Replacing Driver Seat Belt 2014

Disclaimer: many nay-sayers have commented that it is inappropriate to replace your own seatbelt. People have also said they are lifetime warrantied (false). I have also been told there is a small explosive inside of the retractor assembly. I am not recommending anyone do this, just sharing info for those who are curious.

2014 Prius II I am the original owner, these were the original seatbelts. A dog chewed through the driver and passenger seatbelt webbing rendering them useless.

Used seatbelts purchased from ebay, seller had some VIN# info to determine parts match. Even verifying VIN compatibility they did not match. The metal tongue that you clip into the receptacle each time you drive comes in 2 different style on the 2014. They are not interchangeable, a mismatched tongue will not fit into the receptacle.* The part that ended up fitting my 2014 came from a 2015.

Driver's side seat belts were particularly hard to find on ebay, so I tried something experimental: installed a passenger side seatbelt retractor assembly in the driver side of my car. It works! The fit was not perfect where it bolts in near floor but it did bolt in snug.

Install notes:

10mm wrench and ratchet
14mm wrench and ratchet
Small flat-head screwdriver (for delicate prying)

1) Disconnect 12v battery negative terminal at least 90 seconds before disconnecting seatbelt wiring harness.
2) Remove plastic trim driver door kick, backseat door kick, vertical center frame lower then upper.
this video is super helpful (not mine, just one I found)

3) Remove bolts
4) Remove wiring harness by gently prying the small black directly away from yellow face (I found it easier to put screwdriver handle toward floor and pry while pointing driver upward)

Install replacement and reverse order to secure.

*I had a problem with my replacement retractor assembly. The webbing/belt was not pulling out, after trying to gently coax it out for a while I went to youtube and found someone removing one of the white plastic covers (not the one that says DO NOT REMOVE).
Hold the entire apparatus in its final install orientation (so the soon to be installed top is up and bottom is down). Look for a metal ball.
I gently pushed the small plastic arm mechanism directly above the metal ball. Playing with this piece a bit while gently pulling the webbing out seems to get it all set back into working positions.

No software programming was required. After install was complete, 12v battery was reconnected. Car powers on, drives, seatbelt indicator light functions.