# Seat no longer will sit upright, gear wheel that raises and lowers popped out, may have snapped **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** cabrio, volkswagen\ **Created:** [November 15, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/seat-no-longer-will-sit-upright-gear-wheel-that-raises-and-lowers-popped-out-may-have-snapped/75556 "2012-11-15T19:04:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bcandy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@bcandy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bcandy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/seat-no-longer-will-sit-upright-gear-wheel-that-raises-and-lowers-popped-out-may-have-snapped/75556/1 "2012-11-15T19:04:46Z")
I have a 1998 Volkswagen Cabrio GLS 4Cyl2.0L. the wheel that raises and lowers the back of the seat has come out. The small plastic interior part appears to have snapped. Is there a way to order a replacement part and replace this myself? ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 7:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/seat-no-longer-will-sit-upright-gear-wheel-that-raises-and-lowers-popped-out-may-have-snapped/75556/2 "2012-11-15T19:28:45Z")
With a 14 year-old car, the probability of being able to order the appropriate parts from the mfr are…not good. I suggest that you visit an auto recycler (what we used to call a junk yard), and see if you can obtain a seat from a late '90s VW. Whether you choose to install the entire seat, or to cannibalize it for the necessary parts, I think that an auto recycler is likely to be your only solution. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/seat-no-longer-will-sit-upright-gear-wheel-that-raises-and-lowers-popped-out-may-have-snapped/75556/3 "2012-11-15T21:38:44Z")
My experience with purchasing piece-parts of preoprietary assembliesis that the manufacturers won’t generally sell them to you. I just went through that myself, where I research a wiring harness down to the connector part number…but the dealer’s parts guy showed me that the manufacturer lists it as a nonpurchasable part. These are the situations where you learn how to innovate. It’s very possible that there’s a part in wither a parts store or a hardware store than can, with some modification, replace the broken part. But it’ll take looking with an open mind. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/seat-no-longer-will-sit-upright-gear-wheel-that-raises-and-lowers-popped-out-may-have-snapped/75556/4 "2012-11-15T21:50:07Z")
Like they’ve said, get a complete replacement used seat and swap it out. Go to [www.car-part.com](http://www.car-part.com), see if they list one for you. ---
**Author:** ![RemcoW](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/remcow/32/2471_2.png) [@RemcoW](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RemcoW)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/seat-no-longer-will-sit-upright-gear-wheel-that-raises-and-lowers-popped-out-may-have-snapped/75556/5 "2012-11-16T00:17:50Z")
Along with @VDCDriver 's suggestion, you can often find parts for a car by just looking for the words “Parting out -your car name and model here-” on Craigslist. Found a bunch of good stuff for cheap that way.