2001 Saturn L200 from North America - Comments

You can add me to the list as well: My Saturn L200 (2002) left me on the side of the highway at +/-18:50 on 18 November 2008 with about 107,000 miles on the clock. Lodged a complaint at the General Motors customer service, NHTSA as well as added my name to the Class Action Complaint list at http://www.sfmslaw.com.

In the meantime Toyota is willing to give me $800-$1000 for the car, as is while GM is still arguing with me about who should pay $800 to open the engine and determine the damage. In my opinion they should pay for it all since my vehicle was serviced 3 times in the last 12 months by them and not one time did they suggest that I should replace my timing chain - knowing how many customers have already complained about similar issues. They should pay the whole bill in my opinion and restore it to the way it was before the timing chain took a bite at my engine. We shouldn't let them of the hook by having to pay for parts only since the parts include their profit share thus they are not really paying 50/50 maybe it ends up rather 30/70 if you take the profit off the parts. All we ask is pro-active customer treatment and transparent dealings when it comes to known defects - that's not asking a lot is it?

My 2001 Saturn LW200 has been running very well and has 189,000 miles on it without any problems. I received a postcard from Saturn advising me to have the timing chain replaced. Yesterday, Saturn installed a new chain at no cost to me. I am one of the lucky ones I guess, that had no engine damage before it was replaced. I would purchase a new Saturn again someday, but first I have to wear this one out. This Saturn LW200 is the best, most dependable and economical automobile I ever have owned.

I also have a 2001 L200 (bought it used from the Saturn dealer). Fortunately (or unfortunately), mine is one of the vehicles that fell into the small time period of manufacture that was covered as an acknowledged "defect" due to the large amount of timing chain failures in vehicles made during that period. Not without a protracted fight, Saturn agreed to replace the part (s) --it caused other damage when it failed--but I had to pay for labor. Later it was determined I was one of the "lucky ones" and received reimbursement for the labor costs I paid. However, I will never buy another Saturn--my vehicle exhibits many of the problems I see here--I, too, had the ignition replaced (very expensive), I've had numerous problems with my tail lights, my dash lights dim sporadically (although I have a new battery, too), and they even changed out my gas tank and cover when it was in for repair (although they never acknowledged that, and I don't know why--was there a recall at some point?). All in all, the worst vehicle I have ever owned. The best thing I can say about it is that it used to get really good gas mileage. If they haven't already, I hope they extend the recall to every car that carries that same design timing chain--they are obviously defective.

My Saturn would not start in my driveway just 2 days ago. I had AAA service come out to try and jump start it after I failed, and thought it might be the starter, and just wanted to verify it before I brought it in for service.

While I waited for the service truck, I surfed for any recalls and found this and several other sites with references to the timing chain problem. My VIN, "1y511xxx" fell early between "1y504884 and 1y559453". I am an original owner with the same address and never received a recall notice. AAA tech did verify it was the timing chain.

I called my local dealer the next day to verify it would be covered after all the the previous horror stories listed. The first dealer service person said it was VIN specific and not covered, I asked for her supervisor and already had his name from their web site before calling. He said he would call me back after researching the recall. In the mean time my wife called the corporate office to push the issue expecting a denial from the dealer. I meantime went onto the website for the US national highway traffic safety administration. They started a new complaint for us to try to add us to the affected class for the recall. They handled the actual forms by mail and are sending the form for signature for return to start the investigation.

Right after that, the service manager for the dealer called us back and said we did fit the class according to the technical service advisory from the manufacturer. My Saturn L200 was towed to the dealer within an hour by AAA (great to have, worth every cent). The dealership said the would call me within a few hours and also that the actual job takes about 3 1/2 hours to do.

Please make your complaints or push the issue if you think you fall within the class of the recall, be polite, nice and "firm" when you make the calls. You've paid good money for your vehicle and deserve value for that. Always take names, write them down with dates and times and ask for someone higher to talk to if you don't get what you want. Even have someone with you when you make your calls, a spouse, a good friend, adult child, a parent, brother or sister. Treat your call as if you bought an expensive gift for that person and it was defective and you want the company to make good on that product. When our car is done I'll add a short comment with the final results, good luck with your cars and thanks to all of you for making your comments available to us.

