This afternoon I spent some time poking around my new FD looking for small projects to do. I just bought it this month and don't want to go crazy before properly driving it. So, I finally decide that my driver's seat belt deserves replacing (its starting to fray) and grab a phone. Now, having spent the better part of an hour calling all four of Ottawa's "helpful" Mazda dealerships I was left with some pretty lame options.

1) Pay almost $300 for the new belt and wait for hell to freeze over as it floats over in a bottle from Japan.

2) Give up on doing anything useful before it leaves my garage and goes over to the warehouse for storage.

3) Start a Ottawa/Canada thread about how badly dealerships mark up OEM parts.

I chose option 3. Have at it.

P.S. I know $300 for a seat belt is probably money well spent.

 

Oh boy, welcome to FD ownership. $300 is most likely the smallest OEM purchase you will make. Don't worry, after a few brain exploding quotes you will become immune to the horrendous part prices. You'll start to think (pretend? hope?) it's worth it!

 

I had an Audi before the seven and thought I would be immune to his sort of thing after dealing with Mark Motors (king of the $117 hub cap) but no... . Can't wait for the "hmm... not bad" thought process to return.

 

Post in the 3rd gen for sale section for the seat belt

 

Where's this FD originally from?

If it's a Canadian car, it's got a lifetime warranty on the seat belts, retractors, and all related parts. The dealership either a: won't admit it or b: Won't know about it, but if the seatbelts are worn out due to regular use, the car hasn't been crashed/etc, and it was originally sold in canada, you can make them replace it for free.

 

If you know somebody who is a mechanic or owns a repair shop, see if you can get them to order it for you. They'll be able to get the part from Mazda at trade price. Might save you a little bit of money or it might save you alot.

 

I just thought of this, was this car saftied when you bought it. If it was, a fraying seat belt should have been replaced when the safety inspection was done. If you look on the backside of the safety slip it will say what is required for it to pass, and seats/seatbelts are on there.

 

Thanks for all the tips - especially warranty one. Hopefully I can twist some arms with the original bill of sale and maybe score a free retractor. Otherwise it can wait and then I'll be all over 3rd gen FS section.

 

For some reason I don't think that they will cover the seatbelts due to malfunction, whent hey are frayed.

 

Don't suppose you or a friend happen to be a MazdaSpeed Motorsports member?
I just checked out of curiosity, and there are literally about a dozen part numbers for seat belts for a 93 FD (what I chose at random) and they range in price from about $116 to $180. With exchange it could still be a bit pricey, but it's better than $300.

Best bet is probably the warranty strategy.