SATURN Complaints

THE POWER STEERING WENT OUT ON MY 2005 SATURN ION (55K MILES). THIS IS A WIDESPREAD ISSUE AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN A RECALL ON THE COBALT, G6 AND OTHERS. *TR

DRIVING ~20MPH ON DIRT ROAD FOR 7 MILES WHEN SMELLED HOT OIL. DETERMINED THAT BOTH SHOCKS HAD BLOWN OUT THEIR GREASE AND THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF SMOKE COMING OUT OF BOTH REAR SHOCKS. SHOCKS STOPPED SMOKING WITHIN 30 MINUTES OF LETTING CAR SET, SHOCKS ARE NO LONGER FUNCTIONAL. WONDERING IF IT WOULD HAVE CAUGHT FIRE IF WE HADN'T STOPPED IMMEDIATELY. *TR

POWER STEERING RANDOMLY GOING OUT. WILL BE DRIVING AND THEN HEAR A CHIME AND PWRSTEER WARNING COMES UP IN ODOMETER. STEERING THEN BECOMES HARD AND UNRESPONSIVE. *TR

SINCE DECEMBER 2007 WHEN I BOUGHT A 2008 SATURN OUTLOOK XR, I HAVE BEEN HAVING PROBLEMS WITH MY REAR (2ND ROW) FOLDING SEAT. THE PROBLEM PERSISTS AND I HAVE TAKEN IT TO THE DEALERSHIP PLENTY OF TIMES AND STILL NOT FIXED. THE PROBLEM WITH THE REAR FOLDING SEATS ARE AS FOLLOWS: WHILE THE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION OR STOPPED, THE REAR FOLDING SEATS POPS UP, WITH OR WITHOUT A PERSON SITTING ON THE SEATS. EVERY TIME I TAKE IT TO THE DEALERSHIP, THEY ADVISED THEY WERE UNABLE TO REPAIR IT, BECAUSE COMPANY POLICY STATES, "IF IT DOES NOT HAPPEN IN THE MECHANIC'S PRESENCE THEN IT CAN NOT BE FIXED". PLEASE UNDERSTAND, I HAVE TWO SMALL KIDS (2 1/2 YEAR OLD AND A 10 MONTH OLD) AND BOTH OF THE KIDS RIDE IN THE BACK SEAT IN THEIR CAR SEATS. AND EVEN WITH THE KIDS IN THEIR CAR SEATS AND MY WIFE SITTING IN BETWEEN THEM, THE SEATS POPS UP. I HONESTLY DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO ANYMORE. I HAVE BEEN SUGGESTED TO GO TO THE NEWS MEDIA AND SHOW THEM THE DANGER OF THIS MALFUNCTION AND IT SEEMS THAT THIS IS THE LAST BEST SUGGESTION FOR SATURN TO CONSIDER HELPING ME. MY WARRANTY ENDS IN DECEMBER 2010 AND WHAT WILL I DO THEN? I HAVE MET OTHERS AT THE DEALERSHIP WITH THIS PROBLEM AND ONE OF THEM WAS A SATURN MECHANIC (RAUL, WHO OWNS AN OUTLOOK) WHO HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND HE CONFESSED TO ME THAT HE FIXED HIS BY HAVING ONE OF HIS EMPLOYEES ORDER THE PART (NEW 2ND ROW SEATS). I ASKED HIM WHY HE COULD NOT DO IT, AND HIS RESPONSE WAS, "SORRY, BUT IT DID NOT HAPPEN IN THE MECHANIC'S PRESENCE." I UNDERSTAND THAT POLICY, BUT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND MY CONCERNS FOR MY FAMILY AND THEIR SAFETY. I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT SATURN IS OUT OF BUSINESS, BUT SOMEBODY NEEDS TO BE HELD RELIABLE FOR ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO ME OR MY FAMILY. I HOPE SATURN UNDERSTANDS THIS MAJOR CONCERN (DEFECT) AND I HOPE SATURN DOES NOT EXPERIENCE WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO TOYOTA IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS WITH THEIR DEATH DEFECT ON VEHICLES. *TR

