SATURN Complaints

VEHICLE STEERING BECAME VERY DIFFICULT, NEARLY UNRESPONSIVE. VEHICLE WAS DANGEROUS. ELECTRO-MECHANICAL POWER STEERING PUMP FAILED. CHEVROLET/GM DEALER IS ONLY ENTITY CAPABLE/AUTHORIZED OF MAKING REPAIR AS IT HAS TO BE COMPUTER PROGRAMMED. KBB VALUE OF CAR APPROXIMATELY $4,473. COST OF REPAIR $1,700 (38% OF CAR VALUE).

SERVICE AIR BAG WARNING APPEARS ON DASH WITH NO PASSENGER IN THE VEHICLE. THE WARNING APPEARS EVERY TIME I START THE CAR. WHEN A PASSENGER IS IN THE VEHICLE THE PASSENGER AIR BAG INDICATOR ALWAYS READS "OFF".

WITHIN 2 MONTHS OF HAVING THE FIRST RECALL ON THE IGNITION SWITCH REPAIRED THE AIRBAG LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD WILL ILLUMINATE AT RANDOM TIMES. SOME TIMES IT WILL STAY ON AFTER STARTING THE CAR AND TURNING OFF AT SOME POINT INTO THE DRIVE, OR IT WILL ILLUMINATE WHILE DRIVING, STAY ILLUMINATED FOR A PERIOD OF TIME AND THEN SHUT OFF. HAD THE SECOND RECALL THAT STILL IMPACTED THE KEY BEING ABLE TO BE REMOVED WHICH REQUIRED THE GEAR SHIFT TO BE REPLACED LESS THAN A YEAR AFTER THE IGNITION SWITCH WAS REPLACED. SINCE THE SECOND REPAIR THE AIR BAG LIGHT ILLUMINATES MORE FREQUENTLY. SEE MANY OTHERS HAVE HAD THE SAME ISSUE SINCE HAVE THE REPAIRS COMPLETED. THE AIR BAG LIGHT NEVER ILLUMINATE PRIOR TO RECALLS BEING REPAIRS.

IT THE IGNITION SWITCH. I JUST RECENTLY STARTED PURCHASING A 2007 SATURN VUE. FROM THE FIRST DAY I BOUGHT IT, I HAD TROUBLE TURNING THE IGNITION, THEN ABOUT 1 WEEK AGO, IT WOULDN'T TURN AT ALL. I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER I AM PURCHASING THROUGH AND THEY HAD TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE IGNITION SWITCH...BRAND NEW. BUT NOW, THE SAME PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE OCCURRING. THIS PARTICULAR YEAR IS NOT ON THE RECALL LIST BUT I BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE. I NOTICED THAT MANY OTHER SAUTUN VUE'S FOR 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 & 2009 ARE ON THE RECALL LIST FOR THE MALFUNCTIONING IGNITION SWITCH. WISH I HAD DONE MY HOMEWORK BEFORE I STARTED MAKING PAYMENTS.

A CAR HIT ME FROM BEHIND AND PUSHED ME INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC WHERE I WAS HIT BY A CAR ON DRIVER FRONT. AIR BAGS DEPLOYED AND THE CHEMICAL IN THE BAGS CAUSED 3RD DEGREE BURNS ON MY HAND AND ARMS. MEDICAL EXPENSES WERE NOT THAT MUCH BUT I HAVE BEEN LEFT WITH SCARRING THAT I THINK ARE UNATTRACTIVE. DOCTORS SAY IT IS PERMANENT.ARE AIRBAGS SUPPOSED TO EXPLODE AND THE CHEMICAL IN THEM BE RELEASED?

I HAD RECEIVED A RECALL LETTER FROM GM FOR MY 2003 SATURN ION DECEMBER 2014: GM RECALL # 14632 WHICH STATES "THAT MY VEHICLE'S TRANSMISSION SHIFTER MAY NOT PROPERLY TRANSMIT AN ELECTRICAL SIGNAL THAT ALLOWS THE IGNITION KEY TO BE TURNED COUNTER CLOCKWISE PAST THE ACCESSORY MODE TO THE LOCK POSITION AFTER THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN SHIFTED INTO PARK." THIS IS HAPPENING TO MY CAR AND I HAVE TAKEN IT IN FOR THE REPAIR ON 5 DIFFERENT OCCASIONS TO 2 DIFFERENT DEALERSHIPS AND IT FAILS THE VERY NEXT DAY. I HAVE A REFERENCE # THAT I FILED WITH GM AND THE SR ADVISOR RECOMMENDED THAT I TRY A DIFFERENT DEALERSHIP WHICH I DID BUT THE ISSUE REMAINS. I HAVE TRIED TO CALL BACK THE SR ADVISOR BUT I CONTINUE TO GET VOICEMAIL AND SHE HAS NOT RETURNED MY CALL. I AM NOT SURE WHAT TO DO IF GM ISSUES A RECALL AND THEY CANNOT REPAIR THE DEFAULT.

