Problems with 2002 Ford Windstar SEAT BELTS

Purchased vehicle january 2012, passenger front seat belt latch was broken, i purchased a new one from dealer for $170.48. march 2012, it broke again with same problem. it does not latch, or when it does latch, it opens on its own with or without anyone in the seat. dealer refuses to warranty the 3 month old latch, but offered to order me another for $170.48 +labor without having to pay for it first. aftermarket dealers say its a common problem with 2001/2002 windstar's and 2001's had a recall on it. 27 junk yards between buffalo, ny,cleveland, ohio & pittsburg pa all have defective seat belt latches in their 01/02 vans. so my option is to either not use the front passenger seat or pay $233.43 every 3 months to have a new latch assembly installed. i have paperwork from champion ford, confirming that the seat belt is broken dated 4/6/2013. but the female service writer conveniently lost my paper work for the original seat belt latch from 2012. also searching net brings up over 23,000 reported issues with 2002 windstar seat belts. why has there been no recall on the 2002 windstar as there was with the 2001. its not fair that i should have to pay $233.43 every 3 months to the ford dealer to have a working seat belt. clearly this is a safety and manufacturing defect.. its unreasonable to make me decide if i feel safer hunched over in my electric wheelchair in the rear of my van only belted into the wheelchairs safety belt having to hope that it doesn't flip over squish me during an accident or if i would rather be ejected thru the front windshield!! how can i be asked to put my life at risk every time i get into the van!! i always thought that seat belts were the most important safety feature in a vehicle. how can this be allowed to continue? i thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this matter. *tr

Electrical shorts fire , ac , brakes speel control ,locks doors

Driver side seat belt comes undone by itself. *jb

I was involved in accident where i ran into a motorhome that pulled out in front of me. i was traveling approximately 40mph and hit at a slight angle but direct hit to the rear dual wheels that actually dislodged the axle of the motorhome. my vehicle was totalled. it had severe damage to the front end including the driver's side half of the bumper. the impact buckled the roof of my windstar mini-van. the air bag did not deploy and the seatbelt apparently failed as my chest hit the steering wheel and also my face. the state trooper said he saw my teeth marks in the steering wheel and the steering wheel was cracked. if i did not have a bruise on my left shoulder area that showed the seatbelt actually caught for an instant and then released me into the steering wheel the trooper said he would have cited me for not wearing a belt. i had unbuckled my belt to get my hanky to try and stop the blood flow from my facial injury is why it was not on when the trooper arrived. the vehicle was totalled so no repair was attempted. the vehicle was towed to a nationwide evaluation center in columbus, oh where they said they would hold it until october 28 in case anyone wanted to inspect it. i called ford customer assistance center in detroit michigan and they said they were not interested investigation why the air bag and seat belt did not function properly. i received a fractured sternum and a facial laceration that went from outside to inside.

The passenger side middle row seat belt assembly fell off its sliding mechanism on the inside of the van. this heavy assembly nearly hit our 5 yr old daugter in the head. there is a bolt sticking out of the area where the seat belt assembly used to be.*ak

Consumer called complaining about having problems with the evenflo child seat model #25804167, dom 01/05/2002. the manufacturer was not contacted at the time of this call. the rear buckle which held the left harness unbuckled by itself every time child will lean forward.*ak *ts *jb