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My driver's seat broke.

42K views 44 replies 24 participants last post by  Darthz 
#1 ·
As I sat down into the driver's seat, something snapped loudly, and the left rear side of the seat sank down completely unsupported.:eek: Very difficult to drive the few miles home to say the least. I have temporarily jammed a piece of wood 2X4
under the left rear rail to support the seat. I have never heard of a seat just snapping like this, and I'm sure that a 2007 with 62,000 miles isn't going to be something the dealer will repair at their expense. But really. A seat that just breaks?! That's dangerous as hell!
I haven't taken the seat out yet to see if it's anything I can possibly fix, and that's why I'm here. It looks like there's just two Torx screws in front holding the seat in. Do I just remove these and slide the seat forward? Any chance anyone knows what size Torx? I have the power height adjustment so I know I'll have to disconnect that wire.


Any assistance appreciated!
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
Same thing happened to me this morning. I have a 2007 SS. Never had a problem with this car in any way. Driving to work this morning, pulling into the lot and the left rear of the seat let go. The 6 way electric works fine. I figured it was a bolt that snapped. Now I see it's the entire frame for the seat? and that part is $800?? That just doesn't sound right. By todays standards this car is a baby and has been treated very well I might add. There is no good reason for a seat to break in that manner and above all, have it cost nearly $1000 to fix!! This is a dangerous issue with these cars. Bottom Line, seats aren't supposed to break under any circumstances. At 6' 200lbs I'm not putting any excess stress on this seat. it's a structural failure and should be covered by GM REGARDLESS of warranty status. I've got a 46 year old GM product in my garage and that seat NEVER broke. Guess they don't build them like they used to... Erica, if you happen to read this please let me know my options here. Nearly $1000 to fix this is crazy.



IF this is such a common problem in an area where results of this breakage can potentially be very serious, then why hasn't there been a recall??? Rodents... your thoughts???
 
#3 ·
I was kind of hoping you'd chime in here Rodents! You've been such a great contributor here and with your knowledge a real help to so many. I've learned a lot reading your posts.
I only thought about removing the seat just to possibly see what happened, and if it was something I could handle. But after your response...ugh.
So you think it's the frame that's bolted to floor and not something under the seat itself? What gets replaced?
Can you give me an idea of the scope of this, and what kind of $ I'm looking at if I have the dealer do it?
Thanks again.
 
#4 ·
The seat frame is serviced as a complete assembly on your car, some cars have several sections available but not your car. I highly doubt you'll find it's anything other than the seat frame. I'll guess and say 500 to 700 bucks for a frame and a couple hours or so to swap everything over. Just what you wanted to hear right? If you're on good terms with your dealer, they just might consider assisting you with the repair, they can do so if they choose to do it. GM has granted them the ability to do it, let's put it that way. Just a rough guess but based on age and mileage, the assistance might be a third of the bill or so, better than nothing, but that's IF they opt to assist you.
 
#5 ·
What exactly breaks on these things? I mean if the seat frame breaks for no apparent reason what's it going to do in a collision?

Am I the only one here who finds this very alarming?

Got pictures?



.
 
#7 ·
I haven't done one in a few years, thankfully. The first couple I did were cars with 'larger' drivers, some of which kind of bounced into the seat instead of sitting in it. Later we started to see more of them, some with 'not so large' drivers, seems just to be a weak point in the frame, it's in an area that I suppose could be fixed but I don't know if I would want to trust a repaired seat frame on the drivers side. Don't recall ever seeing a bulletin on them either, don't know if the current service part is the exact same as the original or if it was 'improved'.
 
#10 ·
Rodents, I was thinking that maybe it was repairable too (JB Weld anyone? Only half joking). But trusting a repair on a front seat, especially the driver's seems a bit unsafe. As Czechman questioned, what will happen in an accident?!
Oh, I am 6'2", 190lbs. Don't know where that puts me on the "large, not so large" scale :D but I've been getting in and out of drivers seats for 40 years and never had one collapse before. Randomly breaking seat frames are not something usually expected with car maintenance.
I think Chevy needs to address this.
Thanks for all the input!
 
#11 ·
If it's part of a steel frame it can be welded and even reinforced. I used to be a welder in a jet engine repair facility and if you weld those parts you can weld a seat frame. Your problem is going to be finding a skilled welder, preferably someone with a TIG setup.


I would really like to see a picture of the break.



.
 
#12 ·
Czechman, I haven't removed the seat yet, so I'm not sure exactly what broke. If I decide to remove it, or have it repaired, I'll try to get a picture at that time. There really is no way to see much of anything by sticking my head under there.
Thanks for the comments.
 
