SATURN Complaints

I RECENTLY EXPERIENCED A MALFUNCTIONING DOOR LATCH ACTUATOR. ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS, DRIVER WAS TRAPPED IN THE CAR BECAUSE NEITHER THE INTERIOR OR EXTERIOR DOOR HANDLE WOULD ACTUATE THE DOOR LATCH, OPENING THE DOOR. EXTERIOR, INTERIOR MANUAL, INTERIOR POWER AND REMOTE POWER LOCKS WERE REPEATEDLY ACTUATED TO NO AVAIL. EVENTUALLY, THE DOOR FINALLY OPENED AFTER USING A HANGAR THROUGH THE WINDOW CAVITY TO BUMP ONE OF THE LINKAGE ARMS. IF THERE WERE AN ACCIDENT, THIS COULD POSE A SERIOUS THREAT TO A SUCCESSFUL EVACUATION. *TR

I HAVE HAD NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS WITH MY SATURN ION SINCE I HAVE OWNED IT. FIRST THERE WAS A PURGE SOLENOID THAT WENT OUT ON MY CAR WHICH AFFECTED HOW I STARTED IT. THEN MY KEY GOT STUCK IN MY IGNITION WITH THE CAR ON! I HAD TO DISCONNECT THE FUEL PUMP FUSE AND THE BATTERY TO GET THE CAR OFF. A MONTH LATER OF DRIVING THE CAR WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO USE THE KEY, I ORDERED A NEW PART FOR IT AND HAD A FRIEND REBUILD THE IGNITION IN THE CAR AND NOW ONLY MY SPARE KEY TO THE CAR WILL WORK. NOW THE MOST RECENT ISSUE TO DATE IS THE FUEL PUMP. I STARTED SMELLING GAS ABOUT A MONTH AGO AND IT GRADUALLY GOT WORSE OVER TIME. TOOK IT TO HAVE IT LOOKED AT AND THERE IS NOW GAS LEAKING ONTO MY GAS TANK AND GASOLINE IS ALSO POOLING UNDER MY CAR! HUGE PROBLEM! MY FRIEND SAYS IT IS THE FUEL PUMP THAT IS GOING OUT ON THE CAR AND I DO SEE THAT IT IS UNDER RECALL BUT I DON'T THINK MY CAR FALLS UNDER THE RECALL WHICH IS RIDICULOUS! *TR

DRIVING HOME ON A PAVED ROAD AT 25 MPH WHEN SUDDEN OVERWHELMING SMELL OF GAS FILLED THE CAR. FOR MORE DETAILS SEE SERVICE REQUEST [XXX]. GM HAS PUT ME THRU EXTREME STRESS AND ENDANGERED MY LIFE AND OTHERS FOR A 42 DOLLAR PART. AS I TYPE THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT HAS RETURNED. I FEAR FOR OTHERS ///PLEASE REVIEW THE RECORDS,TOWED TO DEALERSHIP....SPECIAL COVERAGE PART WAS NOT INSTALLED...MECHANIC CLAIMS GAS LINE UNDER CAR IS LEAKING. GAS IS POOLING ON TOP OF MOTOR..LAST REMARKS AS I LEFT THE DEALER" I WOULDN'T DRIVE IT...DON'T SMOKE" NOTHING BUT EXCUSES...CAR IS SITTING IN MY DRIVEWAY AND HAS BEEN EVER SINCE,,,,2006 SATURN IONS ARE DANGEROUS FIRE HAZARDS AND GM SEES RECALLS AS WAYS TO MAKE MONEY ON REPAIRS...THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED FREE REPAIR = 400 OR MORE TO FIX...THEY DO NOT ABIDE BY THE RECALL ORDERS AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

SERVICE PASSENGER AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT HAS BEEN COMING ON FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS NOW. TOOK IT DEALER BUT THEY SAID IT WAS NOT COVERED. ON OCT 11, 2013 WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT ABOUT 65 MPH THE TRANSMISSION JUST GAVE OUT. CAR STARTED SLOWING DOWN AND WAS NOT ABLE TO KEEP SPEED UP. WAS ABLE TO PULL OFF THE ROAD. GOT TOWED TO CERTIFIED DEALERSHIP (MOTOR CITY) IN BAKERSFIELD AND WAS TOLD THAT MY SATURN OUTLOOK 2007 NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION. *TR

