I've done the research on the VUE transmission, I've read hundreds of comments from people that have tried going the rebuilt transmission road and how it doesn't give that much more life to the transmission and I've talked to the person that works on my car. My car has 63,000 miles on it and the transmission has whined for a long time -- it had periodically "slipped" out of gear, but I'm beginning to notice that is happening more and more often. Based on all the information I've gathered, I'll be visiting a dealership today to trade my 2003 VUE in. I love the car and I will probably buy another VUE because it won't have this type of transmission in it. I've read the proposed settlement that GM has agreed to - I think it should've been taken a step further and allowed us to have new transmissions put in. I know nothing about cars, so maybe that's not possible. But, the idea of driving with a rebuilt and the fact that it might act up again is not a risk I'm willing to take.
I'm just back from the dealer who told me the VTI story etc. My 2002 Vue 105K miles transmission wouldn't engage yesterday except in reverse. Got it to work again, not sure how, was turning the ignition off and on, pushing the car ahead manually, shifting the shifter. Something worked.
So they told me too the $5000 price tag, new transmission. Said they'd look for something from salvage, would only be worth it if there was a warranty. We'll see what they find.
It is running fine now..
They had another 03 Vue that had the transmission done already, 83K miles, offered $7700 on it with my trade in.
I am considering options. Advice is welcome.
My current thinking goes back and forth between getting the salvage one in (the car is great otherwise) if it can be warranteed (still seems like Russian roulette) and looking for a different $7000 car, like Subaru which is very plentiful in my geographical area.
I will look up this lawsuit - if anyone has more information on that please post it.
Well you have a choice. Saturn is not going to exist in its current state in the future, GM wants to get rid of it.
If it matters to you, then don't get another Saturn and get rid of it now. The resale value on Saturns is low already, and if the brand does get discontinued you will get next to nothing for it.
You should still be able to get parts and service at a GM dealership though.
I am the poster from the second comment above. I talked to the Saturn national customer service. They were pleasant and put me right over to an investigator, who kept in touch with me daily until resolution after 3 days of discussion. He talked to the dealer and to me, the bottom line was that with the class action settlement, Saturn is offering a 30% discount on repairs to 2nd owners who are beyond the 75,000 warranty.
He said that in Feb when their appeal is in the courts, there might be an adjustment downwards on that figure (in their favor) in which case I will be in worse shape. Or, it may adjust upwards, in which case I will get more cash back.
This all seemed to make sense, being 2nd owner with 105K miles.. so I took the offer. They fixed the car the next day and it so far drives fine.
They only have remanufactured transmissions to put in, not new as these parts are not stocked. I called an independent transmission shop, he said they only have done one and that one was searched throughout the country for a salvage and only one found 2000 miles away.
This helped push me to take the dealer's repair deal.
I really haven't had much trouble with this car, it runs great, economical, the right size and type, and should at least get me through the winter. Since I can't afford anything on credit, I would have been stuck trying to sell it and then getting something in the same cost level, with whatever problems it would have. I searched around and could only find old cars of less interest like old Subaru wagons.
So far I am okay on this. And it has a warranty for 3 yr/36000mi. The deal from Saturn, and their reasonable responsiveness, was key to the positive outcome, that's for sure.
December 8, 2008.
I purchased a 2004 Saturn Vue for my daughter in April 2008. In late November we noticed slippage and brought it into a Saturn dealer to find out the transmission needed to be replaced - car only has 45,000 miles.
Being the 2nd owner, I was told about the extended warranty and that I would have to pay 25% of cost - which is roughly $1,800. Also found out that transmission was replaced prior to my purchase - in October 2007 so vehicle is now on 3rd transmission.
I just found this website and getting information about the VTI transmission and lawsuit pending. Any information about signing up for the class action or how it will work is appreciated. Also, any suggestions on how to handle this going forward would work also?
I have not contacted anyone yet, since I am just discovering what is really going on.
