be careful with seat buckle extenders

[funix]

Just got my 2023 Model Y LR AWD and now that my kids' booster seats are in, we noticed the buckles where the seatbelt needs to latch are deeply embedded in the seat.
I like how they sit flush, but it's not helpful when the kids want to buckle themselves and the buckles are challenging to make work reliably and quickly.
I bought a set of extenders on Amazon (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C65CBPYC) and while they latch into the buckle, the seatbelt does not latch into them, so had to return them.

It seems like the metal tongue of the 2nd row seatbelts on the Y are too short, or maybe the flare out at the base is stopping it from inserting far enough to latch securely. A metal tongue less than 30mm seems to be what could work.

I found Seat Belt Extender Pros® - Your Source for Safe Seat Belt Extenders who infortunately have a massive price surge compared to most Amazon listings, but we'll see if these will work out when they arrive.
If anyone is looking for something similar, or has already found something that works without the crazy price tag, please share!

 

[Watts_Up]

The rear seatbelt are different from the front, which are the more common type.

You just have to be careful when ordering it.

See also this thread:

Rear seatbelt buckles issues

Hi Everyone! I have a newish M3, collected early March 2020. I finally have an appointment on the 30th (after it being moved 3 times due to the virus..) to address all issues reported on delivery... I have just now noticed (as I don’t usually have anyone sitting in the back) that the two...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[Alonzo]

Just got my 2023 Model Y LR AWD and now that my kids' booster seats are in, we noticed the buckles where the seatbelt needs to latch are deeply embedded in the seat.
I like how they sit flush, but it's not helpful when the kids want to buckle themselves and the buckles are challenging to make work reliably and quickly.
I bought a set of extenders on Amazon (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C65CBPYC) and while they latch into the buckle, the seatbelt does not latch into them, so had to return them.

So, does this set work on the front seats? I had shoulder surgery a couple of months ago and have a hard time fastening the driver's seat belt since it is so far down in the seat.

Thanks.

 

[funix]

So, does this set work on the front seats? I had shoulder surgery a couple of months ago and have a hard time fastening the driver's seat belt since it is so far down in the seat.

Thanks.

I just checked, and no, they also do NOT work in the front seats, unfortunately. (the ones from the amazon link.)

 

[awd_rails]

My suggestion is to do your research on seat belt extension manufacturers. Awhile back, I looked into these when we first got a Model 3. I read that these seat belt extensions are usually not safety tested with NHTSA with reports of them failing in accidents. Eventually I decided against it since the potential risk wasn’t worth it.

 

[father_of_6]

I read that these seat belt extensions are usually not safety tested with NHTSA with reports of them failing in accidents.

Yeah, I personally wouldn't ever trust a seatbelt extender. Seatbelts are made to withstand thousands of pounds of force. Some extender from "who knows where" that can't be proven to withstand the same forces just isn't worth it for a bit of convenience.

 

[DownshiftDre]

Just got my 2023 Model Y LR AWD and now that my kids' booster seats are in, we noticed the buckles where the seatbelt needs to latch are deeply embedded in the seat.
I like how they sit flush, but it's not helpful when the kids want to buckle themselves and the buckles are challenging to make work reliably and quickly.
I bought a set of extenders on Amazon (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C65CBPYC) and while they latch into the buckle, the seatbelt does not latch into them, so had to return them.

It seems like the metal tongue of the 2nd row seatbelts on the Y are too short, or maybe the flare out at the base is stopping it from inserting far enough to latch securely. A metal tongue less than 30mm seems to be what could work.

I found Seat Belt Extender Pros® - Your Source for Safe Seat Belt Extenders who infortunately have a massive price surge compared to most Amazon listings, but we'll see if these will work out when they arrive.
If anyone is looking for something similar, or has already found something that works without the crazy price tag, please share!

I have the official Seat Belt Extender for my 2022 MYP and they do work. I use it for my daughters booster seat.

 

[Alonzo]

official Seat Belt Extender

??????

 

[father_of_6]

??????

You know, that "Official" one from Temu.

 

[DownshiftDre]

You know, that "Official" one from Temu.

Lol, sorry. I meant the one linked to above called from “seat belt extender pros”. You enter your year/make/model of car and it spits out the compatible version seat belt extender.

 

[father_of_6]

Lol, sorry. I meant the one linked to above called from “seat belt extender pros”. You enter your year/make/model of car and it spits out the compatible version seat belt extender.

I was just goofing, as I do in many of my posts here. My feelings haven't changed though - no matter how professional the website / logo / packaging, a seatbelt extender is reducing safety 100% of the time.

Our cars tell you when a passenger's seatbelt isn't latched. An extender lies to that system. The passenger has the potential to have their seatbelt *seem* like it's buckled, but not actually clicked in all the way. This is even more likely for children.

I also believe the economics of having an extender safety tested are upside down. Auto manufacturers crash cars to ensure they are safe in various types of collisions. An extender that sells for $30 and only to a small fraction of drivers (less than 1%?) isn't getting that type of treatment.

Even if they test the tensile strength of the extenders, which is feasible, that doesn't guarantee the same tensile strength in conjunction with the actual buckle from a given car.

Then tensile strength aside, how does the extender alter the vehicle safety design from each of the various types of impacts? Does the extender manufacturer purchase twenty of each car they sell an extender for and perform crash testing with their extenders on? Definitely not happening.

