Rear seat lever finally broke - now what?!

[Andy_FL]

Alright I can't be the first one to have broken this plastic seat lever. Question is two fold - now how to get the seat down and then how to replace the lever? Anyone have any pics, as I didn't turn anything up with a search of the archives. Thanks in advance.

[Audibot]

If those are the stock seats, you may be better off replacing that portion of the seat back. Can probably find a cheap set on here, Facebook, craigslist, or u-pull-it yard to swap in.

Will the key turn that? I feel like my B7 had a key slot there somewhere.

[fR3ZNO]

I believe those are B6 Avant seats. They don't have a key slot.

[Audibot]

I believe those are B6 Avant seats. They don't have a key slot.

Learn something new everyday. Thanks!

[kwilson]

This happened to my avant a couple of years ago. If seat is latched, you need to find some way to turn that lever to release the seatback. I think I might have hammered a screwdriver into the round part to twist it. Once it is unlatched, you can take out the screw that is visible in your picture, and maybe a couple more that are revealed when unlatched. I replaced mine with a junkyard part (keyed from a sedan).

[Andy_FL]

Good info, thanks!

This happened to my avant a couple of years ago. If seat is latched, you need to find some way to turn that lever to release the seatback. I think I might have hammered a screwdriver into the round part to twist it. Once it is unlatched, you can take out the screw that is visible in your picture, and maybe a couple more that are revealed when unlatched. I replaced mine with a junkyard part (keyed from a sedan).

[Andy_FL]

Alright updating my own post, answering my own question....

As suggested by kwilson, I needed to find another way to turn the broken lever. Using a cut off wheel in the Dremel, I created my own slot for a wide, flat head screwdriver. This did the trick, along with a firm push of the seat toward the rear of the vehicle in order to take some of the strain from the locking mechanism. The lever itself is not hard to twist, but it must be that over time, the post that the seat locks to migrates a little bit which makes it harder to unlatch the latch. So the most important lesson learned here is to PUSH the seat back while you're pulling the lever.








Looks like a $30 part from the junkyards. Hope this helps someone else down the road....