Right-hand-drive Wrangler JK seat belt buckle recall, NHTSA 19V-680

This is an older campaign, but it is still open against any vehicle that has not had the work done, and right-hand-drive Wranglers change hands in a small market where recall history is easy to lose. NHTSA campaign 19V-680 was filed by FCA US LLC for certain 2011 through 2018 Jeep Wrangler right-hand-drive vehicles. Within the platforms this site covers, that means the Wrangler JK, model year 2018.

The category on the filing is seat belt front anchorage. The remedy is that FCA US will notify owners and dealers will replace the driver's seat belt buckle free of charge. The filing also notes that interim notices informing owners of the safety risk were mailed, which is the usual pattern when a remedy is not ready at the time a recall is announced.

Right-hand-drive Wranglers are a small population that tends to be kept a long time and bought used. If you own one, do not assume the previous owner had the buckle replaced. A recall stays open against the VIN until a dealer closes it, and the only way to know is to check.

The campaign is not stop-drive. The vehicle remains usable while the buckle replacement is arranged, but a seat belt anchorage recall on the driver's side is not one to sit on. The belt is the piece of equipment you will need most in the event it fails, and the repair is a single component on one seat. Book it.

Start with the VIN. Run it through the manufacturer's recall lookup and confirm on the NHTSA recall page. Right-hand-drive vehicles are a small population, so if the lookup returns nothing but you are confident the vehicle is a factory right-hand-drive 2018 JK, call a Jeep dealer and have them query the VIN from their side. Quote campaign 19V-680.

Recall repairs are free regardless of ownership history or warranty status. If a dealer is unfamiliar with right-hand-drive parts, ask them to confirm the buckle part number against the VIN before the appointment so the correct side is ordered. It is a driver's side buckle, which on a right-hand-drive vehicle is the opposite side to the one a technician reaches for by habit.

In the meantime, do the same check you would on any belt. Latch it, tug it hard, and confirm it does not release. If it does, keep the driver's seat belt in mind as unreliable and get the vehicle to a dealer sooner. Do not attempt to swap in a buckle from a left-hand-drive Wrangler; the anchorage geometry is what the recall is about.

The JK platform ran from 2007 to 2018 and only the final year overlaps with the range this site covers for this campaign. If you own an earlier right-hand-drive JK, the same VIN check applies and will show whether the vehicle is included. Keep the dealer work order once the buckle has been replaced so the next owner does not have to guess.