2003 Saturn VUE FWD from North America - Comments

2003 Saturn VUE FWD and I think I am experiencing the VTi problem everyone seems to be reporting. only 40K miles on it, but when I tried to back out of my parking spot today it was like I was in neutral. the wheels weren't spinning at all either. I tried cycling through all the gears, but nothing worked. used it earlier today without an issue.

Does this issue sound like what everyone else has been reporting? I don't hear any noises, but this is the first time this has happened.

I got the extended warranty which runs out in September of this year so if I am to have problems I want them to be covered under the warranty. but I am just afraid that a mountain of problems are going to start happening. first it was the horn going off by itself ($800 to repair the air bag (under warranty) ) and now this.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. I'm calling the dealership first thing in the morning.

Wow, this website answered so many of my questions.

I own the infamous 03 Saturn Vue AWD with the VTi transmission. I bought it used back in 04 with 17,000 miles and loved it until last year when the AWD system AND the transmission went with 60,000 miles on it. The AWD system was $2000 to fix, but the dealer said not to worry about the transmission. They said they couldn't figure out what was wrong with the transmission, so they gave me a new one.

11 months later, the transmission is out again (accelerate, but not going anywhere sound familiar?). I towed it to the nearest dealership and that is the first time I've heard of this model having a major transmission problem. This was also the first time I've heard of the warranty, convenient that it's now out of warranty with 83,000 miles. If I would have known of the transmission problem or the warranty, I would have dumped the car. I still have 10 payments left.

It turns out they did not give me a new transmission the first time, but they just rebuilt it (which they also denied until I found the receipt proving they did do a substantial amount of work.) Also, the warranty is 1 year or 12,000 miles on a rebuilt transmission (which I think my grandma drives that in a year; I have a job and have to travel!).

Anyway I took this problem up with cooperate, saying they should have to pay for the transmission since its faulty, plus I was still under the 1 year. After giving me the run around for a week, the district manager offered to drop the price to $3,000 for a new transmission and said the main reason I didn't get a full reimbursement was because I bought the car used. This should have no bearing on their ruling, since I bought it still under Saturn's warranty.

The point is that Saturn is not owning up to their faulty product. They have an obligation to the consumer to produce a reliable product and if there is a major problem (i.e. VTi transmission) they should correct that problem. Shouldn't they have contacted us via mail if they extend the warranty on our vehicles or did I just not receive that letter? Where are the consumer's rights?

I will fight this with tooth and nail. I have contacted the BBB and the PA attorney general's office and I plan on contacting a lawyer in the morning. Rethink? Perhaps they should start thinking first. Needless to say I will NEVER purchase a Saturn again.

I took my 2003 Saturn Vue (4 cylinder), AWD, with the CVT to the dealer this morning because of a variation in rpm at constant road speeds. The whining/whiring noise (always had it from the time I bought it new) was real bad. The car has 97500 miles on it and is over 5 years old (bought it in Nov-02). Fortunately, I bought an extended warranty out to 100k miles. They are going to rebuild the transmission. I did not know, until now, that the CVT was poorly designed and possessed inherent reliability problems. Other than having a bad lifter at 60K miles (they replaced the cylinder head), the car has been good to me. I guess I am one of the lucky ones. The vehicle is paid off and I am considering dumping it. This is a real disappointment for me, since I am a Saturn fan due to buying an SL2 brand new with the 5 speed manual in 1993, that my son is still driving (over 250k miles with the original clutch). That was/is a great car (only paid $10500 new).

Just bought an 2003 Saturn Vue, 2.2 4-Cyl, VTi Transmission, with 79,000 miles on it. Thought it was a good deal. Purchase price below blue-book, ect. Today, it started leaking transmission fluid on the right side (after one week of ownership), so here I am after doing some on-line research. And I can now see what I am in for during the duration of my Saturn Vue ownership (Search: "Saturn Vue Complaints" on your search engine). Two points to make:

1. Do your homework! I failed to look into this Saturn Vue I purchased and any of its history, up to this point. If I had, I would not have made that purchase. Period! You see, even on new vehicle product lines you can get some indication of prior issues specific to that model or brand by looking into past performance or previous owner issues. In this case, all I needed to do was look!

2. The VTi was a failure on GM/Saturn's part and instead of dealing with the problem (it would have been cheaper for the company to buy them all back, as opposed to, fixing them until all until the warrenties expire). You see, GM would have done durability testing on the Vue with the 2.2 4-Cyl/VTi Transmission Powertrain line-up prior to any kind of production launch (both OTR and lab testing) and that testing would have indicated the flaws so many owners have had/or are currently experiencing. Yet the decision was made to go forward with it anyway. This tells me a lot about GM/Saturn.

I have owned GM vehicles of many varieties, for many years and never experienced a show stopper like what I am about to go through with the VTi issue. They have performed at or above my expectations. You see, like others on this board and elsewhere on-line regarding this issue it would be difficult for me to "dump" this vehicle into someone else's lap. So I will go at Saturn until they have resolved my issue or not (being the second owner, more likely not!)

I will post my efforts in this matter as they arise.

March 24, 2008.

