1998 CHEVROLET TAHOE — Complaint #335033
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about CHILD SEAT:HARNESS BUCKLE:INFANT filed February 20, 2002
NHTSA complaint #335033 (ODI reference 758294) concerns a 1998 CHEVROLET TAHOE and was filed on February 20, 2002. The owner reports the failure occurred on February 9, 2002. The report was geocoded to Minnesota based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as child seat:harness buckle:infant, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: yes, fire: no, injuries: 2, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. No VIN was supplied by the filer, so this complaint contributes to model-year trend data but cannot be tied to a specific vehicle.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same CHEVROLET TAHOE cohort independently describe similar child seat:harness buckle:infant failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 1998 CHEVROLET TAHOE shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
THIS IS TO REPORT THE FAILURE OF A CENTURY BRAND CHILD CAR SEAT IN AN TRAFFIC ACCIDENT. CENTURY CAR SEAT MODEL: 45100STH, MANUFACTURER'S DATE: 06-30-2000; PURCHASE DATE APPROXIMATELY 8/00. SEAT WAS PROPERLY INSTALLED IN CHEVROLET TAHOE AND CHILD WAS PROPERLY SEATED AND BUCKLED INTO CAR SEAT. ACCIDENT OCCURRED ON 2/9/02; APPROXIMATE TRAVEL SPEED: 50 MPH, IN 4-WHEEL DRIVE. TRUCK SPUN OUT OF CONTROL ON ICY ROAD AND CAME TO STOP IN A DITCH. CHILD WAS COMPLETELY EJECTED FROM THE CAR SEAT; BUCKLE ACROSS CHEST BROKE AND CAME OPEN DURING CRASH. PROPER INSTALLATION AND BROKEN/FAILED PART NOTED BY BOTH WITNESSES AND POLICE AT THE SCENE. PLEASE CONTACT US FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION/COPY OF POLICE REPORT. THIS HAS BEEN REPORTED TO CENTRY PRODUCTS.*AK
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 335033 |
| ODI Number | 758294 |
| Date Filed | February 20, 2002 |
| Failure Date | February 9, 2002 |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.