Continuing... I left the dealer service dept without signing anything, everyone was very polite and nice. They just took my phone number and told my the job normally takes 3.8 hours, & that they would call later with some news.

No calls all day, and we call them before the service dept closed. They told us that the tech assigned had worked on it a few hours & was gone for the day & to call back the next day. We waited about 3 1/2 hours after opening to call. The same service manager said the chain and most of the other parts and adjustment were done, but... there were several valves that were damaged, it was covered. In fact a prepacked head with valves was put on along with anything else that was damaged, no charge, all covered by the extended warranty recall program. The said it would be ready in a few hours and they would call.

About 2 hours later they called to pick up the car. I went to the cashier expecting a surprise, but instead got a four leaf clover, a repair authorization form to sign without charges, a final statement form with all parts and services and labor used, cost $0.00. I drove out after shaking the service managers hand and said thank you very much.. I also found a class action law suit, use engine description to find it, "2001 saturn g61 2.2 liter 4 cylinder engine", you might have to add "recall" to the end.

Good luck and thanks for all of your help!!

I would like to add to this list as well. Our 2001 L-200 died of timing chain failure while driving on the Interstate 70 in Columbus OH in 2006. The car had 108,000 miles on it. We still paid a little over $2500.00 for repairs after negotiating a $500.00 discount. We did register a complaint with the NHTSA. The dealer as you have heard, before claimed no knowlege of timing chain failures and claimed poor maintenance on our part. They said it was because I didn't change the oil frequently enough. They wanted to see all my receipts from oil changes for the past several years. I received very little help from the Saturn corporate customer service. Unfortunately my car falls just outside the recall parameters. If I would have been told that I should have the timing chain replaced for $800 to avoid a $2500+ rebuild I would have done it. I am disappointed with Saturn and GM to say the least. I am still driving the Saturn everyday. It now has 179000 miles. I hope when the dealer rebuilt the engine they installed the new and improved parts so that this won't happen again.

I was lucky enough to have the timing chain on my 01 L200 replaced for free under the recall, only to have the exhaust cam burn up the left most bearing a week later.

I am a mechanic, so I removed the valve cover after hearing a terrible banging noise coming from the top end. The intake cam looks well oiled and in good shape, as does the right side of the exhaust cam. The left side however is black and ground down from lack of oil. The last bearing is in two pieces, and laying in the head with the broken bolts.

I towed it to the dealer, and had the tech that performed the timing chain swap look at it. He said this has happened to other vehicles after the recall. The service manager, who explained to me that he knows nothing about engines, claims the two are not related.

After reading the tech bulletin myself, I have discovered that the oiler nozzle that lubes the chain is replaced with a larger one, which means less oil to the head, and also the repair requires the tech to change the oil to make sure pieces of the old gasket do not clog oil passages. This also was not done at the time of repair.

Still no help from my local Saturn dealer or the customer service 800 number, who claim the timing chain is OK so it's an unrelated problem. This was the last Saturn I will buy.

Well, I am yet another survivor of Timing Chain Failure on an "01" Saturn L-100. I had just got on I-96 in the Metro Detroit, Mi. area and all of a sudden I lost power and the engine took a dump. I threw it into neutral and was lucky enough to coast up the off ramp and turn into a parking lot off of the service drive. It happened @ 08.45 am, in rush hour traffic. I had my 3yr old son in the back and it was about 35 degrees outside and like a genius, I didn't have a coat or hat on..Don't really know what we're gonna do right now, looks like we'll be looking for another car which is definitely not in our budget at this time. Funny as it may sound, I kinda figured it was the timing chain as soon as it happened, I heard something before about Saturn cars and timing chains breaking I just didn't know it was this severe.. A.D.

Yep... another broken timing chain. My car was hit in the church parking lot the same morning, but everyone says that it had nothing to do with my timing chain.