THE POWER STEERING ON 2006 SATURN ION'S WILL RANDOMLY STOP WORKING AT ANY GIVEN TIME. TURN THE CAR OFF AND TURN IT BACK ON AND THE PROBLEM IS GONE UNTIL THE NEXT TIME. THIS PROBLEM IS WELL DOCUMENTED ONLINE THROUGH NUMEROUS BLOGS FROM NUMEROUS SOURCES WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. HIGHWAY TRAVEL SHOULD BE CONSIDERED EXTREMELY DANGEROUS IN THIS VEHICLE BECAUSE THE POWER STEERING FAILURE AROUND A CURVE COULD EASILY RESULT IN FATALITIES. *TR

MY 2004 SATURN ION2 RANDOMLY WON'T START. IT'S GENERALLY HAPPENS IN THE MORNING. I INSERT MY KEY, THE INTERIOR/ EXTERIOR LIGHTS COME ON, AND THEN I TURN THE KEY. THE ENGINE WILL NOT CRANK AND WILL NOT MAKE ANY NOISE. I TRY NUMEROUS TIMES TO START IT, BUT IT WON'T CRANK OVER. THEN, BETWEEN 10-30 MINUTES LATER, IT WILL START. MULTIPLE MECHANICS ARE UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. I SUSPECT THAT IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE PASSLOCK SYSTEM AND ONE OF THE WIRES MALFUNCTIONING. *TR

I HAVE A 2008 SATURN OUTLOOK THAT AROUND 25000 MILES STARTED LEAKING WATER FROM THE SUN ROOF, WINDSHIELD PILLARS AND HEADLINER. THE WATER LEAK ALSO CAUSED THE BRAKE SWITCH TO CORRODE AND THE EMERGENCY BRAKE LIGHT AND ALARM TO CONTINUOUSLY GO OFF. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP THAT IDENTIFIED A RECALL FOR SUNROOM DRAINS THAT TO CORRECT THE ISSUE. ABOUT 3 WEEKS LATER WATER STARTED LEAKING INTO THE VEHICLE AGAIN AND IT HAS BEEN ONGOING EVER SINCE. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN BACK TO 3 DIFFERENT DEALERSHIPS A TOTAL OF 5 TIMES FOR THE WATER LEAK AND EACH TIME THE LEAK WOULD GO AWAY FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS OR SO. THE VEHICLE SMELLS FROM THE CONTINUOUS LEAKING WATER. I WAS ADVISED THAT ONCE THE LEAK WAS TOTALLY REPAIRED THEY WOULD WORK WITH ME TO REPLACE THE DAMAGED CARPETS AND HEADLINER. AROUND OCTOBER 2009 THE SATURN CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFERED ME A COMPLETE BUMPER TO BUMPER WARRANTY TO CONTINUE COVERAGE ON MY VEHICLE AND SO THEY COULD WORK ON THE LEAK. IN JANUARY 2010 THE WATER LEAK RE-APPEARED BUT ALL OF THE SATURN DEALERSHIPS HAD CLOSED DOWN AND GM HAD NOT DETERMINED WHAT DEALERSHIP I SHOULD USE. I WAS ADVISED IN FEBRUARY 2010 TO USE A LOCAL CHEVROLET DEALERSHIP FOR ALL FUTURE REPAIRS, I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THIS DEALERSHIP FOR THE WATER LEAK AND ANOTHER ISSUE FOR REPAIR AND I WAS ADVISED THAT THE WATER LEAK WAS NOT A COVERED REPAIR EVEN THOUGH IT WAS AN ONGOING DOCUMENTED ISSUE. I WAS GIVEN A SUPPORT NUMBER TO CALL. WHEN I CALLED THE NUMBER AND OPEN UP ANOTHER CUSTOMER SUPPORT TICKET I WAS ADVISED THAT I WOULD BE CONTACTED IN 24-48 HOURS. TWO WEEKS LATER I RECEIVED A CALL BACK AND, I WAS ADVISED THAT THE EXTENDED WARRANTY DOES NOT COVER WATER LEAKS AND THEY WOULD NOT HELP ME WITH MY ONGOING WATER LEAK. I WAS ALSO ADVISED THAT NO REPAIRS WOULD BE DONE FOR ANY OF THE WATER DAMAGE AND THAT I WOULD BE CHARGED AT THE END OF MY LEASE FOR ALL OF THE WATER DAMAGE. I HAVE A LEAKING VEHICLE THAT SMELL S AND THE MANUFACTURE REFUSES TO HELP ME. WHAT CAN BE DONE? *TR

