# Stuck Car Seat **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 11, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-car-seat/706954 "2014-12-11T16:55:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-car-seat/706954/1 "2014-12-11T16:55:11Z")
Honda Odyssey 2007. Passenger side middle row captains seat is folded down with extensive play in the lever. Opened it up, and a clip on the cable is broken. Honda says they do not sell just the cable, pony up 450 for the whole assembly. Is this possibly correct? Any ideas on how to jury rig a repair? Any place I might be able to get a replacement cable? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-car-seat/706954/2 "2014-12-11T16:57:41Z")
> [@dauerbach](#): > > Honda Odyssey 2007. Passenger side middle row captains seat is folded down with extensive play in the lever. Opened it up, and a clip on the cable is broken. Honda says they do not sell just the cable, pony up 450 for the whole assembly. Is this possibly correct? Any ideas on how to jury rig a repair? Any place I might be able to get a replacement cable? yes, making the subassembly the “service part” is quite common. Usually it’s because it’s the same way they buy the production part from their supplier, as part of a subassembly. If you need just the cable, look for a recycler like LKQ or hit up the scrapyards. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-car-seat/706954/3 "2014-12-11T17:05:02Z")
That’s exactly what ‘auto recyclers’ are for. If your local junk yard doesn’t have one they can probably find someone who does. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-car-seat/706954/4 "2014-12-11T18:18:08Z")
Yes that does make sense. Will check for a junked one. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-car-seat/706954/5 "2014-12-11T20:47:00Z")
Voice of experience here… Your broken cable may be a common failure, and when you go to the scrap yards, you’ll either find the part has already been scavenged from all of the available cars, or if you do find one, it will break two months later. Back when I had an old Subaru, I’d grab all of the plastic bits that hold the driver’s door latch and lock mechanism together that I could find as they’d die simply for being old plastic. But around ten bucks (guessing) for a junkyard part vs $450 for a new unit is probably a worthy gamble. Alternately, if it is a commonly failed part, the aftermarket world may have a better replacement. or people have figured a workaround. Seems to be the case here: > **[Odyssey second row seat back cable](https://www.odyclub.com/threads/odyssey-second-row-seat-back-cable.153127/)** > > Has anyone had the cable on the second row seat break? On my 2007 EXL Odyssey the cable broke and honda said i would have to buy a complete new seat or buy the > entire back frame to get the cable. This is rediculous. Cost $500+. can anyone help in... > **[middle seat latch broken, won't fold down](https://www.piloteers.org/threads/middle-seat-latch-broken-wont-fold-down.18995/)** > > Our middle seat latch broke and now the seat will not fold down. Does anyone know where one can purchase this part and/or how to take the seat apart to do the job. > > I would prefer not to have to pay the dealer to fix this problem since they will... ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-car-seat/706954/6 "2014-12-11T21:48:00Z")
You need to get together with the [Doper](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743242) with the locked-up seat belt. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-car-seat/706954/7 "2014-12-12T14:47:12Z")
Apparently it is a very common problem. We tried Liquid Weld. It held for about three cycles, then broke. There is a lot of torque the plastic is exposed to. Am going to pick up an entire seat this afternoon. I will either use it as a direct replacement, or, (since my wife is loathe to drive a car made up of zombie parts) I will use it as a donor for the cable. Cost me $150, which seemed quite reasonable for a leather seat. And because I thought it was fair, I did not try to dicker the price down, which I bet I could have done. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-car-seat/706954/8 "2014-12-12T14:57:13Z")
> [@dauerbach](#): > > Cost me $150, which seemed quite reasonable for a leather seat. And because I thought it was fair, I did not try to dicker the price down, which I bet I could have done. I don’t know how it works where you are, but in my experience, if you beat these guys down, when you arrive to collect it, someone will jerk a thumb in the general direction of the car to which it is still firmly attached and tell you to help yourself. Pay the full price and there is a fair chance that the seat would be out and ready to take away. There are pro’s and con’s to this. If you take it out yourself, you do at least have the opportunity to scavenge some other useful parts. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-car-seat/706954/9 "2014-12-12T17:53:40Z")
When I showed up it was sitting on a pallet, and wrapped in heavy plastic. It is the dark grey, rather than the light grey of our seats, but I am sure the working cable with fit just right. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuck-car-seat/706954/10 "2014-12-12T18:07:10Z")
When I showed up it was sitting on a pallet, and wrapped in heavy plastic. It is the dark grey, rather than the light grey of our seats, but I am sure the working cable with fit just right.