1999 Saturn LS from North America - Comments

19th Sep 2006, 21:35

What things have gone wrong with the car?

I was shocked, and relieved at the same time to see others have the same problems I have been having.

My speedometer and odometer both went out about 4 weeks after the warranty was up, and my mileage was at almost 29,000. Took it in, and they couldn't find anything wrong. However, hooking the car up to their "machine" somehow made both work again.

About 6 months later, I too heard a high pitched squeal, and my odometer had wound to the magical number of 694,978!

We have been told we need a new "brain" for somewhere in the $800.00 bracket. I feel that's an obscene amount to fix an odometer. So, to date it hasn't been fixed.

The car is now 6 years old and I estimate it to have around 48 to 49 thousand miles. The thing is starting to fall apart. Poorest excuse for a car I've ever had. Sad thing is the Saturn before this one was great. But of course I only kept it 3 years. And I recommended Saturn's to so many people, who actually went out and got them. Hope they will forgive me.

Anyway, thanks to stumbling on this web site I now find the answer to one of my problems. Shouldn't something so obviously defective as the "body control module" be recalled? That's ridiculous.

General comments?


20th Sep 2006, 07:34

No, what's ridiculous is expecting a "recall" for every malfunction a car experiences, even if it's common to that model.

Mandatory recalls are for SAFETY-RELATED PROBLEMS ONLY. Check with NHTSA if you don't believe me. Why is this so hard for some people to understand?

$800 for a BCM (which your car has needed since the odometer failed) is too high. Most dealers will replace it for $350 to $500.

Wow, a $350 repair in 6 years. What a pile.

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