2001 SATURN LS Complaints

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THERE WAS A GROANING NOISE COMING FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT, WHICH MAY HAVE EMINATING FROM THE POWER STEERING SYSTEM, ON 6/19/05. THE SOUND WAS MORE PRONOUNCED DURING A COLD START. THE VEHICLE WAS DIAGNOSED AT THE DEALERSHIP AND THE TIMING CHAIN WAS REPLACED. THE SAME PROBLEM OCCURRED A FEW DAYS LATER. THE DEALER REFUSED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM A SECOND TIME AT NO COST.

AFTER DRIVING FIVE MINUTES, I WAS ACCELERATING MY 2001 SATURN LW300 UP A GENTLE SLOPE TO ENTER A HIGHWAY ON-RAMP WHEN THE ENGINE UNEXPECTEDLY AND FOR NO APPARENT REASON STALLED. ENGINE COULD NOT BE RESTARTED. PROBLEM HAS NOT YET BEEN DIAGNOSED BY SATURN OF AUSTIN. *NM

CONTINUOUS CUPPING OF REAR TIRES DUE TO AN ENGINEERING DEFECT. SHIMS PLACED IN REAR OF CAR. THE CUPPING HAS CONTINUED CAUSING DANGEROUS WEARING OF THE TIRES AT ONE POINT, THE TREAD WAS BEGINNING TO SEPARATE FROM THE CORE AFTER A HIGHWAY TRIP. SATURN TOLD ME THAT THEY CORRECTED THE PROBLEM WITH THE SHIMS. THE FOURTH SET OF TIRES IN 90,000 MILES IS NOW PLACED ON THE CAR BECAUSE ON THE CONTINUING CUPPING. *JB

2001 SATURN L-200 CAR HAS 50K MILES AND THE TIMING CHAIN HAS BROKEN. HAVE SEEN ON DIFFERENT INTERNET FORUMS AT LEAST 50 OF THE SAME EXACT COMPLAINTS. THE SATURN CORP IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND HAS CHANGED THE DESIGN BUT IS NOT WILLING TO HELP IN ANY OF THE REPAIRS. *JB

I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN, WITHOUT WARNING MY ENGINE TURNED OFF AND I WAS FORCED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. I DID NOT KNOW WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND I CALLED A TOW TRUCK TO TAKE ME THE 30 MILES TO MY HOME. TURN MY CAR INTO THE MANUFACTURER AND THEY SAID THAT THE TIMING CHAIN BROKE AND IT MIGHT HAVE DAMAGED THE HEADS AS WELL, RESULTING IN A $2668 REPAIR. I HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO PAY AND HAVE THEM REPAIR IT. *JB

I PURCHASED THIS 2001 SATURN LS 4 CYLINDER SEDAN OFF-LEASE CAR FROM MY LOCAL SATURN DEALER IN JULY OF 2004 WITH APPROXIMATELY 21,000 MILES ON THE CAR. I FOUND OUT AFTER THE PURCHASE THAT IT RECEIVED A NEW RACK AND PINION, NEW FRONT BRAKES AND NEW FRONT TIRES AFTER PURCHASING THE CAR. THIS CAR HAS NOW HAD THREE RACK AND PINIONS FAIL AND THE FOURTH ON HAS JUST BEEN INSTALLED. THE CAR HAS 76,000 MILES ON AT THIS TIME AND THE 55,000 MILES I HAVE PUT ON IT IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS HAVE BEEN PRIMARILY HIGHWAY MILES. I AM NOW THINKING ABOUT CONTACTING GM CORPORATE DIRECTLY. THIS IS GETTING COSTLY AND RIDICULOUS! *NM

WHILE TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEED, THE TIMING CHAIN FAILED IN MY 2001 SATURN L200. THIS CAUSED SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY. THE VEHICLE HAD TO BE TOWED. THE TIMING CHAIN HAD SNAPPED, CAUSING SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE. THE DAMAGE WAS REPAIRED BY A SATURN DEALER, COSTING APPROXIMATELY $2000. *JB

I WAS TRAVELING ON THE HIGHWAY IN THE MIDDLE LANE AT APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH I MOVED TO THE FAST LANE TO PASS A SLOWER MOVING VEHICLE AND PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR AT WHICH POINT I NOTICED A SUDDEN LOSS OF ENGINE POWER AND RAPID DECELERATION. I MANAGED TO GET THE CAR OVER TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD WITHOUT ANY SERIOUS INCIDENT. AFTER HAVING THE CAR DIAGNOSED IT TURNED OUT TO BE THE TIMING CHAIN, AFTER LOOKING AT YOUR WEB SITE I FOUND THERE WAS AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE TIMING CHAIN ON THIS MAKE AND MODEL. THE FILE NUMBER SEEMS TO BE PE06-006. *JB

BREAK LIGHTS IN THE 2001 SATURN L200 BURN OUT FUSES. THERE IS A SHORT THAT AFTER CORRECTING AND BUYING NEW FUSED AND NEW LAMPS KEEPS GOING OUT AGAIN AND BLOWING FUSES. *JB

WITH NO ADVANCED WARNING SIGNS, MY 2001 SATURN L-200 HAD THE TIMING CHAIN SPONTANTEOUSLY BREAK. ALL OIL CHANGES AND MAINTENANCE WAS DONE AT THE REGULAR INTERVALS. BECAUSE SATURN DESIGNED THIS AS AN INTERFERANCE ENGINE, THE BROKEN TIMING CHAIN CAUSED PERMANENT DAMAGE TO THE VALVES IN THE MOTOR. NO ONE WAS HURT AS A RESULT OF THIS ENGINE MALFUNCTION. THE FAILURE WAS CORRECTED BY REPLACING THE BLOWN ENGINE WITH A LOW MILEAGE SALVAGE ENGINE AT THE COST OF $2606 TO ME. I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER AND MY VEHICLE ONLY HAS 69,000 MILES. *NM