#14 ·
I just picked up a 2005 Maxx LS and the 6-way controls seem to be having an issue on the right side (ie, the right side of the seat does not adjust up/down, so I have to lean towards the center console).

It hasn't particularly bothered me since I got it this week, but reading Czechman's comment about what it might do in an accident has me a little worried. The car is 9 years young, this sort of thing shouldn't really be happening this early in its life, should it?
 
#16 ·
Thanks for getting back to me Erica. Yes, the Chevy dealer did give me this quote. They said they still need to see the car to diagnose it but they are sure it is the seat frame (which tells me they have seen this before).. $838 plus labor. I have called GM corporate who said they were going to have my dealer call me and I have yet to receive a call. You are the only one I reached out to at Chevrolet and I'm hoping you can help. I'm trying to understand how a seat frame breaks on a 7 year old meticulously maintained vehicle which I bought new.. I've been driving since 1975... owned many cars.. most of which were Chevrolet or Pontiac. I have never experienced a seat breaking underneath me. I am now driving the car with the electric seat set as low as it possibly can go to minimize the seat movement. Very uncomfortable driving this car during my 39 mile (one way) commute. I cant imagine what would happen with this seat in a collision. If you don't mind me asking, even though there is no recall for this failure, is it possible to get a special order replacement put out for these seat frames for safety reasons just as there was for the 2006 Malibu power steering failure?

I would definitely appreciate you contacting my dealer Erica. If Chevrolet doesn't step up to the plate and replace the seat frame... which I would hope they would as its the right thing to do in this case.. then the responsibility falls on me and that is way too steep of a price for a piece of steel.

Thanks in advance for your help Erica
 
#18 ·
I can't even tell you what broke until its replaced. I'm told by Chevy that its the seat frame. You can see a picture of it on Ebay. Metal fatigue? in a 7 year old car? I would highly doubt that. Seems to me it is a design flaw and a very serious one at that. This really needs to be addressed by Chevrolet on their dime. Have you ever owned a car where the seat frame actually Broke????

The only issue besides this that I had with this car was the transmission. Intermittent abrupt starts (Slamming into gear) when applying the accelerator from a stop, first gear slipping. Had this problem from day 1 and was told by Chevrolet that they simply put the wrong transmission behind the SS engine. That tranny was designed for the LT engine and not the horsepower of the SS. Torque converter issues. I'm curious if you have the same problem with your SS... yes??????
 
#20 ·
The only issue besides this that I had with this car was the transmission. Intermittent abrupt starts (Slamming into gear) when applying the accelerator from a stop, first gear slipping. Had this problem from day 1 and was told by Chevrolet that they simply put the wrong transmission behind the SS engine. That tranny was designed for the LT engine and not the horsepower of the SS. Torque converter issues. I'm curious if you have the same problem with your SS... yes??????
No, never experienced that once and I have driven WOT from a stop to daily just drivin' around and mine has 117k miles on the clock. Been on this forum every day for over a year and that's the first time I ever heard that one.

That's not right.
 
#29 ·
Here is the link for the NHTSA site. It has all the complaints associated with this car, kind of interesting to see what other issues everyone else is having. 2011 CHEVROLET MALIBU | Safercar | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
I've entered a complaint about the throttle body on this car, along with the drivers seat. The more they have on file about this issue, hopefully they will start an investigation and force GM to place a recall on these seats.
 
#32 ·
Hi Bret @*Chevy Customer Svc.*
My 2005 Malibu Maxx (1G1ZU64895F142908) has had this*issue twice. The first time in 2006 the Dealer fixed (or replaced) it under warranty, and it happened again recently. Our work around has been to put the seat all the way down to the*floor so that it doesn't rock. Last weekend I began searching around for a solution (after market or used seat, welding, etc.). I believe that I can remove/replace it myself if need be b/c I don't think I can afford what I feared would be a $1k++ dealer job.*I see multiple responses on this thread from*Chevy Customer Svc. reps*mentioning something about help/assist...can I request same? If I can have the dealer do this (again!) for a reasonable*cost I'd definitely opt for that option. Also, the more I searched around the internet last weekend the more*reports I seem to find of this issue....although I can't find any official recall on this issue,*I agree w/*others in feeling that it*could be a serious safety issue and seems to happen more than just occasionally (I mean, it happened to me 2 times in my Malibu Maxx, and something like this never, ever happened in any other car I've ever owned or driven in over 45 years of driving).
 
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