Is there a way to shut off the rear seatbelt chime when the rear seats are down without engaging the seat belts? Yes ,I have rear passenger warning off . Looked in manual but didn't see anything. Help!!
I had a 22 4runner and it didn't do this with the seats down.


Yesterday picked up a LG C2 Oled TV and put the rear seats down. The weight of the TV I guess pushed down on the seats and sounded the annoying seat belt chimes when I started to drive .

I had to pull over in the parking lot ,take the TV back out and connect the seat belts and load it back up . That worked but the weight of the TV sitting on the seatbelts left indentation marks. And that was just a 30 minute drive.
It would probably leave permanent indentations if it was more weight(the TV was less then 40lbs) or for a long drive.

 

You will get indentations after just a few minutes with just the weight of the folded seats by themselves, typically, even without the seat belts connected. At least that is what I've found. They go away after not too long provided you fold back the seats soon after the trip. Must be a pretty heavy TV. I put an insulation blowing machine directly on the folded part of the seat, barely fit in the gate and took 2 people to lift (probably 80 to 100 lbs) and it did not trigger the seat belt warning for me. Did you have anything on the seat like a blanket or pillow that would have transferred more weight on the center of the seat?

But to (not really) answer your question, I don't think there is a master off switch.

 

Indeed, there is no master off switch. However, if you get Carista or something similar, you can go in and turn off the chime for any or all seats. I did, and I couldn't be happier.

 

Folded rear seats...Put a soft cloth or small towel over the seat belt buckle to avoid the deep indentations. Please be sure the rear chime system is functioning properly ... I had passengers that would not wear the belts and told them I can't drive them without them being buckled up. The chime alerted me.
We have another vehicle that does not have the rear safety chimes.... I prefer to have them. They are there for a reason...