SATURN Complaints

MOST TIMES WHEN I TRY TO TURN THE KEY, THE IGNITION GETS STUCK AND WILL NOT TURN. I HAVE TO JIGGLE AND FLIP THE KEY SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE I CAN GET THE KEY TO TURN. IT'S BEEN REPLACED ONCE WHILE UNDER WARRANTY BUT HAS STARTED DOING IT AGAIN ABOUT A YEAR AGO. AT SOME POINT, I'M NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET THE CAR STARTED. *TR

THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN ON AN INTERSTATE WHEN POWER TO THE DRIVE WHEELS WAS REDUCED AND A LACK OF ACCELERATION WAS FELT. THE STEERING FELT SLIGHTLY HEAVY AND POWER TO THE DRIVE WHEELS WAS LOST. THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN TO THE HARD SHOULDER AND THE ENGINE CUT OUT. THE ENGINE WOULD NOT RESTART. NO OTHER WARNING LIGHTS WERE SHOWN ON THE DISPLAY, AND ALL FLUID LEVELS WERE NORMAL. WHEN THE IGNITION KEY WAS TURNED, A WHIRRING NOISE WAS HEARD FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT, HOWEVER THE CYLINDERS WERE NOT FIRING. *TR

IGNITION SWITCH RECOGNITION BEGAN TO DETERIORATE. WHEN TRYING TO START THE CAR, THE ANTI-THEFT WOULD COME ON. I WOULD HAVE TO WAIT HOURS. THIS WOULD HAPPEN IN COLD AND RAINY WEATHER. KEY WOULD GET LOCKED IN IGNITION WITH ACCESSORIES ON AND NOT GO OFF. BATTERY WOULD DIE. WHEN JUMPING THE CAR THE KEY WOULD STILL BE LOCKED IN THE ON POSITION AND BEGIN TURNING ON AND OFF VIOLENTLY AND RAPIDLY UNTIL KEY WAS ABLE TO BE REMOVED. CAR BLEW FUSE WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY. MAX SPEED REDUCED TO 30 MPH. WHEN TURNING ON KEY WOULD BE 1/2 RECOGNIZED AND LIGHTS/ELECTRIC WOULD FLICKER ON AND OFF VIOLENTLY AND FUSES/COMPUTER HAD TO BE REPLACED/RESET. CAR DID THE LIGHT/ELECTRICAL ISSUE WHILE ON AND DRIVING, KEY WOULD NOT COME OUT OF IGNITION. CAR WAS TOWED BY PALMETTO CHEVY IN CONWAY SC, WHO DESPITE RECALL AND VEHICLE HISTORY REFUSE TO FIX THE CAR OR GIVE LOANER AS STATED ON WEBSITE. I HAVE BEEN CALLING SINCE 2008 ABOUT THE ISSUE. GM SAYS TAKE IT TO A DEALERSHIP BUT I HAVE TO PAY FOR ISSUES. CAR HAS BEEN TOWED ON TUESDAY 3/11/14 TO PALMETTO CHEVY, AFTER THEY TOLD ME THEY WOULD PICK IT UP BUT WERE A NO SHOW ON MONDAY 3/10/14. AGAIN, THEY REFUSE TO DO THE RECALL. STATING THEY FIND NOTHING WRONG WITH THE IGNITION. *TR

I CAN NOT PROVIDE EXACT DATES AS THIS HAS GONE ON FOR YEARS. I BOUGHT THE CAR IN 2006. IT STARTED OUT, IN FREEZING TEMPS, THE CAR WOULD NOT START. I WOULD HAVE TO TRY JUMPING IT OR WAIT TILL 10 MINUTES HAD PASSED AND TRY AGAIN. THIS HAPPENED A LOT THROUGH WINTER MONTHS. I EVENTUALLY HAD TO CHANGE OUT MY STARTER AND IGNITION SWITCH BACK IN 2012. I ALSO HAVE NOTICED THE KEY WILL NOT TURN TO OFF COMPLETELY SOMETIMES AND SOMETIMES THE KEY WONT TURN AT ALL. THIS IS ALSO AFTER CHANGING OUT THE SWITCH. I AM A MOTHER OF TWO YOUNG CHILDREN AND AFTER SEEING THE OTHER PROBLEMS WITH THE SWITCH I DON'T FEEL SAFE DRIVING MY FAMILY DOWN THE STREET A BLOCK. THE RECALL SAYS TO NOT DRIVE ON JARRING ROADS, BUT I LIVE IN A TINY TOWN OF NOTHING BUT JARRING ROADS. SIGH. I FEEL THE NOT STARTING IS ALSO A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE IT CAN LEAVE PEOPLE STRANDED IN BAD WEATHER AND UNABLE TO GET TO WHERE YOU NEED TO GO IN EMERGENCIES. ALL ANYONE NEEDS TO DO IS SEARCH THE INTERNET ABOUT SATURN'S NOT STARTING AND THERE IS HOURS OF READING ON THE SUBJECT. THE COMPANY KNEW ALL ALONG. THANK YOU *TR

