Rear Seat Belt Buckles Not Tightened Properly

Affected vehicles (1)

Component / system

Defect

Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (Porsche) is recalling certain 2023 911 vehicles. The bolts for the rear seat belt buckles may not be tightened properly.

Risk / consequence

A loose seat belt buckle may not properly restrain an occupant during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy

Dealers will inspect and tighten the rear seat belt buckle bolt, and reposition the aluminum butyl soundproofing mat as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 1, 2025. Owners may contact Porsche customer service at 1-800-767-7243. Porsche's number for this recall is ASA0.

Chronology of events

1. August 2023

   In August 2023, Porsche was informed by the production plant that one bolt connection of the seat belt buckle was incorrectly made partially on an aluminum butyl mat. This was regarded as an isolated case. A first analysis of (worldwide) customer complaints did not reveal any known cases of loose seat belt buckles. After this initial information, for precautionary reasons and despite the individual case consideration, Porsche arranged a random sample to better understand the potential likelihood of such an incorrect positioning of the subject butyl mat.

2. October 2023

   In October 2023, an investigation was started to explore possible effects on the seat belt fastening. Tests on a vibration test bench were conducted with parts simulating the contact with the aluminum butyl mat. The purpose was to compare the settling behavior between an optimal bolt connection without contact with the aluminum butyl mat and a bolt connection on the aluminum butyl mat over service life, incl. temperature influences, to assess potential loss of preload force (residual torque) and potential loosening of the bolts. The first results of those test were available at the end of January 2024. The torque drop in the shaker tests was assessed as deviating from internal specifications. However, none of the test specimens showed a complete loosening of the bolt and all of the bolt connections still had residual torque at the end of the test. In the meantime, there have still been no cases with loose bolt connections in the field. Between the end of February 2024 and October 2024, a continued precautionary analysis of archived bolt curves for the potentially affected period was commissioned to determine the probability of occurrence and the vehicle population that may be affected. To achieve this, an external service provider for bolt curve evaluation has been commissioned. **Continued chronology is below in additional comments**

Notification schedule

Dealer notification

FEB 26, 2025 - FEB 26, 2025

Owner notification

APR 11, 2025 - APR 11, 2025

Documents (11)