Front Seat Belt Retractor problems of the 1998 Saturn SL2

I purchased a 1998 Saturn Sl2 in April of 2002 and discovered after purchase that it had a defective seat belt retractor. When the vehicle was taken to a local Saturn dealership I was told that even though this is a very common problem on this model I would be charged for the repair. The dealership was also unable to find the exact part number and wanted to make the repair from a similar but not identical 1996 model. The dealership told me that Saturn does not take responsibility for defective safety items such as the retractor because so many of their vehicles have this problem and it has not been officially recalled.

Seat belt failed to restrain passenger during an accident.