Third-row passengers in 2022-2024 Jeep Wagoneers and Grand Wagoneers may not be able to buckle up due to a manufacturing error that caused the buckles to become damaged or completely inaccessible.
That has prompted the automaker to launch a recall campaign of 97,066 vehicles. Jeep believes that just 1 percent of these will actually have a damaged or disappearing seatbelt, but must check examples built between February 24, 2021, and September 11, 2023, to be sure.
It’s not clear how the seatbelt buckles came to be damaged during the manufacturing process, but Jeep first became aware of the issue on October 20, 2022. At that time, its Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance team was alerted to an issue related to third-row seatbelt buckles that were “scratched” or otherwise damaged in some vehicles.
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It looked through its production records and determined that the issue was not related to the part’s construction. Rather, the seatbelt buckle was being damaged at its Auburn Hills, Michigan, plant while the vehicles were being assembled.
Naturally, regulators had some concerns about the seatbelts not working, as they form a pretty important part of a vehicle’s occupant safety system. Without a seatbelt, a passenger is much likelier to suffer an injury in the event of an accident, and may even hurt others in the vehicle.
The good news for Jeep is that since this isn’t a parts issue, the solution is simply to replace the third-row seatbelt buckle. In order to determine which vehicles are in need of this replacement, it will start reaching out to customers on December 15. They will be asked to return their Wagoneer or Grand Wagoneer to a nearby dealership, where the part will be inspected. The fix will be completed at no cost to the owner.
