While there have been a number of threads about the half-baked idea of the snap/loop to hold the seat belt, I would add another issue. Be careful before closing the door that the metal part is laying flat between the door and the seat. We have a gouge in the plastic on both the door and seatback where it must have been laying horizontal when closing the door. Apparently it is tight enough that the metal part must be laying flat.

Also, lesson learned on my part. Never accuse your spouse of doing it with her belt or briefcase before checking further.....

I've been lucky so far. I've had the buckle jammed between the door and the seat, and it has stopped the door from closing, but has never done damage.

You should be able to get that repaired under warranty. The interference between the buckle-door-seat is IMHO a design defect.

The snap/loop thing actually makes it worse because it will hinder the retraction of the belt. With the slack, the buckle can end up twisted laterally between the seat and the door.

A tighter belt rewind spring might help. (Although I'll bet the solution is a yellow sticker saying, "Make sure that the seat belt buckle is flat against the seat before closing door."

Great point cotandem...

I had noticed a small mark/gouge on the inside door panel about a week ago. My first thought was that maybe this happened during the assembly, but once I read your comment about the seat belt bucke, I put two and two together... it does look like the seat belt metal buckle caused this gouge in the door panel.

I have closed the door a number of times and sometimes the seat beat gets in the way, I just never paid much attention to it, nor did I ever think it would do any damage.

everytime I release my seat belt, the actual buckle never comes to rest in the same spot or position (there never is consistently enough rewind tension to bring it all the way up).

I have no doubt that the seat belt caused the small gouge in the panel when the door closed on the buckle when it wasn't flat down. This is a problem...

Now I will pay more attention to where the buckle is positioned and place it flat down....

Interesting experiences here, sorry to those that now are the proud owners of gouged door panels. Infiniti dealers should replace the panel without issue, however if it were my car I would give myself some time to learn to adapt to this. There does not seem like something that will be able to be fixed. Is it possible to use the seatbelt comfortable without the leather loop?

I can see the design concept behind what they have done here. Next tine (hopefully not too soon) that I have one of the rear panels out of a G37C I will take a few pictures of the backside to show you in slightly better detail of just why this is the way it is from the inside. I too think they should have used something like the abs plastic swing arm used in the earlier G35s, but the location of the airbag (in the seat) would never interfere with this piece of plastic. Depending on seat orientation in the event of a collision there is a serious risk of bodily harm. Safety seems to have won over aesthetics.

Maybe there is an option that will save your door panels without looking out of place or compromising safety. Which at the end of the day is far more important than anything else.

Looks like I have 3 or 4 serious dings in my door panel. They're gonna have to stock up on door panels!

I can certainly learn to pull the belt up and fold the buckle flat. But my wife drives the car and my kids ride in the back, so there are 5 different people closing the doors. And then there are guests. Driver training isn't a complete fix.

The leather loop keeps the belt in reachable range. Flexible folks can dig it out, but I've had the passenger seat unlooped (to help the kids climb in) and front seat passengers have a hard time finding the belt.

I hope a solution is found.

> The leather snap could be moved, or made more slippery so it doesn't grab the belt. Maybe a plastic "cuff" that lets the belt slide.

> The retract spring could be stronger.

> The door panel could be even be made harder to withstand the impact.

Kids in the convertible...how does that work? Are they over car seat age?

I'm curious because the angle of the rear seat does not look like it would be too convenient for forward facing car seats. I don't even know if this car is LATCH complaint.

I am personally all for safety being the number 1 priority and I would be very surprised if they came out with a fix. Sorry and maybe they will I like to be surprised. Maybe once they have to warranty a few hundred door panels they will come up with something. That's usually how things go.

Some of the cars in our lineup have a plastic piece that allows the belt to change direction with only a small amount of resistance. Unfortunately changing the spring rate of the seat belt pretensioner seems like a long shot the only answer will be modifying the seat in some sort of way. The point at which the drag is incurred is the edge of the seat and the only way to fix that would be to increase the approach angle of the belt so it will clear the front of the seat. However the fact that the car has no B pillar there is not much that can be safely done. Remember in the event of a collision the seat belt is designed to retract quicker than the airbags detonate to pull the occupants against the seat when the airbag inflates.

The door panel can't be modified and retain the increased touch and feel that this car has over the old models. The padded leather is much nicer than the thick textured plastic of the first model G.