MY VEHICLE BEGAN TO SMELL LIKE GAS AFTER DRIVING. THE SMELL JUST BEGAN TO GET WORSE. UNBEARABLE AT TIMES. I FINALLY TOOK IT IN TO THE MECHANIC AND TELLS ME THAT THE GAS TANK IS LEAKING FROM THE TOP AND IT'S TOO MAJOR OF A JOB TO TAKE ON. SUGGESTED I TAKE IT TO THE DEALERSHIP. FIRESTONE IS WORRIED MY VEHICLE COULD CATCH ON FIRE. I HOPE THE DEALER HAS A BETTER INSIGHT ON THIS. MY WIFE HAS BEEN DRIVING THIS CAR. IT'S VERY UPSETTING. *TR

FIRST INCIDENT OF LOSS OF POWER STEERING OCCURRED IN SNOWY CONDITIONS AT ABOUT 45MPH ON THE HIGHWAY. HEARD CHIME TO ALERT ME TO LOSS OF POWER STEERING. STEERING COLUMN COMPLETELY LOCKED UP, SAFELY MADE IT TO THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY AND WHEN I RESTARTED THE VEHICLE POWER STEERING HAD RETURNED AND DASHBOARD ALERT HAS GONE AWAY. NO FURTHER ISSUES WITH POWER STEERING UNTIL 9/15 GOING ABOUT 15 MPH ON AN INCLINE; AGAIN CHIME AND ALERT FOR NO POWER STEERING, STEERING COLUMN LOCKED UP. POWER STEERING REGAINED UPON RESTART. SINCE 9/15 POWER STEERING LOSS OCCURRING AT VARIABLE SPEEDS AND CONDITIONS AND ON A MORE FREQUENT BASIS. TOOK VEHICLE TO TECHNICIAN WHO CHECKED FLUID, FLOAT, ALL CONNECTIONS AND HOSES AND RELAYED THAT A LIKELY CAUSE MIGHT BE A ELECTRIC PUMP OR ELECTRIC PUMP MODULE TO CHECK WITH THE DEALER ABOUT POSSIBLE RECALLS. FULL VEHICLE INSPECTION AND TUNE UP WITH NO SOLUTION. POWER STEERING PROBLEM PERSISTS. ALL COMMUNICATION WITH SATURN HAS BEEN UNHELPFUL, THEY FULLY DENY ANY DEFECTS. SATURN KEEPS TELLING ME THAT NO RECALL FOR MY VIN HAS BEEN ISSUED AND NO ASSISTANCE IS AVAILABLE FROM SATURN FOR THE ISSUES I AM EXPERIENCING. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 SATURN OUTLOOK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO JERK CONTINUOUSLY WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE FAILED TO OPERATE IN REVERSE BUT THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO RESUME IN DRIVE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHERE THE TRANSMISSION WAVE PLATE WAS REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE DEFECT. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 34,752.

PWR STEERING FAIL WHILE DRIVING. CAR DINGS AND DISPLAYS THE PWR STEERING CODE IN DASH. KNOWN ISSUE BY GM. TOOK IT TO DEALER TODAY, THEY SAID THEY'LL FIX IT FREE OF CHARGE BASED ON 10187A SPECIAL POLICY. IT ONLY COVERS THE MOTOR/MODULE AND NOT THE STEERING COLUMN. I AM AFRAID THAT THEY ARE GOING TO RIP ME OFF BY SIMPLY SAYING THE WHOLE COLUMN IS THE PROBLEM SO I'M OUT A LOT OF MONEY. BASED ON RESEARCH AND COMPLAINTS GM RECALLED OTHER CARS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. IF THEY USED THE SAME PART AND THEY WERE RECALLED IN OTHER MODELS THEN THE SATURN ONE SHOULD ALSO BE RECALLED. IT WAS VERY SCARY LOSING POWER STEERING. GM NEEDS TO MAKE SATURN OWNERS "WHOLE" BECAUSE THERE HAVE BEEN VARIOUS ISSUES ALREADY. I REPLACED THE IGNITION SWITCH TWICE, THE KEY WOULD GET STUCK AND SOMETIMES WOULD NOT START. *TR

