I've learned a few lessons -- never buy a first year car. Second lesson might be never buy a Saturn!
I Bought my Vue AWD in January '02. In May '02 I had to have the wheel bearings and hub assemblies replaced.
In June of '02 I have to have both rear spring insulators replaced.
In January of '04 I took my Vue in to the dealer because while driving at approximately 25 -35 mph the rpm's would shoot up than drop back down. No surge in acceleration, but only rpm's. According to the dealer they could not verify abnormal shifting.
On the same trip to the dealer, I advised them that when driving around 45 - 55 mph and accelerating normally I would experience the rpm's sticking at 3K. That would continue until I would let my foot off the gas and the rpm's would drop and I would then re-apply pressure to the gas pedal. Saturn dealer could not verify abnormal shifting.
Come February of '04 I took my Vue in because when I would turn left there would be a creaking noise, which sounded like it was coming from the front. You would also hear it when coming to a stop and there was a slight dip in the front end. Took it in to the dealer who once again "could not verify abnormal noise when turning."
Suffice it to say the noise didn't get any better so I took the Vue to a friend who has an auto repair shop. He put the Vue up on the hoist and saw that the carrier bearing was broken.
I called the Saturn dealer and explained what had gone on and made an appointment to take the Vue out that night to be worked on the next day. I left a note on the key drop-off asking them to call the repair shop that had found the carrier bearing problem.
The next a.m. Saturn called to say they lubed the strut rubber; replaced the left front sway link; replaced the right front sway link. Also, they found that on further inspection and removing the strut to inspect the bearing that the bearings were rubbing on the bearing plate. So they replaced the upper front strut bearing.
When I asked if they found the cracked carrier bearing the service advisor said no, they didn't think that was the problem. I asked if they had called the repair shop that identified the problem to me and was told no, they had not. I requested they do so.
They called the repair shop and said the Saturn tech didn't find any problem. The repair person said to put it up on the hoist and they would be able to see the problem. Saturn finally did and then called me back to say they found the center prop shaft bearing was bad.
I went out and picked up my car and was not even one mile from the dealership when I heard a new clanking noise! Still from the left front... so I guess they didn't get it right.
The next day while driving my Vue on the highway the entire car started to vibrate at 62 mph.
Yesterday I sat at the dealership while they replaced the carrier bearing assembly. They had to replace the shaft cover as it was too rusted!
I asked them to extend the warranty and they said no. Needless to say, I'm NOT a happy camper!
I'm glad that I found this site to confirm that I'm not a whack case when it comes to the noises and problems that I am having with my VUE.
For that sticking it just might happen to be a bad mass air sensor. It was just replaced in my 2002 VUE for just the same conditions.
I hate to say this is wonderful to hear, but it is. We too are having some of these exact problems with our 2002 AWD VUE. Seems service never finds the problem. Our vehicle was towed in last night, it is now 1:30 in the afternoon, I haven't heard from them yet.
Jeff DeMaria.
Update to last post. Saturn of North Charleston, SC has agreed to purchase our VUE back.
My Saturn VUE 2002 AWD... has been in the shop numerous times in its first 2 years for faulty this or that. Recently I returned it for a recall on the rear suspension. Also, at that time I had my front brakes replaced. Now my right rear wheel bearing needs replacing... and of course this happened AFTER my warranty expired!!! This car is a piece of junk. This is my last Saturn/GM product.
We too have had to replace 2 wheel bearings on our 2002 Saturn Vue, (on separate occasions) along with several other costly repairs over the last couple of years. I'm 60 years old and I only recall replacing a wheel bearing one other time, on a much older vehicle.
I sure hope they've figured out the problem on newer models, although it's unlikely I'd ever buy another one.
