The seatbelt retractor first failed in August of 2013. I researched online and found that many other 04 GTO owners have had the same problem. I fixed the part that commonly slips out of place causing the issue and the seatbelt once again worked correctly. However, now on July 2nd 2014 at only 39,500 miles the seatbelt retractor again failed leaving the belt fully extended. This makes the vehicle extremely unsafe and not drivable as the belt will provide no restraint in the event of an accident. It is my opinion with a lot of experience in vehicle repair and maintenance that this is a poor and unsafe design to begin with. Fortunately for me I discovered this issue both times when parked and not driving, but if this failure were to occur right before or during a collision there would be serious harm done as the seatbelt would effectively do nothing. The spring for the belt inside the retractor mechanism is held in place by plastic parts, which is clearly a cheap corner cutting move and has left the seatbelts in all of these cars in a delicate and unsafe state. I will be contacting a General Motors dealership to ask in they will cover this repair as there is no current recall, but this is clearly a safety issue that should not be happening.

- Dixon, CA, USA

The passenger restraint system (safety belt) does not retract and instead is fully extended providing no security or restraint in the event of an accident, . I have reviewed similar complaints filed and I can assure this Agency that my belts have no "soft drink spills causing the system to become inoperable". instead the internal spring lock device of the belt itself is retained in place by a plastic disk and is, in my opinion, a faulty and inferior design.

- Crivitz, WI, USA