Just the other day I tried getting in the backseat of my ZX3 and the little handle thing broke off (the metal shaft, not the plastic part). I went to Ford and they are going to sell me the new recliner part for $65, then I can get it installed for $45 at a local place I know. Does anyone know of a cheaper or easier way to do this? I plan on looking around local junkyards for seats, but I really don't want to spend $100 on something so small and insignificant, so any and all advice would be appreciated. I'll attach an image of what broke off and where.

for $100 you could almost find a new seat on ebay or salvage one. that seems steep for just a seat part.

Same thing I thought. I wanted to get Sparco seats anyway, so I figured I could live without that for awhile until i got the money for the new ones..... oh well, my car just looks a little ghetto for now, I can still beat Civics :)

Same thing happened on my car...luckily Ford decided to cover it under warranty while my car was still in the warranty period. Searching a junk yard for a matching seat would be your best bet unless you can get upholstery work done cheap since you have to pretty much take apart the seat to get the new handle in.

just got off the phone earlier today with a local junkyard that has a zx3 seat in perfect condition for $50[:D] sounds good to me since ford was going to charge me $60 for the part, so now all i have to do is pick it up and install it, which hopefully is just screwing in some rails...

if all else fails, just use the other door. lol
this is one of the reasons i bought a sedan.

both of mine are now broken,

This is a bad design on the part of Ford. The reason they broke is because the handle extends behind the seat (that big loop handle in the back). This handle is completely uneccessary, and if I get these fixed I am going to cut it off.



-niko

Same thing happened to me and I really don't care. Sliding the seat all the way up will allow enough room for most average sized people to get in. I never fixed it, and I never regetted it yet.