My stupid dog ate the left and right rear seatbelts in our 2014 ford escape. The belts will need to be replaced. The ford dealership quoted me $500 to fix this. Places in town are asking near as much. Can I buy the actual belt and fix it myself? I don't want to be responsible if the seat belts were to fail in an accident, but I don't want to drop half a grand on seat belts. What would you guys do in my situation? I am good at fixing things, but not much of a car guy, this is why I ask.

ETA: Where do I get good quality belts at the best price?

I've never done them on an Escape, but after the trim is off, it's pretty foolproof. The seat belt retractors are keyed into the body, there is no adjustment or anything like that.

Any idea where one would find a step by step for the process of belt replacement on an escape? Is this the type of thing I should be working on with limited experience? I obviously want the belts to be as safe as they were before the chewing. I imagine it's pretty fool proof, however, and will be easy to tell if I have done it right.

If it were me, I'd start hitting the local junkyards looking to get a set - but be careful & inspect the belts closely!  Most vehicles go to the boneyard because they were in a wreck - which is fine if the rear belts were not in use at the time of the wreck...!...lol...

Getting the trim off without damaging the panel is the trickiest part...but since you'll probably be removing them at the junkyard to get at the belts, it gives you an opportunity to practice!

read or google the utube video on trim removal so you remove the tabs in the right order. but normally once you undo the trim its just a matter of unbolting  a single bolt per strap but make sure you have a towel or something to put it on once you pull it out incase it has undercoating on it so you don't screw up your floor mats

I don't know what your deductible is or if it would be cheaper, but my mom's dog chewed her seatbelts up a few years ago and her car insurance covered it.  State Farm BTW.

I don't know what's out there on the internets, but you can get a 24 hour access to the factory stuff from Helm. That's the publisher. Or buy the whole paper or DVD set for the car if you're so inclined.

 

This was my first thought as well. Lots of cars sitting in junkyards. Seat-belts aren't likely a high-demand item at those places so you should be able to score a pair pretty cheap and tearing them out will give you the necessary practice for the replacement in your vehicle.

On a 14 escape why would you go to a junkyard and get a set that is probably going to be older than the car? What is your safety worth? If you put them in wrong and get into an accident what is knowing that they are correct worth to you. Yes, I work at a dealership but seriously there are times when the cheapest route isn't the best. I'm guessing that most of the quote  the dealership gave you is labor since parts shouldn't be that bad. And the fact that your "local" place is quoting almost the same money tells me that the dealership is trying to be competitive. If your local place was half the money I would say something was up. But if they are close take it to the place that does it everyday.

I just checked with my parts guy and those belts are like $110 each from ford. I would figure you place is looking at 2 hours labor at $75 or $100 and hour. So they aren't that far off.

There aren't any '14 Escapes in junkyards? Even if there aren't and he can get some from a '13 or '12 etc, does it matter? Seatbelts last decades in cars, if the seatbelts he puts in the car are 1-2 years older there is really no loss of useability. Are there risks that myself and others aren't seeing that you know of? Can you details those risks for us?

FWIW, this is the DIY section, people come here because they like to do things themselves. Seatbelts are not inherently complicated or above the ability of most people in this section. Take old ones out, put new ones in, torque bolts to spec (if there even is a torque spec). The bolts really only hold the seatbelt mechanism in-place so the keys are properly engaged and do their job. Am I missing something that makes this job too complicated or too risky to do?

 
 

My pup did this to my girlfriend's car and my 2013 JKU. I got her seatbelt from a volvo parts place for $140, msrp was $200. From Mopar, mine is like $160, and from online parts stores it is $113. Mine is super easy to replace...I need to figure hers out. Plugging random options in got me the following seat belt for you...$84.
http://www.oemfordpart.com/ford/escape/cj5z78611b69aa/2014-year/se-trim/2-0l-l4-gas-engine/body-cat/seats-scat/?part_name=seat-belt-lap-and-shoulder-belt

I hadn't checked back with this thread in a while. I appreciate you all going through the effort to give advice. I haven't fixed the seatbelts yet, which is fine because no one uses them in the back seat. Our insurance deductible is 500 dollars so getting insurance to cover it would be pointless. I am still considering doing it myself but I worry that after buying the seatbelts and a buckle ( about 220 dollars, thanks spyderboy ) I may need to buy the manual showing where all the trim clips are too. In the end it might not be worth the $200 saved to do it myself after factoring in the amount of time I will have to spend and the risk of breaking trim clips. Thanks again everyone who contributed.

Heh.  When my dog chewed through our seat belt, it was only $300 to fix.