Although nothing is going to happen until someone actually goes to the dealer. Greg if you could let me know (either online or off) the outcome of facing your dealer about this. I am just curious how they handle it if/when you go in to get this looked at. I have a feeling it could go either way. I plan on bringing this up to some of the suits next time I see them. But I don't know anyone who can do anything about it.

SteveTheTech wrote:Kids in the convertible...how does that work? Are they over car seat age?

My kids are 11, 11 and almost 13, so they seat themselves in the back seat or the front seat. Child seats are a distant memory! As far as I know, they'll be my "kids" for life (mine).

I guess you're assuming a younger demographic on this site!

I'll let you know how the dealer reacts. I'm in no great rush to hand it over (having too much fun), but I suppose I'll do it later this month.

PS: The easiest fix that I can think of would be a hard-ish plastic "cuff" or loop that turns the floppy snap-thing into something more rigid, with a smooth surface that the belt can slide through. It would be an easy piece to attach to the inner surface of the existing loop. Remember Hot Wheels track? That sort of material (maybe not in orange!) would do the trick.


Modified by Potomac-Greg at 1:50 PM 10/5/2009

I'm glad to hear child seats are behind you, well unless you want to use them more.

I would assume the demographic is going to be first owners who have purchased/financed new cars before. The age/income are not going to be like that of the other G forums and more along the lines of the EX and to a lesser extend out M forum. This is one of the only forums I participate in that is still limited to the first owners and there are no second or third owners trying to nickel and dime repairs.

SteveTheTech wrote:I'm glad to hear child seats are behind you, well unless you want to use them more.

I would assume the demographic is going to be first owners who have purchased/financed new cars before. The age/income are not going to be like that of the other G forums and more along the lines of the EX and to a lesser extend out M forum. This is one of the only forums I participate in that is still limited to the first owners and there are no second or third owners trying to nickel and dime repairs.

You probably have some forums where they don't remember the first Infinitis. From day one I respected Infiniti for it's focus on the driver. To me, Infiniti was (and is) BMW and Lexus was (and is) Mercedes.

Acura will always be a nice Honda!

I remember the first commercials where the refused to show the new Q sedan. Controversial and probably a mistake. It was so much more interesting than the Lexus.

Potomac-Greg wrote:Acura will always be a nice Honda!

Always has been always will be.

I always liked the the older Nissans and like many people knew very little about Infiniti. The company did very little in the way of advertising or racing to bolster sales. What they did though was ahead of it's time in some regards. There was some time when they were only rebadging Nissans, with the exception of the G20 and Q but recently they have yet again tried to establish a true identity of their own.

They have the technology to compete with the established names fairly well and the power to be a serious contender in the premium import market. I have felt for years they have sold themselves short on many products. I think this is on the verge of changing.

SteveTheTech wrote:Always has been always will be.

I always liked the the older Nissans

You mean Datsuns!

Not quite that old. I'm thinking 86-96ish. The Z32 was a great car. Some of those years had great Maximas. The early 90s Q was a great car. I never really got into the Datsun, slightly before my time. I have a personal rule about working on cars that are older than me.

Yeah...I have dents on both sides. Since there is no evidence what so ever that I caused any of them, I have no choice but to blame the wife... Still love the car but the honeymoon phase is over. Need to head to the dealer again. -sigh-

My very first car was a 1979 Datsun 280ZX....

it was the first car that I ever drove and it was passed down to me from within the family. Automatic transmission, power windows... it was a thing of beauty.

Had some great times with that car, especially fitting two teenagers in the hatchback to bring the total passenger number to 4 in the car... thank goodness I never got into an accident back then!!!

armstrs...

let me know what the guys at the dealership say about the dented/gouged door panels. I talked to a service manager today about it, and he said that there have already been a couple of complaints from owners about the seat belts causing damage to the door panels. They know about it, and they are waiting to hear about more information on it before doing anything. So internally, they know the issue is there.

But Steve The Tech was right, everything was made the way it was with safety issues mostly in mind. From my conversation with the service manager, I am made to believe that they will work on a finding a solution that won't compromise the safety issues involved. He did say that when they do find a resolution, there is a possibility that the whole door panel will be replaced...

I am interested on what they say to you when you bring up the topic to service.... in the meantime, I will deal with my couple of gouges and try to not accumulate any more!!!

