17th Apr 2006, 09:29
I have a 2003 Vue with VTI that I purchased in December 2002. Current mileage is 52,600 and I've had considerable problems including needing to replace a stabilizer link in the back, both front struts and this past weekend, the computer. I've been to the dealership in Golden Valley, Minnesota many times with a variety of transmission related concerns (clanking, whining noises and slow acceleration) but have always been told that they can't find anything wrong with it. When I was in several months ago with some other issue I asked the service guy to tell me, off the record, what he thought I should do. His response was that I should get rid of the 2003 Vue as soon as possible. That's great advice for all of us. I'm headed back to Honda.
3rd Sep 2006, 18:17
Wow, am I glad that I read all of these reviews. I've been saving for a VUE for quite some time now and found one that I was thinking about purchasing. My mind has been changed! I will not be buying a VUE (sadly) at least not until I can afford a 2006 or newer. I have a L200 for almost three years and nothing has gone wrong thus far. Its been amazing! I guess I'll just hold on to it until I find a 06 VUE in my price range. Thanks to you all!
12th Oct 2006, 17:26
I bought my 2003 Saturn Vue new, and at 19,000 miles, I had to replace the front bearings. Then at 42,000 I had to replace the bearings again and my Vue was stuck in all wheel drive, I paid for the bearings, and Saturn paid to fix the all wheel drive. Now at 52,000 miles the transmission is shot. Even though I still have a power-train warranty, Saturn is not sure if it is covered. I will try to seek legal action, and this website should really help.
23rd Oct 2006, 07:11
I have been experiencing the loud transmission noise since around the 52,000 mile marker myself. Now the vehicle on occasions will lose ALL power. The engine goes dead and it hesitates to start, almost like the battery is going bad. I wait a few moments and try again and it will run again for awhile. I bought a new battery and it ran good for awhile then went dead again. I had the battery tested only to find that there was nothing wrong with it. Also, I experienced the loss of power as well. The catalytic converter had gotten clogged up and had to be cleaned. Did this and I have power again. Feels almost like new, with the exception of the power failure and the engine noise. What is the deal with this stuff?
8th Nov 2006, 20:38
I have a 03 Vue 2.2 with the VTI. It has 103000 miles on it now. When I got it, it had 70,000. The transmission was acting up on it. I went to the dealer and they said it need trans. fluid changed. That didn't help much.
Now the drive band is broken in the transmission, and guess what, Saturn will not sell just the band; you have to buy the whole case. It's out of warranty now. It's only two thousand dollars plus labor.
Want to laugh more? They only last around 100,000 miles. So you will spend at least $3000 every 100,000 miles. At least they have a good engine. HAHA. 03 Saturn Vue for sale.
21st Nov 2006, 12:40
I have a 02 Vue with a 4cyl. engine & a vti transmission. The transmission started making a loud whining noise from the rear end when it reached 50k. I took it to Saturn & they said there was nothing wrong with the trans. other than needing to change to an upgraded fluid type. They told me this type of trans. was just noisy by design & got louder as it got older. I would not accept this for an answer & continued to complain. I found out from a service guy that this same transmission was being recalled in the Vue with the “Redline” motor due to excessive noise. I finally got them to replace the rear end. Now at 62K the transmission is making a grinding noise. It is still under warranty, barely. They had to flush it 4 times to get all the crud out of it, but they refuse to replace the whole thing. They will only replace the side case. I am going to take a hit on the trade-in, but I can’t see waiting until the warranty is up & have the transmission die on my dollar. This will be the last Saturn I, or any one else in my family, will ever own.
22nd Nov 2006, 07:16
"I found out from a service guy that this same transmission was being recalled in the Vue with the “Redline” motor due to excessive noise."
Nope. The VUE Redline has a Honda 3.5 V6 and Honda 5-spd automatic transmission. It is not a VTI, like yours. The VTI was only available with the 4-cyl ecotec motor. The VTI was a disaster, but GM has issued an extended warranty for the trans in all VTI-equipped VUEs for up to 75k, I believe. At that point, get out from under it.
25th Nov 2006, 20:48
We purchased a 2003 Saturn Vue. It currently has about 63,000 miles. Just this week we took it into the dealership to have the transmission worked on as well. It is very upsetting to me that I bought a new Saturn Vue in 2003, and now I, and many other people, are having the same issues. As soon as we get our Saturn fixed, we are trading it in for something else. My advice to everyone with a 2003 4 cylinder Saturn Vue it to trade it in before it hits the 5 year/75,000 warranty mark. I am so disappointed.
30th Nov 2006, 09:49
I've got a 2004 Saturn Vue with the CVT, FWD 4cy. I'm getting a strong vibration from the front end during acceleration. I've had the fluid for the transmission flushed and replaced however I'm still experiencing these problems. Has anyone on here had the vibration feeling during acceleration?
Thanks for any help,
Gary
incredibouhl20@yahoo.com
12th Apr 2006, 09:24
I too had a problem with the 2003 AWD VTi VUE transmission. Around 53,000 miles it started making noise, slipping, and grinding, and would occasionally stall when starting from a dead stop (most noticeably after reversing). Took it in to the Saturn dealership; they changed the transmission fluid, added the Dexron additive, and sent me home. That fixed it... for 800 miles. About 800 miles later, the problem came back, and was accompanied by a whiney grinding sound and strong hesitation and vibration when starting hard from a dead stop.
Took it back in (twice) and finally the dealership could replace the problem. They had my VUE for 3 weeks (and provided a loaner free of charge) and ordered a brand new transmission from Springhill. Once installed (under warranty) the problem was gone.
We're now 6 months and 13,000 miles after the repair, and so far, no problems. I do notice that, after the repair, the torque converter kick-in behaviour is slightly different - I can feel it lock in whereas I couldn't before. Fingers crossed, and so far a hope that the repair is permanent.