SATURN Complaints

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 SATURN OUTLOOK. WHILE OPERATING THE VEHICLE, THE STEERING WHEEL BECAME VERY DIFFICULT TO TURN. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE RACK AND PINION WAS DAMAGED DUE TO A FAILED POWER STEERING PUMP. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 101,197.

WHEN MAKING TURNS AT LOWER SPEEDS I HAVE TO USE TWO HANDS TO GET THE VEHICLE TO TURN AND THIS HAPPENS UNEXPECTEDLY AND HAS BEEN OCCURRING REGULARLY

I WAS DRIVING ALONG AND MY DASHBOARD WENT DARK, YOU COULDN'T READ THE MILEAGE, OR ANY DATA THAT SHOULD SHOW UP IN THAT WINDOW, THE BATTERY LEVEL SHOWED LOWER THEN NORMAL HOWEVER STOPPED TO HAVE BATTERY AND ALTERNATOR CHECKED AND BOTH WERE WORKING NORMALLY PER MECHANIC. WHEN STOPPED CAR AND TURNED BACK ON DATA WAS VIEWABLE, THEN AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON - STAYED ON FOR ABOUT AN 30 MIN. THEN WENT BACK OFF. THERE WAS AN ISSUE WITH ROOF LEAKING - DEALERSHIP HAD TO REPAIR AND NOW I THINK THIS IS LINKED TO THAT ISSUE. HOWEVER, NOT SURE IF OTHERS ARE HAVING THIS SAME ISSUE AND DON'T FEEL I SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR SOMETHING THAT THE DEALER SHOULD HAVE CHECKED OUT PRIOR TO CORRECTING LEAKING. HAVE THERE BEEN ANY OTHER OWNERS WITH ISSUES REGARDING THIS?

SINCE FEB., THE ENGINE LIGHT ON MY SATURN HAS BEEN COMING ON/GOING OFF. SINCE THEN IS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY, TOOK IT TO A LOCAL MECHANIC WHO READ THE OBD CODE AS P0017 AND CLEARED THE CODE. WE WERE TOLD TO REPLACE THE GAS CAP--WE BOUGHT A NEW ONE--ENGINE LIGHT BACK ON/BACK OFF. I BEGAN GOOGLING THIS AND FOUND THERE WERE MANY SATURN OWNERS WITH THIS ISSUE. FINALLY, JUST THIS PAST WEEK, I LEARNED THAT GM HAD INDEED ISSUED A SERVICE BULLETIN ABOUT THIS--AFFECTING THE TIMING, WHICH IS ANOTHER ISSUE I WAS TOLD COULD BE THE PROBLEM. THEN, SINCE GM HAD HAD SO MANY COMPLAINTS, THEY EXTENDED THE WARRANTY/FIX, HOWEVER, THEY ONLY EXTENDED IT TO 120K MILES/10 YEARS, WHICHEVER OCCURS FIRST. MY CAR IS NOT 10 YEARS, BUT, IT DOES HAVE OVER THE MILEAGE. MY QUESTION IS WHO DECIDES THESE MAGIC NUMBERS??? THIS SATURN HAS BEEN A LEMON TO SAY THE VERY LEAST! MAJOR FLOODING INSIDE THE CAR---WE REPAIRED IT WITH NO HELP FROM GM; THERMOSTAT FAILED--WE REPAIRED IT WITH NO HELP FROM GM; TRANSMISSION FAILED--WE REPLACED IT WITH NO HELP FROM GM; ETC.; ETC. YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THESE SERVICE BULLETINS (ONLY RECALLS), THEN ONCE YOU REALIZE YOU HAVE AN ISSUE AND TAKE IT IN, YOUR BEYOND THE MILEAGE. WE PURCHASED THIS SATURN DUE TO SO MANY FRIENDS WHO OWNED ONE AND SWORE BY IT!! THIS, AND THE FACT THAT IN OUR 45+ YEAR MARRIAGE, WE'VE ONLY OWNED GM PRODUCTS. BUT, NO MORE!!! THIS CURED US!!