I purchased a used 2003 Saturn Vue in Feb of 2007. By the following May I started to notice issues with the transmission. We took it in and they said that it was reading that nothing was wrong. So we tried the transmission fluid which helped a little but by June my husband was driving home from work and all of a sudden it wouldn't go more than 20 miles per hour. It had 79,000 miles on it at that point. For 2 months we fought with Saturn and finally got them to replace the transmission with us paying $1,000. Now here we are Dec of 2008 just months after having the transmission replaced and guess what The engine has gone out on it and they can't give me a reason why. I will never buy another Saturn!!!
The wife and I had purchased a 2003 Vue with 16000 miles on it.
After a month of driving, the transmission would only go in reverse. After having it replaced, we were driving from NC to IL to visit family, and got an hour in, when it broke down again, this time stripping all of the gears in the transmission. We got it repaired after 3 weeks.
2 months later we were driving to visit family in PA. We got there fine, and on the way back it broke down after 15 minutes of driving.
All of this happened within a year, and the car itself had only 58000 miles on it. 3 transmissions in 12 months with only 42000 miles of total driving. That is less than 12000 miles per transmission.
We finally bit the bullet and traded it in for a 2006 Ford Escape. Have yet to have a problem with it, and it has been 2 years. I hope this settlement goes through, that way I won't be so upside down on the Escape.
We purchased a 2003 Vue with VTI transmission new, and got the extended warranty. The transmission started failing at about 85000 miles. Took it into the dealer and they said they could not reproduce the problem. Slipping, RPMs go up but car slows down.
Finally got the problem reproduced. They "repaired" the VTI and said it was fine. Took it back in doing same thing after about 500 miles. Had the tranny repaired again. Did the same thing after about 400 miles. Repaired. Did the same thing again. They put a new transmission in. All was under the extended warranty. The total on the repairs and new transmission on the service information was about 15 to 18000 dollars based on parts and service.
I had an Body Control Module go out and it cost 500 to get fixed. Also had ECM and coil packs changed because it would not run properly (thought it was tranny). Cost 600 to get fixed. Did not know about recalls on front problems. I will check on that today when I pick up the Vue from the dealer. Watch out because they want you to purchase from them, and they charge you extra. You can probably get most of the work done from a local repair shop cheaper.
Good luck with your vehicle. Wife's car and she is not happy with dealer or me for buying this vehicle. We had 92 Saturn SL and got 360000 miles without any major repairs.
I purchased a 2003 Saturn VUE, have a manual transmission, so far so good. But the Body Control Module has gone out - was glad to read the post about it - and it makes me sick to know it will cost at least $500 to replace. However, I won't have the dealership do the work. This is my second Saturn - and it will be the last. I am buying a Honda Civic this week.
I am a retired UK citizen who visits Florida from January to April each year.
In January 2007 I bought a one owner from new 2003, 57,000 miles, Saturn Vue with VTi. I have the full service record which shows that the VTi was changed (?) or modified (?) in March 2007 at 47,000 miles. There is a large new component on the right of the block when viewed from underneath at the front.
The vehicle runs OK at the moment, but what is my position regarding future failure. Can I, should I, how do I, register with the Class Action???
I am the second owner of a 2003 Saturn Vue. I have purchased this vehicle with 40k on it.
I have had nothing but problems since owning it. I live 45 minutes from the nearest Saturn Dealership, where repairs cost a fortune. We already had to replace the Control module to the tune of 500 bucks and now we have had it in 3 times (and 3 diagnostic charges) only to be told that whatever the problem is - it does not show in their computer.
Periodically, when you go to drive it, it will not go over 20 miles an hour and the reduced power light is on. This has happened several times, and each time I take it to get serviced, they tell me that it is not doing it anymore and they can't fix it, if it isn't. I did not know a thing about the extended warranty and calls to Saturn go unreturned. I guess I will NEVER own another Saturn!
Hello There.
