Update - Keep the change... Please!
At the dealership this morning, the stuck 2nd row seat became a novelty of sorts. First I review everything with the Service Manager, keeping in mind there's only 1,800 miles and NEVER any passengers in the 2nd row. Naturally, he needed to give it a go, attempting to move the driver side and says "What's the problem? It moves like butter." He then tried the passenger side, realizing it was a no go. He calls the senior technician, who upon being briefed says, "Its probably some loose change" that fell into the track, "it happens sometimes." I told him that while it sounds simple, there haven't been any passengers, and I haven't had it long enough for the "loose change" to make sense. "I think it is something in the linkage" I confidently told him. He began to give it a try and after a time gives up, seeming genuinely puzzled. More discussion follows, it could be this, it may need that; it was locked up tight.
So now the Young Buck gets his crack at it, and he is dogged. While a lot of discussion continued, and a few other crew members poke their heads in and out to get a look and dispense 2 cents, he literally kept his head down, crawling into various positions, attempting to move the seat. His first major determination was that the linkage works and one side was OK, only the inside track appeared to be stuck. He kept digging around, and with his face still buried down in floor, hollers out "I see something!"
At this point the decision is made to bring it into the bay and remove the seat, "If I have the time"; "Sure" I said. With about an hour and a half into the total visit, I got called into the service area, the seat is out, and the young buck holds up a friggin' quarter... "Its a brand new one" he tells me. (What else would it be?) Sure enough, a quarter had slipped between the seats, and like a slot in a vending machine, dropped right down into the close-tolerance track. Once there, it locked the seat up dead in its track.
This is where it gets interesting. With so many attempts by my wife and I, as well as the service team members to move the seat, there was some damage to the seat base. Everything worked, but there was a clicking sound as the seat moved back and forth in the track. There was something visibly bent a little out of spec, but overall functionality appeared to be fine. It was explained to me that installing a new base could be done, but with a great deal of work which would include re-upholstering the base of the leather seat. "Its a pain in the ass" the young buck said. I did NOT want to get into all that with my brand new Sig. He suggested we wait to see how it is once they get everything put back together.
Upon final inspection out of the service bay, there was a noticeable "ratchet" sound, but over all function and feel was fine. All is good, except for the fact that they were not able to put this thru as a warranty issue. There were no parts that could be referenced, there was real shop-time put into fixing this, and the elephant in the room was the fact that a shiny new quarter lodged in the track of a seat - IS NOT A WARRANTY ITEM. I could tell that neither the Service Manager or the Young Buck were wanting to tell me I had to write a check. I certainly did not want to either, but as he went searching thru various computer codes for the service entry, and making a call to the GM for guidance, the two of them seemed sadly frustrated. The Young Buck explaining that he had to document that he found a quarter, and so on, and so on. I stood there keeping my composure, encouraging them to do what you can, and explaining that I understood the technicalities of the repair.
When all was said and done, and after some discussion, they looked up at me and said, "Don't worry about it, we'll figure it out." I thanked them, and wished them a Merry Christmas. Now you know the rest of the story (hat tip to those old enough to remember Paul Harvey.)
Edit: I really must credit the dealership with having a customer-centric culture in which how they treat you after the sale isn't just talk. Our sales experience was honest and "pressure-free", and now the service dept. delivered as well.