WHILE DRIVING I NOTICED THE "AIR BAG READINESS" LIGHT COME ON. IT STAYED ON FOR ABOUT 10-15 MINUTES UNTIL I REACHED MY DESTINATION AND TURNED OFF THE ENGINE. I TURNED THE CAR BACK ON AND THE LIGHT ONLY STAYED ON FOR A SHORT TIME, THEN WENT OFF. LATER THAT DAY WHEN DRIVING THE LIGHT CAME BACK ON AND STAYED ON AGAIN UNTIL I TURNED OFF THE ENGINE. IT DID THIS SEVERAL TIMES. I CHECKED THE OWNERS MANUAL AND IT SAID TO TAKE IT IN FOR DIAGNOSTICS TO BE RUN. IT ALSO SAID THAT THE AIR BAG COULD DEPLOY UNEXPECTEDLY, OR NOT DEPLOY AT ALL IF IN AN ACCIDENT. I MADE AND APPOINTMENT ON 07/24/2015 AND TOOK IT TO A DEALER. AFTER RUNNING THE COMPUTER CHECK ON IT, THE TECHNICIAN SAID THE PASSENGER PRESENCE SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AND IT WAS NOT COVERED BY MY EXTENDED WARRANTY. THE PARTS WOULD HAVE TO BE ORDERED AND WOULD TAKE SEVERAL HOURS TO INSTALL. THE COST WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY $1,200 OR MORE FOR PARTS AND LABOR. I HAD TO TAKE OFF WORK TWICE TO TAKE IN FOR SERVICE, AND LOST ABOUT 8 HOURS OF WORK TIME DUE TO THIS INCIDENT. ALSO, THE TURN SIGNAL HAD TO BE REPLACED; IT FAILED TO TURN OFF AFTER MAKING A TURN, MOSTLY TO THE LEFT, BUT SOMETIMES TURNING TO THE RIGHT ALSO. I WAS TOLD THAT NEITHER OF THESE SHOULD HAVE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED ON MY CAR WITH THE MILEAGE IT HAS.

SUNROOF GLASS SHATTERED. WHILE BACKING OUT OF THE DRIVE I HEARD A THUMP ON THE ROOF OF THE CAR. THEN WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD I BEGAN TO NOTICE PIECES OF GLASS FLYING OFF THE CAR. WHEN I GOT OF THE CAR I SAW PIECES OF GLASS ON THE INNER COVER OF THE SUNROOF.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 SATURN VUE. WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING AND THE ELECTRICAL POWER FAILED. THE VEHICLE WAS ABLE TO RESTART AFTER BEING PARKED FOR A LONG TIME. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE AND WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 177,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 SATURN ION. WHILE PULLING OUT OF A GAS STATION AT APPROXIMATELY 1-5 MPH, THE POWER STEERING MALFUNCTIONED AND CAUSED THE CONTACT TO USE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE EFFORT TO MOVE THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT DEALER OR MECHANIC. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED ACCORDING TO NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 14V153000 (STEERING) APPROXIMATELY ONE YEAR PRIOR TO THIS INCIDENT. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 120,000.

MY WIPERS FAILED. I COULD HEAR THE WIPER MOTOR RUNNING, BUT THE TRANSMISSION AND LINKAGE HAD FAILED. I TOOK MY CAR TO A MECHANIC WHO FIXED THE ISSUE, BUT IT HAPPENED AGAIN ABOUT A YEAR LATER. I CAN GRAB A WIPER ARM AND MANUALLY MOVE THE WIPERS. BOTH WIPERS MOVE WHEN I MOVE ONE ARM. MY MECHANIC SAID THAT THE PROBLEM WAS WITH BOTH THE WIPER LINKAGE (WHICH HAS A PLASTIC PIECE THAT IS PRONE TO FAILURE) AND THE WIPER TRANSMISSION FAILING.

I STARTED MY CAR AND THE DRIVE SIDE AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON NO BLINKING JUST ON. MY CAR HAD BEEN PARKED WHILE I WAS AT WORK. I WENT HOME FOR LUNCH I FIGURED IT WAS JUST A GLITCH WOULD GO OUT WENT BACK TO WORK PARKED IT AGAIN THEN WHEN I LEFT TO GO HOME IT WAS ON AGAIN. IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS I HAVE HAD MY KEYS GET STUCK IN THE IGNITION SWITCH AND HAD TO WIGGLE THE STEERING WHEEL TO.GET THEM OUT. MY RADIO SCREEN WILL GO ALL CRAZY FUNNY NUMBERS AND I HAVE HAD WIND NOISE WITH BOTH OF MY FRONT DOORS SINCE I HAVE OWNED THE VEHICLE. WE TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THE WORKED ON THE IGNITION SWITCH WHEN IT WAS UNDER WARRANTY BUT IT DIDN'T HELP. NOW WITH THE AIRBAG I AM TERRIFIED TO DRIVE THE CAR I PAID FOR AND TO LET MY CHILD RIDE IN IT AND IT'S MY ONLY TRANSPORTATION. IT LOOKS LIKE EVERY OTHER SATURN IS GETTING RECALLED BUT THIS ONE WE NEED HELP BEFORE WE GET HURT. I WAS NOT AWARE OF THESE PROBLEMS WHEN I PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE BUT NOW SADDLED WITH IT HOPING FOR SOMEONE TO MAKE SURE WE ARE SAFE LIKE OTHER CAR OWNERS.