MY TRUCK ONLY HAD 60,000 MILES ON IT. WHILE DRIVING HOME I BEGAN TO NOTICED SOME SMOKE COMING FROM THE HOOD OF THE TRUCK. BEING ONLY A BLOCK AWAY FROM THE HOUSE I PROCEEDED TO THE STOP SIGN. I WAS GOING TO PARK AND CHECK IT OUT THINKING THAT IT WAS SOMETHING MINOR. JUST AS I WAS ABOUT TO TURN THE CORNER THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENED. WHILE AT THE STOP SIGN THE SMOKE QUICKLY IGNITED INTO FLAMES UNDER THE HOOD OF THE TRUCK. I QUICKLY PULLED OVER IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. TURNED OFF TRUCK, JUMPED OUT AND RAN TO THE SIDE YARD FOR THE HOSE. I YELLED OUT FOR MY WIFE CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. SHE CALLED IMMEDIATELY AND I TRIED TO CONTROL THE FIRE UNTIL THE POLICE AND FIRE TRUCK ARRIVED. I WAS AFRAID THAT IT WOULD EXPLODE AND DAMAGE OTHER CARS AROUND IT. THE FIRE SPREAD UNDER THE HOOD OF THE TRUCK, UNDER THE CAR AND QUICKLY INTO THE INTERIOR THOUGH THE DASHBOARD. THERE WAS NO WARNING OF A PROBLEM WITH THE VEHICLE. MY WIFE IS PREGNANT AND WE HAD JUST DRIVEN TO HER DOCTORS APPOINTMENT EARLIER THAT DAY IN THE TRUCK AND IT DROVE WELL. THERE WAS NO INDICATOR LIGHT ON TO WARN ME OF ANY PROBLEM WITH THE ENGINE, FUEL OR ANY OTHER VEHICLE HAZARDS. THE CAR HAS NOT BEEN IN ANY ACCIDENTS AND HAS BEEN MAINTAINED WELL. I DID NOT RECEIVE ANY MAIL OR EMAIL NOTIFICATION ABOUT RECALLS THAT DISCLOSED A PROBLEM WITH THIS VEHICLE. THE NEXT DAY I RETRACED MY PATH HOME AND SAW A TRAIL OF FLUID IN THE STREET THAT LEAD TO THE SPOT THAT THE CAR FINALLY ENDED UP IN. SO SOME KIND OF LEAK AND ENGINE FAILURE TOOK PLACE THAT CAUSED THIS AWFUL FIRE.I AM JUST SO GLAD THAT I MADE IT OUT ALIVE AND THAT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN TO HER WHILE SHE WAS DRIVING BECAUSE SHE USUALLY DRIVES THIS VEHICLE. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT RECOURSE I HAVE NOW TO DEAL WITH THIS MATTER. *TR

DURING THE CAR BEING SERVICED THEY DID A SERVICE BULLETIN ON THE CAR THAT WAS TO REPROGRAM THE ECM COMPUTER IN THE CAR FOR A TIMING CHAIN ISSUE. AFTER THE SERVICE THE GAS MILEAGE WENT DOWN AND NOTICED THE CHANGE OIL CALCULATOR WENT DOWN FASTER. NOT A BIG DEAL I CHANGE MY OIL AT 5,000 MILES WITH SYNTHETIC BLEND. WIFE TOO CAR AND AFTER SHOPPING THE CAR WOULD NOT START. FOUND OUT THAT THE TIMING CHAIN SNAPPED AND BROKE NUMEROUS PIECES IN THE ENGINE. FOUND OUT AFTER TAKING TO THE MECHANIC THAT THE REPROGRAM ACTUAL ALLOWED MORE STRETCH IN THE TIMING CHAIN THEN THE FACTORY SETTING. SO FEEL LIKE THEY WERE TRYING TO PUSH THE ISSUE OUT PAST THE WARRANTY PERIOD. NEVER WAS TOLD AT DEALER WHAT THE REPROGRAM DID OR THEY WERE HAVING ISSUES WITH THE TIMING CHAIN. NOTHING IN MANUAL STATING TO CHANGE TIMING CHAIN AT ANY POINT. FOUND OUT AFTER THE PROBLEM HAPPENED AND GM BASICALLY SAYS IT MY FAULT I SHOULD HAVE CHANGED THE OIL MORE. THIS COULD BECOME A SAFETY ISSUE IF YOU ARE ON THE HIGHWAY AND THIS HAPPENS. *TR