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To start off, I pick up my completely new car from the dealer with 2 problems i.e. 1) Air conditioning not working (compressor kaput) 2) Unable to unlock/open the trunk. The two problems were eventually fixed after a lengthy wait of 1 1/2 weeks for parts.
After two weeks of driving in my brand new Saturn, the fuel gauge went kaput! It was giving a wrong reading on the gas that I had. Had to wait another 2 weeks for parts and eventually when it arrived, it took the dealers two days to fix it.
Week 12 of driving my new car, the steering column began to develop very squeaky noise. As the days went by, the squeak became a loud rattling. Again, sent it in to the dealer and found that the bearing on the strut had to be replaced, and that took 2 days.
Week 14 of driving my new car, the rattling noise came back again intermittently. This time when I took it to the dealer for a service, they apparently said they can't hear the noise it's making and hence, as they can't pinpoint the rattling noise, they don't know how to fix it. I even left the car there for 2 days for them to "drive around" to locate the problem, but still they can't pinpoint the problem.
Currently, I am driving around my new car with a rattling noise that comes around quite often.
The quality of the car is totally disappointing. The servicing is good, but apparently dealers don't stock up on parts so when you need part replacements, it's going to be a min of 1-2 weeks wait.
IF you are in the market for a compact SUV, go look for something else other than this car! It's not worth the time and hassle!
I have a 2002 sATURN Vue AWD V6. I have all the problems that you have been encountering. I also have had my Saturn Vue in twice for the Steering noise. First they replaced a part, next they greased something else. It is now making an even worse noise. I have had problems with the Windshied washer sprayers, plus the wipers hit the side mouldings, which makes an anoying noise to say the least. To be honest, I am very disappointed with my Saturn Vue. OH, I forgot to mention the biggest annoyance I have. The engine noise is terrible. Over the winter months you would swear I was driving a diseal. Also, The transition from 2nd to 3rd gear is terrible. I am constantly looking at my shifter to see if I mistakenly put it in low gear.
Needless to say I have a hard time recommending a Saturn Vue to my friends and collegues. Very DISAPPONITED...
I purchased my 2002 V6 AWD in Feb 2002. I have never been satisfied with the vehicle. I called the 800 phone and ended up filling a Lemon Law on the car.
I had to take the car back three times for the steering wheel noise. The first time was only days after obtaining the car from the factory. The dealership finally fixed the wheel struts and the problem went away. The air conditioner linked into the passenger front side of the car water-logging the rug. From instead the car you could hear noice from the windshield.
When I filed a lemon law against the vehicle, because of the shifting problem from 3rd to 2rd, Saturn felt the shifting problem was not important enough to warrant fixing. The dealership said they could never reproduce the problem. Saturn made a "deal" with me to compensate me for my inconveniences, but I had to sign paperwork and could not file for a future lemon law on the car.
I do alot of stop and go driving and take my daughter and the neighbor children around. Currently I have over 20,000 miles on this car and I cannot get rid of it. Trading it in for another brand of car is impossible because the trade-in value is ridiculous. I like the personnel at the dealership, they tried their best to help, but I would never recommend this car or any Saturn product to anyone.
I too bought a 2002 Saturn Vue and have had a mountain of problems. I previously owned a Saturn SL1 and had no problems, so I felt secure in purchasing my Vue.
2 months after I bought it the problems began. The fuel gauge was reading inaccurately (Saturn said this was a defective part that was put in all Vue's so I recommend you take your Vue, along with a spare gas can, and run it out of gas to see if you too have this problem). Then after it was supposedly fixed, the car started running out of gas before it reached the empty line and not once did the low fuel light come on. There has also been a list of other little things wrong with it, the windshield sprayers are now not working, the air conditioning has gone out about 2 times, the horn stuck and I know there's more.
I have been left stranded 9 times, 7 of them I was pregnant and once I had my 2 children in the car, my baby was only about 3 weeks old, and the temperature gauge read 105' with now air conditioning! I am also filing the lemon law with my car. Do not buy a Vue!
I purchased my 2003 VUE in July of 2002, I am so disappointed with my car,I also had a Saturn prior to this one, it ran great, that is why I bought this one, I am taking it back in for the 4th time on Monday the 8th of September, 2003. It has had front end noises that I think they finally fixed after 3 trips, now I have an ongoing transmission problem, this is the 3rd time in for that, I also had my passenger side front door break, you couldn't get out. The latch on the folding backseat broke, so that just flopped around. All around I am very disgruntled with my car. The service department is great, the Saturn Corp. even gave me extended miles on my warranty, but I don't think that will be enough.
2002 Saturn Vue AWD V6-
Our problems began immediately. Within a week of owning the vehicle, the transmission started slipping between 2nd and 3rd gear. This problem persisted for 9 visits to the shop. Each visit we were informed that the problem could not be duplicated. Finally, after calling corporate customer service, the problem was recognized as a "transmission service kit" issue. At 27,000 the problem has started appearing again.
There have been many squeaks and rattles in the dash area that have been corrected two to three times. The steering column maintains an annoying grinding. We were told that the bushing was rubbing internally. After be corrected, the problems returned about 5,000 miles later.
The remote mirrors failed to operate until the "joystick" was replaced.
The windshield washer failed to operate, service stated that feathers were found in the line. Recently, after having the oil changed, a hole was found in the windshield washer container itself.