Does anyone know exactly what the problem is with the Vti Transmission? I have a 2003 VUE with 150000 kilometers on it (I'm in Canada, that's about 93000 miles) The transmission went out on me on the highway. All of a sudden the "Reduced Power" light went on, and although the engine is working fine, there's no movement in the car at all.
My brother is a mechanic, and he quickly knew the transmission was the culprit, and recommended I call Saturn to see what might be done. I came on-line to see what I might be looking at for repair costs, and found all the sites dealing with the recurring problems, the lawsuits, etc. They settled the lawsuits in the U.S., but unfortunately, now all of us Canadians are going through the same thing, and they're making us fight too. You'd think that if they admitted to a problem, it would affect everyone with that problem. We're driving the same vehicles with the same trannys.
I called Saturn, and they seemed quite surprised to hear about the legal stuff, and no one seemed to know the history of these problems, until I pushed my way up the chain. Now they say that if I tow it to a Saturn dealership, they will diagnose the problem (on my dime), and they are dealing with each tranny issue on an individual basis. If my problem is the same one as is involved with the lawsuit, they would then review my file and see if there would be any consideration on their part.
Having read all about their knowledge of the problems, and lack of action on their part to inform the owners, or lack of action to fix or recognize the problems until they were sued, I'm a little less than trusting!
I'd like to have as much information as I could about the problem. If they tell me my problem is "X" and the lawsuits dealt with problem "Y" I would know that I either have the same faulty issue they have admitted to, or if I have an unrelated problem that isn't part of the general problems these transmissions are known for.
Any information would be very helpful!!
Thanks.
I am the owner of a 2003 Saturn Vue whose transmission is making a whining/clacking noise at low speed. I received mail from the Lakin Law Firm in January since my Vue has one of those defective transmissions. The final settlement date was supposed to be March 30th, in early April I checked with the firm and received this reply:
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Thank you for contacting The Lakin Law Firm, P.C.. The Final Approval Hearing was held on March 30, 2009. The Judge has not made his final ruling yet. We are still awaiting his decision. We are confident that the settlement will be approved, however, it cannot be said when exactly the Judge will enter the Final Judgment. Once he does, we will indicate as much on our website.
If the court gives final approval to the proposed settlement, then claim forms will be mailed to class members to submit claims for past reimbursement at that time. You will automatically be eligible for the future coverage and, if a transmission problem occurs in the future within the mileage and time limitations, the claim form will be available at the Saturn dealerships and our website (www.lakinlaw.com). KEEP COPIES OF ALL EXPENSES PAID BY YOU RELATING TO YOUR TRANSMISSION TO SUBMIT WITH YOUR CLAIM FORM. The settlement provides substantial relief to class members, including compensation for both past transmission failure-related expenses and future coverage through 125,000 miles. The details of the settlement are available at http://www.lakinlaw.com/CM/ClassAction/ClassAction55.asp
We recommend checking our website for updates http://www.lakinlaw.com/CM/ClassAction/ClassAction55.asp. If you have any questions or need additional assistance, then please do not hesitate to call us at (618) 251-2498 or e-mail us at saturnvti.classaction@lakinlaw.com.
It looks like the lawsuit has reached final settlement, so those of you with the vti transmission should be contacted soon. Details are at http://www.lakinlaw.com/CM/ClassAction/ClassAction55.asp
I posted on April 13th about my Vue making whining sounds. I took it into the non-Saturn dealer where I had bought it used, they wanted to charge me $5000 to replace the transmission and had no clue about the lawsuit. I kept driving it for several weeks until the "reduced power" light came on, and had it brought to a Saturn dealer. They were well informed of the transmission problem and right off the bat told me it was likely the transmission and I would only be responsible for 25% of the repair cost. They are charging me $800, not a little but we can well afford it, and after seeing folks get charged $4,000 - $6,000 it is worth it. Other than this problem I have had no real issues with the Vue. It is the perfect size for my uses, relatively good gas mileage, and it is has been paid off for several years. In this economy I'm just not ready to put out $15K-$30K for another car.