My wife and I own 2 2003 vues. One is a V6 FWD with 65K and the other is a 4cyl FWD with 96K. The stabilizer linkage from the strut to the front sway bar went bad on one at 45K and the other vue had one go bad at 75k and now the other side has failed at 95K. When they go bad you will hear a loud creaking from the front when turning the wheels or going over bumps/depressions. It is most noticeable in parking lots as you proudly cruise by the happy shoppers with what sounds like a poorly lubricated playground see-saw. The ABS went out on one and I have not bothered to fix it, but occasionally when first started the ABS warning lamp will be dark as though it has intermittently fixed itself, instead it will illuminate the low traction indicator and violently engage and disengage the transmission around 40mph. All attempts to remove fuses to disable this have failed. I then experienced severe cupping of my tires around 90K on the 4cyl fwd accompanied with loud rumbling. Assuming it was the tires, I replaced them with new bridgestones (which by the way, is the only tire recommended for the vehicle). The noise persisted with the new tires and I discovered it is the passenger wheel bearing, which I replaced. I have done all repairs myself. I am not a working mechanic, but I have been trained as one years ago and work as a mechanical maintenance instructor for a utility, so I know what I'm doing. To get around the Bridgestone tire issue, I did run the 4 cyl vue on larger profile tires for 45k which saved me about $200 for the set of 4. The strange thing is my wife's 6cyl has the original tires at 65K and they still look great. My 4cyl, which by the way is gutless, is on it's 3rd set at 95K. I don't think they tuned the suspension for the lighter engine as I experience severe wear issues on the front despite rotating them.
Jerry
Lakeville minnesota.
Our 2002 Vue has had 3 wheel bearings replaced, at considerable expense to us, and now that familiar noise from the 4th wheel is present. I guess we should be thankful there are only 4 wheels! We wouldn't even consider another Saturn product.
Janet
Ennismore, ON.
I am so glad to hear that I'm not the only one with a lemon! I purchased my 6 cylinder Vue in January 0f 2002 and have been in to the Saturn service department enough that they know me by name (I think a couple of them even recognize my voice at this point)
I just dropped if off this morning because the transmission appears to be going out! (at only 84k miles!) I'm waiting by the phone to hear how much this is going to cost me this time. This is the first repair that I've had outside of the warranty.
I have had the front end on the driver's side replaced numerous times, the passenger side still crunches and grinds every time I go over a bump, but the service department can't replicate the issue. I've had the rear end replaced as well. I've also had issues with the wiring, and my alignment is off bad enough to totally eat the tires (probably due to having the front end off so many times). I've also had the fuel injector replaced, the oil pump, the steering column replaced, and that's all I can think of right now.
I definitely will not purchase another Saturn, but have to say that their service department is gracious and pleasant to work with. I simply wish that I never had to build such an intimate relationship with them.
I have a 2002 Suturn Vue. It has had 4 alignments, the auxiliary fuel pump replaced, blower switch got stuck in on position, but you can turn to off, but kept blowing. My turn signals work as long as it's cold out. When taken in for this they said it has to be not working for them to figure out if it's the switch or a electrical problem. I brought my extended warranty when the Vue was almost 1 year old,4 years or 100,000 but they said it expired after only 3 years from purchase of the extended one that cost me $1800 They back the date up to the purchase of the Vue. Anybody else had this with their warranty? I brought it after almost a year.
I have had my 2002 Saturn Vue for a little over a year now and I have kept up with the regular maintenance that is required thinking it will prevent any major problems from creeping up. In fact, I had taken it in on November 10th for an oil change and winterizing check. I was told that it was all set.
Two days before Thanksgiving when I went to leave work my battery was dead. Thinking I might have left my lights on, I checked and they were not on. I was able to get someone from work to give me a jump. Before we did that we removed the cover from the battery to see how old the battery was. We did not see a date on it so I assumed that it must be the original battery when the vehicle was new. The Vue started up immediately with the jump. I had planned on taking it in on that Friday to have a new battery put in.
Other than that minor incident the Vue had been great until Thanksgiving morning on my way from CT to NJ. I had just finished merging onto I-287 westbound when I heard a “whirring” sound. Since it was raining I was thinking that possibly something had gotten water into it and so I gave it more gas and the sound stopped for a few seconds. Thankfully I was in the far right lane when the sound happened again so I pulled off to the side of the road and turned the vehicle off. I popped the hood latch, got out and lifted the hood looking to see if possibly a belt broke. I did not spot anything so I closed the hood, got back inside and tried to start the Vue. It was dead.
After the dealership had checked out my Vue I was told that will I need a new battery and that my transmission is shot! During the week that it was in the shop they also had to replace the transfer case. All of that on a Vue with only 53,540 original miles.
I just bought my '02 Vue used a month ago. It wasn't doing this when I bought it, but now the windshield wiper fluid dispenser doesn't work and something hums whenever I turn the wheel in any direction. The turn signals just give out on me every now and then and my gas mileage just seems to be getting worse. I read great reviews before I bought this car, now I read the above and I'm worried. Can anyone give me further information on recalls or fixing these problems? My email is michael at rouxs dot net. Help me out!
