2003 Saturn VUE AWD review from North America

Car issues:

Transmission mounting failures-numerous failures and replacements (I think we've had that fixed three times)

Transmission itself was replaced in January, 2008.

Cable for hood latch broke at about 10,000 miles.

Squeaky steering-required new psr fluid and lube of steering column at about 70.000 miles.

Noise/Vibration in front end. This condition is currently undiagnosed, but has severe vibration when traveling highway speeds (especially between 55mph and 65mph. Saturn dealer has diagnosed that we need a new rear differential as the noise goes away when the drive shaft is removed. Our local mechanic claims that this issue is related to the transmission (he thinks we need a 2nd new transmission), as the noise started soon after we had the transmission replaced. I'll be taking this to a third mechanic for one more opinion.

Dealer issues:

Our local dealer was unwilling to sell us this car as we had a GM discount. I had to go to a store 50 miles north and they were very helpful and friendly and sold us the car.

At about 40,000 miles, the driver side mirror cracked-I think it was weather related. After I got the mirror replaced (just the reflective piece), the motor in the mirror which rotates mirror side to side did not work. Saturn claimed this was just a coincidence and would not reimburse to get the mirror assembly replaced. In my opinion, this was not a coincidence!

At about 30,000 miles, I had the car in for oil change, etc. Asked them to replace the wiper blades while it was in. They told me that the wipers were out of alignment and they would balance (for $100). I agreed (shame on me). The wipers now do not travel the whole 90 degrees that they should. They will go from about 0 degrees to 80 degrees or from about 10 degrees to 90 degrees. They claim there is no way to fix this, and will not look into it even though the wipers went 90 degrees when I took it there.

Very first oil change on this vehicle at 3000 miles-dealer over filled the tank (put in enough for 6 cylinder). Caused us to have a lot of smoke coming out of the car on our way home-tow truck was called as we had no idea what was happening.

My list of dissatisfaction with the dealer could go on and on. This is too bad, as Saturn was supposed to be known for their customer service. Well, this dealer gets very low marks.

Saturn Corporation in Tennessee-

We own two Saturns (also a 2001 LS), and have had to call corporate office for help two times-once for each car. They have been very helpful, and helped to get the transmission on the vue replaced at no cost even though the warranty was up (by 1000 miles).

I like the car in general-it is comfortable to sit in, a good size and is a practical car for my family. However, it has been unreliable and has caused us to have a very low opinion of Saturn in general. I would definitely not recommend that anyone buy a Vue, especially a 2003 or a VTI transmission.