2003 Saturn VUE review from North America

Transmission started grinding at 6500 miles - VTI Transmission replaced

Transmission started grinding again at 11,000 miles - I was advised nothing the dealer could do until some new transmission fluid was available in 2-3 months.. 13000 miles fluid change completed grinding sound gone for now..

Rear lateral link replaced at 20258 miles

Left headlight out at 26000 miles this was not the bulb - this was something in the light assembly

27000 miles Transmission grinding sound back again. Dealer changes fluid again.

31101 miles - Transmission fails again and the dealer replaces transmission

33000 - Front end sounds like it is about to fall apart - my 6 year old Hyundai did not sound this bad.

I have owned 2 Saturn's the ION Quad Coupe and the VUE - The ION was fine, but we traded it in on a Mazda at 21000 miles. My wife drives the VUE and loves the looks and general feel of the vehicle and we get a lot of compliments on it. The reliability is very questionable. Through all the transmission trouble the service at Saturn has been top notch always under warranty and providing us a rental car free of charge, but now that the warranty is close to expiring I am very worried about keeping the vehicle much longer. AVOID the 4cyl that was part of our mistake - very underpowered. Engine runs great though. Besides the transmission and the front end we have had no other real problems, but the car only has 33000 miles.