandable. They charged her $58 for the part and about $140 to install it. I havent seen how it attaches yet but my thinking is that there is only one bolt holding it to the floor or am I missing something. I tried the search feature but didn't have any results. Is ths price out of line? Thanks in advance.

gbhrps · January 24, 2011

If the section that was replaced was next to the floor console, they may have had to remove the entire driver's seat, to be able to get at the bolt securing it to the floor. And there may have been a problem with the electrical connection at that point. Who knows?

If the problem was the outboard belt section, they had to pull the B pillar weatherstripping, mouldings, and the bolts top and bottom of the belt, as well as the electrical connections to the belt, including the explosive belt pretensioner assembly as well.

I agree with your determination of the VERY expensive Lexus dealership labour rates. If one can do the work yourself, you'll save hundreds. If you have an independent service garage do the work, there are substantial savings as well, but you wouldn't go there unless the car was out of warranty.

Jeff M · January 25, 2011

Thanks for the reply it was the the latch next to the console. Nothing can be done about it now the work was done and paid for just asking a question and venting I guess. Its hard to take prices they get for working on this car. Maybe I should change jobs lol. Thanks again