AFTER STARTING VEHICLE, WITH FOOT ON BRAKE, GEAR SELECTION LEVER WOULD NOT MOVE FROM PARK AND PARKING BRAKE WOULD NOT DISENGAGE AS RESULT. SHUT DOWN ENGINE, RESTARTED WITH SAME RESULT. AFTER SEVERAL MORE ATTEMPTS TO MOVE THE SHIFT LEVER, IT FINALLY RELEASED FROM PARK BUT HAD DIFFICULTY MOVING DIRECTLY INTO REVERSE GEAR - IT HAD TO BE "ROWED" THRU ALL GEARS TO SETTLE TO REVERSE, AND THE TRANSMISSION DID NOT SEEM TO ENGAGE IN REVERSE INITIALLY. WHEN IT DID ENGAGE REVERSE GEAR, THE TRANSMISSION "JUMPED," LURCHING THE CAR (THE PARKING BRAKE HAD DISENGAGED WHEN GEAR SELECTION LEVER FINALLY MOVED FROM PARK). THIS IS AN INTERMITTENT PROBLEM, AND SEEMS TO SOMETIMES COINCIDE WITH OTHER DRIVETRAIN ISSUE PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED. *TR

ATTEMPTED LOW/MODERATE ACCELERATION FROM STOP; TRANSMISSION SEEMED TO SLIP WITH ENGINE RPM INCREASING BUT NO TRANSFER OF POWER BEYOND ABOUT INITIAL HALF-FOOT OF FORWARD MOTION, THEN HARD SHIFTED INTO GEAR (LURCHED THE VEHICLE) AND ACCELERATED RAPIDLY. THIS EVENT WAS INITIALLY INTERMITTENT AND NOT ABLE TO BE REPRODUCED BY MECHANIC. IT HAS NOW BECOME FREQUENT AND AFFECTS SHIFTING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AS WELL AS FROM STOP, MAKING CONTROL OF ACCELERATION UNPREDICTABLE IS HARD SHIFTING THROUGH MOST GEARS WHEN THIS IS OCCURRING, ALTHOUGH AT OTHER TIMES IT SHIFTS VERY SMOOTHLY THROUGHOUT, MAKING IT MORE DIFFICULT TO REPRODUCE FOR MECHANIC. *TR

NOTED THAT DRIVING LIGHTS FLASHED WITH WIPERS ON DELAY SETTING. AT NEXT USE, LOW OIL PRESSURE LIGHT & WARNING SOUNDED BUT LIGHTS DID NOT FLASH WITH DELAY WIPERS. TURNING OFF ENGINE AND PULLING HOOD LATCH & CLOSING HOOD ENDED LOW PRESSURE WARNING (OIL PRESSURE/ LEVEL WERE CORRECT-FALSE ALARM). 2 DAYS LATER, LIGHTS AGAIN FLASHED WITH WIPERS ON DELAY BUT NO OIL PRESSURE WARNING. CONTINUED THIS BACK-AND-FORTH (EITHER OIL WARNING OR LIGHT FLASH WITH WIPER USE, BUT NOT CONCOMITANT) FOR 2 MONTHS, THEN LOW PRESSURE WARNINGS BECAME CONSTANT, AND THE LIGHTS NO LONGER FLASHED WITH THE WIPERS AT ALL.THE LOW OIL PRESSURE WARNING CAN OFTEN BE STOPPED BY EITHER TURNING OFF ENGINE AND CAREFULLY RESTARTING OR PULLING HOOD LATCH AND SLAMMING HOOD. SHIFTING GEARS MAY ALSO TRIGGER THE LOW PRESSURE WARNING IF IT ISN'T ALREADY ON. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 SATURN VUE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE MAKING A RIGHT TURN AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY STALLED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE THE FAILURE COULD NOT BE DIAGNOSED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED ABOUT THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE AND VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 SATURN L 300. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH, THE ENGINE STALLED. THE VEHICLE WAS RESTARTED BUT THE FAILURE WAS RECURRING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER, WHO PERFORMED A DIAGNOSTIC BUT WAS UNABLE TO FIND A REASON FOR THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 74,000. UPDATED 5/27/14*CN *TR

VEHICLE CONSISTENTLY WILL NOT START IN COLD WEATHER. I ALSO OWN A 2004 SATURN ION. VIN [XXX] I NEED TO KNOW IF MY AUTOMOBILES ARE SAFE FOR MY FAMILY TO TRAVEL IN. WE HAVE OWNED SATURNS FOR OVER 10 YEARS. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR