2002 SATURN VUE Complaints

WHILE DRIVING MY 2002 SATURN VUE 2.2L 4CYL LAST NIGHT AT APPROX. 55-60MPH, MY REDUCED POWER LIGHT CAME ON, ALONG WITH THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON. I HAD NO FOREWARNING NOISES OR INDICATION MY CAR WAS GOING INTO FAILURE. I IMMEDIATELY PUT MY CAR INTO NEUTRAL, SHUT THE IGNITION DOWN, AND PULLED OFF THE ROAD AS SAFELY AS I COULD, STILL AT APPROX. 50 MPH SPEED AS I HAD MY 3 CHILDREN IN THE CAR WITH ME. AFTER THE CAR WAS SHUT DOWN FOR 5 MINS AND SPEAKING TO MY GM DEALERSHIP, THEY ADVISED ME TO TRY TO TURN THE CAR OVER IN CASE IT WAS JUST A "GLITCH" IN THE COMPUTER SYSTEM, TO NO AVAIL. IT WOULDN'T TURN OVER. AFTER BEING TOWED TO MY GM DEALERSHIP, I WAS TOLD MY VEHICLE HAD A "ZERO TOLERANCE" ENGINE, AND THAT MY TIMING CHAIN HAD BROKE. I WAS TOLD MY ENGINE WAS MOST LIKELY BLOWN, AND THAT I NEEDED TO HAVE MY ENGINE REPLACED. THE MINIMAL COST OF THIS TIMING CHAIN ERROR IS $3,000 EVEN WITH A USED ENGINE GOING INTO MY CAR. I SEE MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT SATURN'S 2.2L ENGINE IN THE APPROX. 2001-2002 RANGE, AND I BELIEVE MY VEHICLE IS PART OF THIS. I AM CONTACTING SATURN ON MONDAY THE 21ST TO SEE IF I CAN GET SOME SORT OF HELP IN REPLACING MY ENGINE, AS THIS IS APPARENTLY AN OBVIOUS PROBLEM WITH THEIR ENGINES. *TR

THE ONLY "EVENT" WHICH LED TO THE FAILURE WAS ACCELERATING TO THEN MERGE INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC. THE TIMING CHAIN FAILED/BROKE DURING ACCELERATION WHILE MERGING WITH ONCOMING TRAFFIC. POWER WAS THEN LOST,THE VEHICLE DIED WHILE GOING DOWNHILL. THIS CAUSED LOSS OF FULL BRAKES AND STEERING WHILE THE VEHICLE ROLLED TO A STOP. THE CHAIN THEN DAMAGED MULTIPLE VALVES LEADING TO A POTENTIAL MINIMUM $2000 REPAIR. *TR

MY WIFE PULLED UP TO A HOUSE THAT MY DAUGHTER WAS VISITING AND HONKED THE HORN FOR HER TO COME OUT. THE HORN CONTINUED TO SOUND UNTIL THE FUSE WAS PULLED. I HAVE DONE RESEARCH AND IT LOOKS LIKE THIS IS A CONTINUOUS PROBLEM. *TR

MY 16 YEAR OLD SON WAS DRIVING. MY 13 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WAS HIS PASSENGER. HE WAS DRIVING A 2002 SATURN VUE. HE HIT A TREE, DEAD-ON, GOING 40 MPH. THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. FIREFIGHTERS, POLICE, AMBULANCE FOLKS, BODY SHOP REP: THEY ALL SAID THE SAME THING AND LOOK AT ME WITH AMAZEMENT THAT THIS HAPPENED (OR DIDN'T HAPPEN). I BOUGHT THE CAR WITH THE IMPRESSION IT WAS EQUIPPED WITH WORKING AIRBAGS. IF A VEHICLE HITS SOMEONE, DEAD-ON, GOING 40MPH, I EXPECT AIRBAGS TO WORK, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS SOLD TO ME USING THIS AS A FEATURE. LAST NIGHT, A WEEK AFTER OUR ACCIDENT, WE PASSED YET ANOTHER VUE ACCIDENT SO I STOPPED OUT OF CURIOSITY. THIS LADY WAS TRAVELING 40-45 MPH AND REAR ENDED ANOTHER CAR. GUESS WHAT, HER AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY EITHER. I SUPPOSE I'LL HAVE TO START MY OWN LITTLE "SATURN" INVESTIGATION SERVICE AS I INTEND TO FIND OUT JUST HOW OFTEN THIS HAPPENS. THIS LADY HAD A 2007 VUE, SO I DO NOT ACCEPT MY CAR BEING OLDER OR ANYTHING ELSE AS AN EXCUSE OF SOMETHING THAT LOOKS TO ME LIKE WAS DEFECTIVE TO START WITH. *TR

I PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE USED (APP 47K MILES ON IT) IN MARCH 2006. DURING SUMMER OF 2006 THERE STARTED TO BE A PROBLEM WHEREIN THE CAR, WHEN TRAVELING DOWN THE ROAD, WOULD SUDDENLY SWITCH, WITHOUT WARNING, INTO A "REDUCED POWER MODE". A SMALL LIGHT WOULD COME ON INDICATING THIS, BUT THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WAS THAT ABOUT 5 SECONDS AFTER THIS LIGHT COMES ON, THE VEHICLE DOWN SHIFTED INTO 2ND GEAR AND CAUSED THE ENGINE TO BREAK DOWN TO 30 MPH. THE ONLY WAY TO RESTORE POWER WAS TO PULL OVER AND SHUT THE VEHICLE OFF FOR 30-60 SECONDS. ***I WAS TOLD BY THE REPAIR CENTER THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETINS WITHIN SATURN FOR THIS DEFECT, SO THEY KNOW IT EXISTS. *** HOWEVER, BECAUSE THE COST OF THE REPAIR (TO CONSUMERS) IS OVER $1300, THEY HAVE NOT MADE A RECALL OF WHAT IS OBVIOUSLY A SAFETY DEFECT. THE DEALER HAS ATTEMPTED SEVERAL SHORTCUTS IN THE PAST YEAR TO FIX THE PROBLEM, EACH TIME WITH ONLY TEMPORARY SUCCESS. I HAVE COMPLAINED TO BOTH THE SATURN REPAIR CENTER AND SATURN CORPORATE CUSTOMER SERVICE, NEITHER WILL OFFER ANY CONCESSIONS OTHER THAN COVERING A $100 DIAGNOSTIC FEE AFTER I HAD ALREADY PAID SUCH FEE TWICE. A DEFECT WHICH CAUSES THE CAR TO FORCEFULLY SLOW DOWN TO 30 MPH IS RISKING THE LIFE OF MY FAMILY, SINCE WE OFTEN TRAVEL ON HIGHWAYS TO GET TO WHERE WE ARE GOING. CURRENTLY, WE DO NOT USE THE VEHICLE FOR HIGHWAY TRAVEL AND ARE FORCED TO USE OUR OTHER CAR. *JB

IN 8/06 WE PURCHASED A 2002 SATURN VUE FROM A SATURN DEALER FOR OUR 16-YEAR OLD DAUGHTER. TODAY, SHE WAS INVOLVED IN A 55 MPH ROLLOVER AND FLIPPED HER CAR END-OVER-END 5 TIMES. MY CONCERN IS THAT THERE WAS NO AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT. WE WERE SHOWN A CARFAX AND TIME OF PURCHASE. HOWEVER, TODAY'S ACCIDENT LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THAT (A) AIRBAGS WERE FAULTY (B) AIRBAGS HAD DEPLOYED IN A PRIOR ACCIDENT AND WERE NOT RE-BUILT (C) AIRBAGS HAD BEEN DISCONNECTED OR TAMPERED WITH SOMETIME PRIOR. PLEASE ADVISE AS TO WHAT ACTION, IF ANY, SHOULD BE TAKEN. *JB

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS 2002 SATURN VUE. WHILE DRIVING 70 MPH, HE HEARD A NOISE IN THE ENGINE. THE CHECK ENGINE AND REDUCE POWER LIGHT WERE ALSO ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE DRIFTED INTO THE SLOW LANE ALLOWING HIM TO STOP. THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT RESTART. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED AND THE MECHANIC STATED THAT FAULTY WIRING CAUSED THE FAILURE. THE MECHANIC REPAIRED THE WIRING; HOWEVER, THE TIMING CHAIN FELL OFF. VEHICLE MAINTENANCE HAS BEEN UP TO DATE SINCE HE PURCHASED THE VEHICLE. THE TIMING CHAIN SHOULD NOT HAVE FAILED DUE TO THE MILEAGE. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 88,165.

THE TIMING CHAIN ON MY 2002 SATURN VUE, THAT HAS ONLY 55,000 MILES ON IT, BROKE, CAUSING THE ENGINE TO BE DESTROYED. (ENGINE DESTROYED WAS VERIFIED BY THE DEALERSHIP I TOOK IT TO, THEY SAID IT WAS SOMETHING THEY HAD NEVER SEEN HAPPEN, YET I SEE MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THEIR L SERIES HERE. MY CAR HAS THE SAME ENGINE AS IT WAS THE FIRST YEAR THE VUE WAS MADE AND THE ENGINE WAS THE SAME AS THE L SERIES THAT YEAR). *TR

2002 SATURN VUE 4 CYLINDER ENGINE. CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE AT 74,000 MILES. TIMING CHAIN BROKE WITHOUT WARNING, SHUTTING DOWN VEHICLE WHILE DRIVING. CAUSED DAMAGE TO EIGHT OF THE SIXTEEN VALVES. HAVE TO REPLACE CHAIN, HAVE CYLINDER HEADS MACHINED AND OTHER WORK DONE (STILL IN PROGRESS). PARTS ARE ONLY AVAILABLE FROM SATURN.*AK

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 SATURN VUE. WHILE DRIVING 25 MPH THE VEHICLE HESITATED THEN SHUT OFF WITHOUT WARNING. THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING ILLUMINATED AFTER THE VEHICLE SHUT OFF. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY AFTER IT SHUT OFF. THE MECHANIC STATED IT WAS AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM. HE REPLACED THE THERMOSTAT. HOWEVER, THAT DID NOT REMEDY THE PROBLEM. THE VEHICLE HAD THE SAME FAILURE ON FOUR OCCASIONS. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 47,000 MILES , AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 50,000 MILES AS OF 04-24-07. *AK UPDATED 09/05/07. *JB