A few of the F-Type convertibles I've looked at so far in my search had wear/damage to the leather strap that retains the seatbelts on the performance seats. It looks like if you move the seat all the way to the fully rear position with the top up, some of the headliner material over the b-pillar of the vert top contacts the strap with enough force to scrape the leather strap and damage it. Is this just one of those things where you say Jags have "soul" like an Italian car, and shrug it off, or is this not a common thing? I did some searching but couldn't find anything discussing it.

If it's "normal", I'm wondering if these retainers an easily replaceable part, or is it something integrated into the seat that I'd need to have a dealer with special tools replace...

 

You’re suggesting the Vert headliner is causing this wear on the strap?

 

I just checked our 2014 'vert with the high-end Performance seats.

With the seat all the way up and back (for ease of entry/exit), we barely have enough room to insert one finger between the strap and the roof covering/'headliner'. I could see how, if a driver's body/comfort dictates more recline to the seatback, it could touch and rub while driving.





A worn strap could be a bargaining point on a sale. If your height or driving position creates contact, it might be considered a 'wear item'.

I'll add that it took us about two months of fussing with steering wheel and seat positions to find the sweet spot that we were comfortable with.

 

In fact, on the example I first noticed this, I moved the seat fully to the rear while outside the vehicle and observed the strap impacting the headliner material on the B-pillar area hard enough to deflect/deform the strap before sliding under the material, and the same area that was impacting the headliner had deep scrape marks on it. It was very strange. And since finding the wear on that one, I've seen a couple more online that have similar wear on the straps.

I'm only 5'9", so I'd never need the seat back far enough that it'd be a problem, it was just surprising to me that on the example I was looking at the strap actually contacted the headliner hard enough to be deflected/deformed by it, just moving the seat into the full rear position. Maybe something else was going on with that one?

 

Get a coupe, problem solved.

 

Hah! The coupes are beautiful, just not at all what I'm looking for.