Vantage Seatbelt Strap
 

The factory magnets that hold the seatbelt strap in my V8VS (and my previous Vantage) are too weak to hold the leather strap secure. I found an inexpensive solution. By using two small doughnut shaped, nickel plated rare earth magnets (super strong), the straps stay in place. I used two on each seat. I used super glue to secure the bottom magnet to the factory magnet on the seat side. I did not glue the two magnets together, and I did not glue the strap side so that I can still release the strap if necessary. A set of 10 rare earth magnets cost about $15.

Thanks for an excellent, easy to implement suggestion to a nagging problem--I just added to your "Rep Power".

Thank you! I was just about to post about this issue. Where did you order the magnets?

Click on the Amazon link in his post.

Thank you! This is such an annoying issue. How do you give rep power? Because you definitely earned it

Will, on you brand new V12V?

Yep, their magnet is useless!

Interesting, because I've never had this problem. If the center raised part of one "half" of the magnet is seated in the center recessed part of the other "half," it has always held perfectly well.

I thought it was just my car until I saw this post the magnet doesn't stick so the latch is always open. I think I'll give the extra magnet a try!

What's the deal w this strap thingy? Seats on the vantage are similar to the DB9/DBS is basic shape and so forth I thought, I don't ever recall seeing or using such a strap or magnets in my DB9 just pull the seatbelt and fasten like any other car...why didn't Aston just use a nice button instead of weaker magnets for the vantage?

No such strap on my V12V either!

Really, I have them on my V12V!

Rare earth magnets are a good idea, but is it necessary to superglue them in place? I lean towards easily reversible modifications.

My first attempt was to use the two rare earth magnets without super glue. You should also try it first without super glue (it might work for some). In my case, I discovered that while the supplemental magnets did not separate from each other, the weak point was between the bottom supplemental magnet and the factory magnet on the seat (i.e. the strap still did not hold all the time. The strap separated with the 2 supplemental magnets attached to the strap side factory magnet). When I super glued the bottom magnet (4 drops on the bottom magnet) to the factory magnet on the seat, everything held together. I did not need to super glue the top magnet to the factory strap magnet (if you want you can super glue the top magnet to the strap magnet, but only if you use a pair of supplemental magnets so that the strap can still be undone when necessary by separating the magnetic bond between the two supplemental magnets - fyi, rare earth magnets are very strong). Although you cannot see the supplemental magnets when the strap is fastened, I chose rare earth magnets that had a nickel finish to match the factory magnet finish. I also chose a doughnut shaped magnet to accommodate the raised pin on the factory magnet. Usually I hesitate to make "permanent" changes, but the flopping strap was such an annoyance that I felt it was worth making the alteration especially since no one will notice it when the strap is in place, and most won't even notice what was done when you lift up the strap.

To Give "Rep Power" click on the "Star Medal" up in the right-hand corner by the Red Exclamation Point.