We purchased our '01 Vue, yes they do exist, in the spring of '02, three months before the '02's were out. That was out first mistake. We'd had a '94 Saturn SL2 which we purchased new and had had no problems with close to 90,000 miles on it. So we thought we'd get another Saturn, second mistake. On the Vue, during the warranty period, we had the following replaced or repaired: rear suspension control arms (recall), front suspension sway bars, three times, left rear wheel bearing, all outside door handles, rear window wiper motor and window, engine thermostat, three times, exhaust manifold between engine and converter, it broke into 2 pieces, front windshield wiper transmission, heater fan speed switch, driver side windshield washer nozzle. The dealer was very good about taking care of these problem while under warranty, and even did a couple after warranty, because of the poor history on my Vue. We now only have 58,000 miles on it. This week I paid $391.00 to replace the right front wheel bearing. Last week I bought another windshield washer nozzle for $7.00 and replaced the right one again, myself. A lot of the road noise and rattles went away when I replaced the Bridgestone tires with Cooper LifeLiners. They're Great! I would suggest them to any Vue owner. I've even suggested them to Saturn as OEM tires. Today, everything's working properly, except the DRL indicator in the dash cluster. $3.00 bulb which will cost $120.00+ for dealer to replace. I don't need it to tell the lights are on for that price. I'm praying the engine, transmission, and 4-wheel drive train hang in there for a few years, or at least until my Coopers ware out, as I cannot afford to replace the car right now. But then again, almost everything, but these items, has been replaced already. My dealer has been great through all of this. Only the Vue is of poor quality.
I purchased my 2003 Saturn Vue in October of 2002. It has had to have several service reapirs in just over years.
I needed to replace my front brake pads and rotors after 18k miles. I did so myself, because the dealership refused to guarantee I wouldn't be charged for the repair, because my driving may have caused the warped rotors. My performing the repair myself cost less than their quoted cost for installation alone.
I had my front, driver side wheel hub replaced at about 20k miles due to a bad bearing.
My gas tank sending units failed and needed replacement at about 25k miles.
My linkages needed to be replaced in front, both at one time at around 34k miles.
My muffler had to be replaced at 47k because the baffles inside rotted out.
Sitting at 50k miles right now and the ABS is now pulsing from 5mph to stop. After some driving the light comes on and it deactivates the ABS, it drives fine.
For the last 5k miles the steering column makes a lot of crunching noise when it turns. A friend with the same year vehicle had service for his same issue, where it took 3 visits to have something lubricated to fix it. I don't want to pay to silence the steering column.
Also, my check engine light repeatedly comes on with an error code saying that my coolant temperature isn't high enough.
When I complained to Saturn about the quality of my vehicle, they were helpful in repairing it, even offerring discounts on repairs post warranty. The problem is the number of issues I've had with it. I've never owned a vehicle that required as much service as this one.
The Saturn service people told me there was nothing wrong with needing multiple trips to the shop for repairs every year, because it is expected. I don't consider needing repairs constantly for strange issues I've never had with a vehicle, as normal. What have we come to expect for quality when it's "normal" to need all these things replaced inside of 50k miles? I have made it clear to the Saturn quality people that I spoke with that I will never buy anothe rproduct of theirs. It's a shame, because I really did like this vehicle when I bought it.
I purchased my used 2002 AWD Saturn 5 months ago at a Saturn dealership. I too, have had nothing, but problems with it. The day I drove it off the lot my check engine light went on just before I got home. I brought it back the next day and the thermostat had to be replaced. The past month I have noticed a creaking type noise when I turn and that when I start it up that I have dark smoke coming out of the exhaust. My oil change only a little over and we checked it and there was NOTHING on the dip stick, so it is burning oil. I brought it in and they changed my oil and I told them about the problems they then called me back to tell me that they will need to take my engine apart because it may be the valve seals? It is still in the shop, and my warranty sure better cover this or they just keep it! I also had my RPM's sticking while accelerating almost like my tranny was slipping. Only 50,100 miles on this, it shouldn't be having all these problems!!
I have a 2003 Vue that I purchased in October 2002. When it was three months old the transmission died and was replaced. Then it was replaced two more times since then. Today it is in the dealer to have the right front wheel bearing replaced ($369.00). Other than a few recalls, a rust spot on the back hatch and not knowing when the transmission is going to die again, I like the vehicle. Just wish the people who engineered the transmission would have done more in-depth testing of it. The VTI transmission was a big bust...