I had pretty deep gouges in my door panel within two weeks of buying my G37 convertible. The dealership was real supportive and Infiniti sent a replacement door panel immediately. They replaced the seatbelt retraction spring also. I don't believe this is the cure however. I'm not sure how the damage is done but I think one thing to watch is moving the seat back with the door closed and the seatbelt not buckled. If you have damage, please let the Dealership know about it, if enough of us make complaints then hopefully it will pressure Infiniti to provide a solution.

Not that I have any kids, but I have read my owners manual. The back seat is LATCH compatible.

I have not even made my first payment yet and I now have a gouge in my door panel. I was aware of the problem and was extra careful. Due to reading this forum. I spoke to my dealer Infinity of Tacoma and I do not think they are going to replace it unless it was a seatbelt retraction problem. I found that if the seatbelt is NOT in the snapped holder it does go all the way back so it is not able to ding the door anymore. I have drive an hour away again so they can look at it.....

I have looked into this a few times although since we only have a few my time is fairly limited. I agree with KayC while we are waiting for a fix leaving the seatbelt out of the leather strap seems to allow it to fall over the side. Although those people out there with mobility issues may not find this acceptable but allowing the belt to clear the seat will allow it to retract without any restriction and you will notice that it will not contact the door anymore.

As a quick side note I was on my way to the Dunkin Donuts this morning and was behind a white IS350c. That is a supriringly unattractive vehicle with a very large posterior. I think you all made the best choice. There may be a few bugs/displeasing attributes like this but at least the outside of the car looks like the car is is inspired from and has not mechanical issues.

Awe crap. I was trying to be conscious of the seat belt issue, but one night, after pulling into the garage, and in a bit of a hurry, I closed the door...it didn't close right, so I simply opened and closed it a bit harder....

Yeah, seat belt stuck in door : (

So I have one very deep gouge and one little one right above it : (

I've refrained from bringing the car in for new door panels until there is some long term solution to the seat belt retraction issue. Has anyone heard anything?

Have not heard any updates from our dealer. I am also if anyone else has any news... Thanks!

No answers here but I have the same issue at least with the drivers side seat belt not quite retracting all the way and preventing the door from closing.

Steve,

I am the unfortunate owner of a 2009 G37 Hardtop Convertible. At first I noticed these 'door dings' and thought I was completely insane. The dealer said this is a known problem and fixed it. The 'straps' which are supposed to hold the seat belt in place 'snap on' to the site and once they accidentally unsnap they are next to impossible to put back on. The service manager at Infiniti could barely set them up properly. The car on the passenger side now has a 'nick' on the passenger seat with blue plastic exposed.

Infiniti refuses to fix the car, they say a fix is in the works by engineers, but refuse to say when the fix will be released, refuse to fix the car again, and refuse to buy it back. They claim there is demand for the car and want to move their 2009 coupes - so why wouldn't ANYBODY buy a car that is 'in demand' with an unhappy customer and sell a car that the company wants to move is beyond me. The car was bought in July 2009 and has about 4,000 miles on it.

I personally do NOT think the car is safe for young children and while I cannot prove it because I won't drive my niece and nephew around in it - I hope it does not result in injury to anybody else's loved ones.

Basically Infiniti has told me they won't do anything. Had I purchased my car in another state, it would have been deemed a lemon according to an attorney I consulted, but in the state I live in there is a different standard.

I am in the process of trying to find other Infiniti G37 Convertible owners who want to pursue litigation against the company. If you are having the same problems - please feel free to PM me. In the meantime, I would also highly advise you call customer care to see if they will actually resolve the issue if they have enough complaints.

David

David.....wow I really don't know what to say first off I would like to Welcome you to our little group here.

Secondly, any information that is shared in this thread is by no means in any form of official context, I will participate in a friendly conversation among enthusiasts.

ihateinfiniti wrote:I personally do NOT think the car is safe for young children and while I cannot prove it because I won't drive my niece and nephew around in it - I hope it does not result in injury to anybody else's loved ones.

Thirdly I take personal offense to your username as I have spent many years working to help the name of this company and I do not think your one experience warrants the harshness befitting a dedicated username but I am not paying a monthly note on one.