An annoying squeak was located in the right rear section of the vehicle. A bushing was replaced that corrected the problem.
Terrible road noise was heard at speeds over 50 - the fix was all new tires and wheels.
The factory installed bug shield has come off twice, now the hood of the vehicle has paint damage that needs correcting.
Saturn has given us the maximum allowable extension to our service agreements and warranty, good for a start, but I don't think that will be long enough for the life of the vehicle.
Each time the vehicle is brought in for service, two to three days pass. Leaving us with a rather small loaner.
All in all, we are extremely disapointed with our purchase.
I have 2003. I love it. No problems. I've actually owned three Saturns. The Vue is my latest. I have never had a problem with any of my Saturns, and that includes my Vue. I'm sorry to hear the people above my comment have had problems, but I would definitley recommend Saturn to anyone. It's a fantastic car, for a fantastic price!
I guess this won't make you very confident when you OFF-ROAD with these "SUV"s, will it? Den.
My 4 cyl FWD Vue has its second transmission, second water pump and today is getting its second timing chain. Add this to a wheel alignment two weeks after I picked it up, a floor vent that wasnt working, and a gas gauge that had a life of its own and you have a vehicle that has fell well short of my expectations. Back to Japanese, two year old used vehicle purchases for me.
I purchased a Saturn Vue 2002 in May '02. Initially when we purchased the vehicle we added heated seats to be installed. Within 2 days of owning the vehicle the speedometer cluster had to be replaced. We took it in for repairs and had the heated seats installed by the dealer. When we got the vehicle back the heated seats did not work. When I called the dealer about this they claimed that QA checks were done and that they worked. So, we took it back in for repairs again. While it was in the dealer left our 1 week old vehicle outside in a hail storm, and then returned the vehicle to us with hail damage without notifying us. Again I called the dealer and they stated that it had no damage because his mechanic did not report any. They then proceeded to state that we would have to have our insurance company repair the damage by popping out the dents. Needless to say, but we were furious with the service and requested a brand new Vue with multiple amenities added for free. The dealer did heed our warnings and requests that we made. With the new Vue it has been in for ABS and outlet problems. Now the front left wheel makes a loud sound when turning. I guess asking for my money back in the beginning would have been best. I would never buy a Saturn product again due to the poor quality of workmanship.
I have had my, 03 Vue in for numerous warranty service's Including three transmission trips, one being a replacement, at only 12k. I must admit Saturn has been very timely through the whole process. I am wondering if anyone has actually been successful at suceeding in the lemon law? I would like to hear from you on here. My understanding is, you have to have your vehicle in for at least 4 major same repairs within 2 years, or 30 days within one year?
Bought my 03 VUE 2.2L 4-cyl w/Vti tranny in November of 2002. Hate it: 1st week windshield needing replacing / resealing; 4th week dashboard and door rattles, re-insulated -- Still happening. Tranny problems after only 4500 miles -- completely replaced. Has been back for same 5 more times -- they keep re-calibrating it. Not satisfied yet. Fuel gauge doesn't register correctly -- this took 2 trips to resolve. Then a rubbing / humming when vehicle was in reverse with brakes depressed -- this also took 2 trips for them to resolve, as soon I drove it off the lot, it happened again -- 3rd trip does the trick. Now that the weather is turning warmer the rattles are back. Saturn GAVE me a 5-year, 60,000 extended warranty for my trouble, which means I should have a loaner car available -- this RARELY happens, I get offered a ride, then need to find a ride back to pick the vehicle up. One time they found a coolant leak, had to order a part -- waited 2 weeks, then brought it back (for various other things too) when the part came in. I DON'T LIKE THIS "SUV" AT ALL!
2002 V6 AWD. No problems AT ALL after over 25,000 miles. I like this SUV.
My Saturn VUE VTi's transmission failed at 14,776 miles. Since then 4 visits to the dealer to rectify a subsequent transmission grinding sound have failed to fix the problem. Saturn Corporate have now told me that there is no problem with my transmission, despite advising me to take the vehicle in for repair in the first instance. They say they will stand by their product, and will repair it if anything does go wrong, but that the present (what I insist is a) problem will not be fixed unless something really does go wrong with it. Based on NHTSA statistics of the VTi transmission in the VUE (and comparable ION stats) the VTi does not seem to be well suited to the torque demands of the heavier vehicle, in my opinion.
I am in the middle of a lemon suit with them now. 6 attempted repairs within one year puts it well over Wisconsin's 4-repairs-in-a-year law. Its just a matter of time now as they will pay, its just a question of how much. (In Wisconsin they can be liable for up to 2x the value of the car, depending on how fast they pay)
My 2003 VUE started making incessantly loud grinding noises at about 8,000 miles. I took it to the dealer twice within a month to "reprogram" the computer chip for the transmission. A week ago, At 12,000 miles, the transmission failed completely in the middle of a highway, leaving me stranded several hundred miles away from home (had to hitchhike 30 miles to rent a car). It was towed to a dealer and parts of the transmission replaced. I got it home, and today, a week or so later, the transmission failed again. I'm waiting for a tow truck in my office researching the lemon law, and wondering how I'm going to get this car out of my life without losing a lot of money. I wish Saturn would think harder before introducing vehicles that aren't ready for the road.