I WAS LEAVING A LOCAL GROCERY STORE, STARTED MY CAR AND PROCEEDED TO DRIVE OUT OF THE PARKING LOT TO THE MAIN ROAD, ROUTE 611, A FAIRLY BUSY THOROUGHFARE. AS I TURNED RIGHT AND ATTEMPTED TO ACCELERATE, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AS WELL AS THE 'REDUCED ENGINE POWER LIGHT'. DESPITE PRESSING ON THE THE GAS PEDAL TO ACCELERATE SAFELY INTO THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC (AROUND 40 MPH), MY CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE PAST 10 MILES PER HOUR. I AM SO VERY LUCKY THAT I WAS NOT IN AN ACCIDENT. I FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTION IN THE SATURN ION MANUAL WHICH SAYS TO TURN OFF THE CAR AND THE ERROR SHOULD CLEAR ITSELF AFTER 10 MINUTES. I DID THIS AND THE 'REDUCED ENGINE POWER LIGHT' WENT OUT BUT NOT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. I TOOK THE CAR IMMEDIATELY TO MY LOCAL MECHANIC WHO RAN A INCONCLUSIVE DIAGNOSTIC TEST. THEY CLEARED THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND THE CAR RAN FINE UNTIL YESTERDAY, 4 WEEKS AFTER THE FIRST INSTANCE. WHILE I WAS DRIVING MY CHILDREN HOME FROM THE DENTIST, IN THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC, AT CLOSE TO 40 MPH, THE DASH BOARD CHIMED, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND 'REDUCED ENGINE POWER LIGHT' LIT UP AND IMMEDIATELY MY CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE OVER 10 MILES PER HOUR. LUCKILY, WE WERE VERY CLOSE TO HOME, AND WERE NOT IN AN ACCIDENT. AGAIN, I LET THE CAR REST, AND 12 HOURS LATER STARTED THE CAR, BOTH LIGHTS CLEARED THEMSELVES. WITHIN IN 5 MILES OF DRIVING TO THE GYM FROM MY HOME, WHILE DRIVING IN THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC, THIS ISSUE HAPPENED AGAIN. THIS REDUCED POWER ISSUE SHOULD BE A RECALL. ONE SIMPLE ONLINE SEARCH SHOWS THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF GM/SATURN CARS WITH THIS VERY DANGEROUS ISSUE. AMONG SO MANY OTHER MANUFACTURER SAFETY ISSUES! THIS CAR HAS HAD 3 OTHER RECALLS, ONE OF WHICH MY LOCAL GM DEALER HAS FAILED OVER 3 TIMES TO FIX. I HAVE TO MANUALLY PUT MY FINGER INTO THE STEERING COLUMN TO RELEASE THE IGNITION KEY. HOLD GM ACCOUNTABLE AND PLEASE MAKE THIS ISSUE A RECALL

VEHICLE HAS A TIMING CHAIN PROBLEM, THROWING A P0017 TROUBLE CODE. MY MAKE , MODEL AND ENGINE ARE INCLUDED IN GM SPECIAL POLICY 11340A, COVERING THE SPECIFIC ISSUE OF A BAD TIMING CHAIN. THIS DIAGNOSIS WAS CONFIRMED BY A GM DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIP AND GM REFUSE TO COVER MY VEHICLE IN ANY WAY. MY VEHICLE CANNOT PASS MY OHIO E-CHECK AND RUNS ROUGH, WITH RUNNING CONDITION DETERIORATING.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 SATURN ION. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THERE WAS A STRONG FUEL ODOR OUTSIDE AND INSIDE THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ODOR WAS ONLY PRESENT WHEN THE IGNITION WAS IN THE ON POSITION. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 116,000.

UPON A COLD START, WHEN THE VEHICLE HAS ROLLED ABOUT TEN FEET, FORWARD OR REVERSE, WITH NO INPUT ON THE ACCELERATOR, THERE IS A WHIR FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT, AKIN TO A STEPPER MOTOR NOISE, AND THE VEHICLE ACCELERATES ON ITS OWN. IN REVERSE, APPLYING THE BRAKES STOPS THE CAR, AND THEN SELECTING DRIVE, THE VEHICLE RESPONDS TO THE ACCELERATOR CORRECTLY. THE SAME THING HAPPENS IN FORWARD, BUT IN MOST CASES THE ACCELERATOR IS ENGAGED TO MOVE FORWARD. THE PROBLEM DOES NOT SEEM TO OCCUR WHEN THE CAR IS WARMED UP AND BEING DRIVEN UNDER NORMAL USE. IN REVIEWING THE SHOP MANUALS, THERE IS AN ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL MOTOR, WHICH I ASSUME IS A STEPPER TYPE MOTOR, IN THE THROTTLE BODY ASSEMBLY. THIS IS CONTROLLED BY THE THROTTLE ACTUATOR CONTROL(TAC) AND THE POWER CONTROL MODULE(PCM). I ASSUME THAT THE MOTOR IS FAILING, BUT HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED A REDUCED ENGINE POWER MODE OR ENGINE SHUTDOWN MODE EVENT. IF THIS PART IS FAILING IT SHOULD BE COVERED BY THE EMISSION WARRANTY OF 8 YEARS/80,000 MILES, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THE CAR IS 9 YEARS OLD. I WILL APPROACH MY DEALER AND SATURN ABOUT POSSIBLE COVERAGE UNDER WARRANTY, BUT HAVE HAD DIFFICULTY WITH THEM IN THE PAST. I FEEL THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE, AS IT CAN CATCH A DRIVER UNAWARE AND CREATE A POSSIBLE ACCIDENT SCENARIO.