Really though the convertible top means the seat belts needed to be rerouted through a leather strap on the top of the seat is enough of an issue for you to hire a lawyer and seek others for your class action suit. If that is really the only thing you are thinking of suing over I would think that is a win on their part.... I mean there are always going to be the people willing to sue over everything, it is the American way. The car run fine works great and performs in ways as good of if not better than what you expected but you are willing to seek legal action over a seatbelt. Man I wish I had your free time.

The design works although crude. I have a feeling the mid model run update will address this issue. Although if you really look at the angle and think about what happens when the pretensioners fire in the event of a collision the amount of restrction and drag on the belt will significnatly impede the retraction time and when microseconds are being factored interior aestetics should always take a back seat to safety.

Your comments regarding the safety of the G convertible are completely baseless and inflamatory. If a door ding is a safety concern to you, you will really need to preface such a comment in the future to make sure the rest of the world knows not to take it seriously.

Steve,

You can't please everyone...

David,

Just so I'm clear, the problem is with seat belt straps designed to help stop the belt from digging into your neck is coming unstrapped?

I had an 05 coupe that didn't have the strap or anything to hold it...after my lawyer said I didn't have a case (lol, kidding of course), I went ahead and bought seatbelt pads and they worked perfectly.

If this was a legitimate safety concern, rest assured that recalls would have been done promptly.

I would google the term "lemon law" before you hire a lawyer...you do not own a lemon vehicle.

...and just for reference, no convertible is as safe as a "normal" style car for young children or any occupants for that matter.

SteveTheTech wrote:David.....wow I really don't know what to say first off I would like to Welcome you to our little group here.

Secondly, any information that is shared in this thread is by no means in any form of official context, I will participate in a friendly conversation among enthusiasts.

Thirdly I take personal offense to your username as I have spent many years working to help the name of this company and I do not think your one experience warrants the harshness befitting a dedicated username but I am not paying a monthly note on one.

Really though the convertible top means the seat belts needed to be rerouted through a leather strap on the top of the seat is enough of an issue for you to hire a lawyer and seek others for your class action suit. If that is really the only thing you are thinking of suing over I would think that is a win on their part.... I mean there are always going to be the people willing to sue over everything, it is the American way. The car run fine works great and performs in ways as good of if not better than what you expected but you are willing to seek legal action over a seatbelt. Man I wish I had your free time.

The design works although crude. I have a feeling the mid model run update will address this issue. Although if you really look at the angle and think about what happens when the pretensioners fire in the event of a collision the amount of restrction and drag on the belt will significnatly impede the retraction time and when microseconds are being factored interior aestetics should always take a back seat to safety.

Your comments regarding the safety of the G convertible are completely baseless and inflamatory. If a door ding is a safety concern to you, you will really need to preface such a comment in the future to make sure the rest of the world knows not to take it seriously.

Good response. The seatbelt retraction issue IS A PROBLEM, and I sure hope that Infiniti does the right thing and comes up with a solution. But it has nothing to do with safety. If you buckle up, the seat belts work fine. I'm not even sure that "David" is articulating the same problem we are discussing. I tend to leave the seatbelt out of the strap/loop because that makes it retract better and reduces the likelihood of dinging the doors.

Some people are just inclined to go to litigation and declare their "hate" for whatever bothers them. Life's too short to let a convertible piss you off.

And as to taking the car back, you can look up lemon laws. Otherwise, don't expect a dealer to voluntarily take a $15,000 financial hit for your depreciation.

HiI noticed one big gouge and some dents in the inner side driver door panel. I know its caused by the seatbelt. I am taking it in monday and see if its covered under warranty. From what I read, it isnt covered. Its a leased car and will I will probably get hit when I turn the car in

OK vert owners

I have solved the seat belt retraction with a very simple fix without permanent modification, the solution if not perfect but it works great. I'll post photos soon.Cost about $10-15, for pair of pads. see photo of pads



Buy the shoulder pads which can wrap around the belt and slide between the snap-on leather strap and belt retraction slot the belt retracts nicely (after few time use) and the buckle stays inside the seat area.

good luck and I am enjoying the open vert weather in So Calif.

I have a G37 coupe here. I recently had damage from the seatlbelt and the door; infiniti replaced the door panels and the seatbelt. BUT I have a new ding in my new door panel. Its hard not to be careful with the seltbelt everytime. Infiniti wont replaced it again till their is a recall