It started at church and McDonald's where we went for lunch, but I got it home, tried to start it a couple of hours later, and it just whined.

My 2002 Saturn L-200 is now sitting at a shop, waiting for me to decided if I want to pay over $3000 to put another engine in it. My car has over 120,000 miles on it, so I guess I'm luckier than most.

With that said, so far, I've put $2000 into repairs for a new O2 sensor, a new catalytic converter, and transmission work, I had to replace the fuel pump ($800), and the compressor went out on the A/C unit.

Aside from all of THAT, all I've had to do is put new tires on it, buy a new battery and pay to have the oil changed regularly. I never got a recall notice because my car was bought used.

I will NEVER buy another Saturn and all of the previous comments should explain why. I'll be much better off buying a new car, rather than putting a rebuilt (still used) engine into a 7 year-old car and waiting for the same thing to happen some time down the road, which it will. Thank you, Saturn!

I own a 2001 Saturn L200. I have loved this car for the past six years. I bought it used with 27,000 miles on it. I happily bought an extended warranty and have had the drive pin replaced and power steering hoses replaced. I was a part of the brake-light recall.

Now with 106,000 miles I became another Timing Chain Victim. There is a timing chain recall, you can find it at www.nhtsa.gov. The campaign ID # is 07V51900. It includes SOME 2001 L Series. However mine was not included. With a $2,650 quote for a new timing chain and upper engine from the Saturn dealership, I'm exploring new options in engine rebuilds from a local mechanic. Has anyone done this and do local mechanics even touch Saturns?

Please, if you were a T.C.V. report it to NHTSA or the Better Business Bureau.

I too have had I too have had the timing chain problem, but almost twice!

The car was given to me by my parents, it was a good first car! My sister had it first, and I had it for 1/2 months, and stopped at a stop sign and wouldn't go further; needless to say it was the timing chain. $1,500.00 later I got a new engine same year! Although I was very lucky I was stopped, as I got my car the day before I had my daughter, and she was with me!

Two months later, my brake light goes out. My parents are mechanics so they tried to fix it and couldn't, and well no one could at this point.

Saturn has my name registered. I was looking on line to just replace the brake lights, and there's a recall. So I go to Saturn, oh yes ma'am you didn't get the letter! Well a year later I did get one about the timing chain, and they did fix it, and I'm lucky I got it because it was bad!

I love my car, we haven't gotten close over the years, I got it like I said before I had my baby who is 3 now! But the problem I have is Saturn! There are many other recalls I have seen and no letters, and I've gone up there plenty of times, and no mention of them! Not to mention I went up there to purchase a part and the mechanic didn't close my hood all of the way, and driving during 5 o clock traffic it flew off and over! They didn't want to do anything about it! But they did after some gentle convincing! Saturns are good cars, but I honestly don't know what they were thinking with these models!

I want to be added to the long list of timing chain failures.

Friday night (06-12-2009) I make a right turn onto a busy street and lose all power, steering, braking, but yet the car was still running, then it died and would not restart.

I was to leave for Florida the very next day. So I get it pulled to Saturn to have them look at it. In the meantime I do a very extensive search online for what the problem could be and find that there is a recall on timing chain failures.

When I mention that to the service person that called me to tell me that the timing chain indeed is failing he tells me that my car is not part of the MASSIVE recall of L-series Saturn's. I get the corporate number and I am told that since my VIN has a 2Y in it instead of a 1Y, that my car is not covered under the recall. There was no warning of any problem with my car at all until I turned right on that street and my car died.

This is the 3rd Saturn in my immediate family, and I can guarantee that I will never buy another Saturn. Bad part about this is I still owe on this car. I have a 2002 Saturn L200.

I have an 2002 L200 that is making a faint ticking sound. I was told by a mechanic that it was either the timing chain or the water pump!!! Does anyone know if there is a recall on the 02 L200 for the timing chain??? If so, what are the Vin #'s?

Timing chain went on 2001 L200 Saturn with 198,969 miles on it. R.I.P., old friend!!