I CONTINUALLY HAVE AN ISSUE WITH A NON-WORKING DRIVER'S SIDE HEADLIGHT. I HAVE REPLACED THE LIGHT BULB TWICE, BUT THIS ONLY WORKS FOR 1-2 WEEKS BEFORE IT GOES OUT AGAIN. THE DEALER HAS IDENTIFIED IT AS A HARNESS SHORT WITH THE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY, BUT THE WHOLE ASSEMBLY NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. MY 2008 SATURN OUTLOOK HAD 39000 MILES ON IT WITH AND A MANUFACTURERS EXTENDED WARRANTY (GIVEN TO ME AS PART OF ANOTHER ONGOING WATER LEAK ISSUE THAT IS ALSO NOT COVERED BY THIS WARRANTY) AND THEY STATED THAT THIS IS NOT A COVERED ITEM. I HAVE SPOKEN WITH THE DEALERSHIP AND CUSTOMER SERVICE AND WAS TOLD THAT THIS IS A $500+ DOLLAR REPAIR THAT IS NOT COVERED ON A 2 YEAR OLD VEHICLE. MOST OF THE TIME I ONLY HAVE ONE WORKING HEADLIGHT AND THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE. I HAVE DONE SOME RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET AND THIS SEEMS TO BE A KNOWN AND ONGOING ISSUE THAT IS NOT BEING ADDRESSED BY GENERAL MOTORS. *TR

I WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE GETTING ON THE RAMP AND THE PRW STR LIGHT CAME ON THE DASH. MY STEERING WHEEL LOCKED IMMEDIATELY AND I COULD NOT TURN. I MANAGED TO MAKE IT TO MY DESTINATION BUT WAS ALMOST HIT DUE TO THE FACT THAT I COULD NOT TURN. IT WOULD RESET WHEN THE CAR WAS TURNED OFF THEN THE LIGHT WOULD GO OFF AGAIN AND THE STEERING WHEEL WOULD TIGHTEN UP ON ME. IT HAS HAPPENED UP TO 20 TIMES A DAY. I HAVE ALMOST HAD THREE ACCIDENTS BECAUSE OF THE LOSS OF POWER STEERING. I HAD TO HAVE THE MOTORS REPLACED AT THE DEALERSHIP FOR THE COST OF OVER $ 800. THREE HOURS AFTER I LEFT THE DEALERSHIP THE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN AND THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKED UP. I HAD TO TAKE IT BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP AND ANOTHER PART HAD TO BE REPLACE. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAN NEEDS TO BE INCLUDED WITH THE CURRENT RECALL. *TR

I HAVE 2 SATURN IONS. ONE IS A 2004, AND THE OTHER IS A 2006. BOTH ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE POWER STEERING MODULE WHICH TURNS OFF WHILE DRIVING, THEN RESETS WHEN VEHICLES TURNED OFF AND RESTARTED, ONLY TO TURN OFF AGAIN WHILE DRIVING. THIS IS A MINOR PROBLEM @ SPEEDS OVER ABOUT 20MPH, BUT @ LOWER SPEEDS THE WHEEL BECOMES DIFFICULT TO TURN. *TR