i just took delivery of my 2000 Forester. I'm very pleased with the car. Just one concern, the drivers side seatbelt is slow to retract when I unfasten it. Is there a way to improve this?

Steve

...perhaps you could try to EcuTek it :D.

There are 2 possible reasons for this.

1 - The trim around the seatbelt has been removed and replaced badly causing the webbing to 'drag' on something. You can test this by feeding the webbing by hand to see if the retractor is 'keen' to take on the webbing. Speed should be fairly constant even if slow.

2 - The vehicle has had someone really fat in that seat for a lot of miles and the retraction coil spring in knackered. Speed will slow as more webbing is fed.

Does it make a noise? Vibrate or knock/catch on retraction? If so, it could be an indication that the car has been in an accident and the seatbelt cage (that takes all the load) is distorted. The belts should have been replaced if this is the case.

I used to make seatbelts for 5 years - can you tell??? :)