Here’s the latest reader question, along with my reply!
Stuart asks: I don’t “buckle up” – because I don’t like to, even if it is “safer” to do so – just as I prefer steak over steamed broccoli. But my car will not stop harassing me to do so with endless pinging. Is there a way, short of a ball peen hammer, to get my car to shut up?
My reply: Yes, I know of two ways.
The first way is to buckle the seat before you sit down. Just insert the male end into the female end and sit down. I do this with every press car I test drive. It’s easy and it doesn’t alter anything.
Another way is to go to a junkyard and buy the male end from a totaled car of the same type as yours. This is a better way as you won’t have to sit on the belt and the tab won’t jab you, either.
In some cars, it is also possible to reprogram the thing so as to eliminate the pinging.
As an aside, I think it’s interesting that the car companies are willing to install such a distracting thing in cars, ostensibly in the name of “safety.”
. . . .
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Of all the 3-4 newer FCA’s I’ve gotten (charger, 300, ram, grand cherokee) , they all have a procedure you can find online that disables the chimes permanently. love fca IT guys.
The only thing that remains is when you come to a stop, the dash ‘warns you’ again in writing for a few seconds.
Then there’s this, but it’s pretty low quality compared to the OEM buckle (only an issue when you buckle, I do most of the time but still hate the Nag-O-Matic ™)
Still, I got used to it pretty quickly…
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H8FLG36
I’ve done it in a couple of ways, but just buckling it and sitting down is easiest.
You can unplug the module in older cars and you can also connect the two wires in the receptacle on some cars as the buckle simply completes the circuit between the two wires.
Buy a Nissan, I think that’s the only one left that doesn’t hound you to death. Not sure about the 20 or 21’s, but I have a 2019 Frontier, no buzzers or bells, just a light on the dash, easily ignored. Also, if you google it, there is a cheater device that will “buckle” into the seatbelt receptacle and fool it.