Here's an excerpt from the website that sells these extenders regard safety:

I'm not a lawyer, but this reads to me as "Since there are no safety standards for seatbelt extenders [because they are considered inherently unsafe], we've obtained an obscure certification that would normally apply to seatbelts and stamped it on our extenders."

They don't provide details about what was done to obtain this certification, but it definitely wasn't crash testing.

It's mentioned in many places on the web, and I agree, that the only time someone should use a seatbelt extender is if they are too large to get the seatbelt around them otherwise. In that case, it makes sense... it's either an extender or no seatbelt at all.

 

[murderlawyer]

Seat belt extenders should only be purchased from the vehicle manufacturer (Ford makes them for their vehicles and offers them at a nominal cost for customers). Unfortunately, I don't believe Tesla makes seat belt extenders.

 

[DownshiftDre]

I am with you guys and see the lack of certification piece of it. Unfortunately, for my personal reasons I will need to continue to use a seat belt extender. I can argue that the coilovers on my car are not tested either. Plenty of other parts of the car that are not OEM and subjected to high cycles that we can talk about that could drive a risk. An extender manufactured by the same seat belt buckle manufacturer that automotive uses, that is used once in ultimate tensile strength seems pretty hard to mess up and unlikely to be experienced in failure.

How can we trust anything these days? Even OEM. A 737 Max 9 is certified to the most stringent standards yet there are already 3+ issues with bolts/fasteners with it in various parts of the aircraft within 6 months. Rudder, rear bulkhead and now emergency exits.

I will continue to take this risk with the extender and work towards moving away from it as reasonably possible. Your perspectives gave me good insigiht.

 

[father_of_6]

I agree. If I were flying on a 737, that seatbelt extender wouldn't concern me one bit.

 

[funix]

Updating that the ones I ordered do indeed work with my Model Y.
If anyone is interested, here are some photos to identify the parts.

 

[BikeManBOI]

I too ran into the same problem funix had, I had a 2021 MY LR with SBPros extenders working perfect, took delivery of my 2024 MY LR last month and the existing SBPros extenders I had didn't work. Ordered 2x more from them (looks identical to funix's - 3" Rigid) and found they didn't buckle with a similar 'click' as the OEMs did, had a case where one of them unbuckled while driving. Luckily, my daughter told me immediately and we stopped and took them off. I contacted SBPros, after sending pics of the tongue and buckle from the rear side seats, they said there was a manufacturing issue with the extender's internal spring and they sent me replacements.

Another interesting note, after SBPros saw my pics with the boosters, they said they had a disclaimer saying they don't recommend their extenders for child seats or boosters - only for adults. They sent me to their disclaimer's link and it was buried in the fine print (under disclaimers #3 & #7). So, I'm on the fence of continuing using these extenders; however, it's pretty difficult for me to buckle my girls in and impossible for them to do it on their own (in boosters).

As a parent who has to deal with buckling around child seats and boosters, I can see how this is an unaddressed issue for many parents. Unfortunately, there is no 'go-to' manufacturer other than SBPros (the Amazon sellers are pretty suspect).

Let me know your thoughts.

Funix, have you had any issues with your extenders??

 

[dvssolid]

Updating that the ones I ordered do indeed work with my Model Y.
If anyone is interested, here are some photos to identify the parts.

Do They work for the middle back seat as well? There website said not to use their exenders for the middle seat for some reason.

 

[funix]

Do They work for the middle back seat as well? There website said not to use their exenders for the middle seat for some reason.

I tried it in the middle seat and it's not as secure and does not seem as reliably connected as with the side seats.
Well that's rather unfortunate and annoying.

 

[BikeManBOI]

Not sure why my original post didn't go through, I removed a link below, hopefully you all see this.

I too ran into the same problem funix had, I had a 2021 MY LR with SBPros extenders working perfect, took delivery of my 2024 MY LR last month and the existing SBPros extenders I had didn't work. Ordered 2x more from them (looks identical to funix's - 3" Rigid) and found they didn't buckle with a similar 'click' as the OEMs did, had a case where one of them unbuckled while driving. Luckily, my daughter told me immediately and we stopped and took them off. I contacted SBPros, after sending pics of the tongue and buckle from the rear side seats, they said there was a manufacturing issue with the extender's internal spring and they sent me replacements.

Another interesting note, after SBPros saw my pics with the boosters, they said they had a disclaimer saying they don't recommend their extenders for child seats or boosters - only for adults. They sent me to their disclaimer's and it was buried in the fine print (under disclaimers #3 & #7). So, I'm on the fence of continuing using these extenders; however, it's pretty difficult for me to buckle my girls in and impossible for them to do it on their own (in boosters).

As a parent who has to deal with buckling around child seats and boosters, I can see how this is an unaddressed issue for many parents. Unfortunately, there is no 'go-to' manufacturer other than SBPros (the Amazon sellers are pretty suspect).

Let me know your thoughts.

Funix, have you had any issues with your extenders??

 

[DownshiftDre]

Same situation here. Kids in boosters and they can’t buckle themselves and it is difficult finding original buckle buried in the seat from outside position by rear door with my ass crack likely already exposed. Anymore and will need soap…

But haven’t had issues with the SBPros unbuckling but they are more difficult to get them to click in than standard. Not sure if its the weird angle or what.