I have a 2003 Vue bought new with the vti tranny. It was replaced at 9000 miles with a new one because of complete failure of the drive belt. The new one has been serviced several times and 2 days ago it lost reverse. It has 78K now. I was able to get some "unofficial information" from my dealer regarding this tranny. It seems that it has been used very successfully in a smaller car with no problems. The problem seems to be that the Vue is too big for the tranny and thus the failures. Regardless, I feel that after this repair (who pays yet, I don't know), My time with this vehicle will be short lived.

I also get the impression from reading these comments that there is a big variation in the skills of the mechanics who work on these things. I feel that I have been given a fair shake to date, but I'm not going to push my luck.

It would make sense from a strictly $ point of view to replace these things when major service is required as the dealer will have billed almost the same amount to Saturn after a couple of repairs as a new tranny would cost. It would seen do me that a different tranny could ne installed in these to replace the Vti and solve this issue.

By the way does anyone remember Pintos, Vegas, and Chevettes? These were all problematic too? Life goes on.

Hi All.

Not sure if you are all dealing with this problem in the US or in Canada. On Saturday night our 2003 Vue 4cylinder VTI transmission broke down.

We brought it to our dealership where we purchased it new in 03. I had not idea about the transmission issue and never had any warning of this happening (ie. lights, sounds, etc), the acceleration just stopped but the engine continued to run.

The dealership mentioned that I was outside of the warranty kilometers (100,000) as I had 132,000 kms on it (about 80-85,000 miles if you are wondering), but still under the 5 years.

The dealership tore the transmission down and contacted GM Canada/Saturn to see if they would cover anything.

All I was asked was if the transmission fluid was ever changed. It was checked everytime we had an oil change and was fine. I looked in the manual to see why they would ask. On Page 353 (I think) it says that the transmission fluid that can be used is one specific type. It also mentioned that in certain conditions, the fluid does not have to be changed until 100,000 miles /166,000 kms.

GM Canada agreed to replace the entire transmission which was apparently 6500.00 brand new. I just had to pay for 8 hours of labor. I confirmed with the service manager that the transmission is new and not rebuilt or my old one repaired. I agreed to paying my end as I thought it was a fair deal.

We will see how it goes with the new transmission although I was under the impression that the VTIs were no longer manufactured.

Please contact Ron Hoover at ronh@lakinlaw.com for all problems about the vti trans. he just called me and they are going to court with saturn next month. I paid $2500 in Jaunary for my vue's trans to be completely replaced. (they gave me half off, it would have been $5000!)

I had the car for 63 months and 69,000 miles so over the warranty.

He said it is possible I may get that $ back, AND money for the difference bacuse I cannot sell the car. Kelly blue book states $11000 for the car, if a dealer will only give me $5000 for it, they are going to fight for that $6000 too!!!

That is the least they could do since we are all driving around in unsafe vehicles! such a bummer for me though, paying $25,000 for it and I might get such a small amount when I planned on burning the thing for quite a few more years!

I have a 2004 vue 4 cylinder - when I go under 10 miles an hour in a parking lot especially it makes this whining noise and sometimes hesitates. I brought it to saturn and they said they couldn't find anything wrong with it just regular wear and tear on the vehicle. My car is only 4 years old and I am not rough on it and it shouldn't sound like that until its like 10 yrs old or older. Does anyone else have this issue?? My car has 62,000 miles on it right now. Thank you??

I have been have tons of problem with my 03 V6 Vue. I have about 62000 and had to replace the Accelerator Sensor, Throttle body, and the Main computer. I just got the truck out 2 weeks ago and I started to have problems again yesterday. It seems to be running real rich and than it died again. So now I'm waiting to hear back from Saturn to see what the problem is. Has anyone else had to replace this sensors?

2Nd TIME AROUND I HAD TO REPLACE THE IGNITION COIL, A FEW GASKETS, CATALYTIC CONVERTER AND THE COMPUTER HAD TO BE REPLACE AGAIN. I CAN'T WAIT TO TRADE THIS POS IN.

I have a 2004 4 cylinder with the hesitation problem. This usually happens at very low speeds between 10-20 mph. Of course the dealership cannot "duplicate" the problem. I can see from all of the postings that this is a very common issue. It does make me angry that the dealership does not acknowledge that this is a common problem.

I am a college student in Texas. I bought a 2002 AWD Saturn Vue LAST MONTH. As I got into this vehicle after class today, it would not turn on. I have been noticed the hesitation at the after a complete stop in the past few weeks. After a "health test" from the repair shop, I learned that the throttle actuator control system and the transmission control system FAILED THE TEST. This is the first test I have failed since being in college. Needless to say, I do not have the funds to fix the probem right now...?? We'll see what the dealership tells me.

Please help. 2003 Saturn Vue transmission problems, so I see that I am not the only one. If anyone has info on the law suit, please let me know. My car is in the shop at 8500 and it is going to be 5,900 to get out. Hmmmmmmm, guess what; for the transmission.

I bought a 2003 Vue awd v-6 new and have had nothing but headaches. 82,000 miles and 4 sets of tires due to unexplainable uneven wear. I stopped going to the local dealership because they treated me badly when I tried to resolve this issue explaining that it was wearing more on the right rear tire than others, and that it made a noise and it vibrated when turning at low speeds. They tried to blame me. Same tire had to have a wheel bearing assembly last February. Same tire had to have a broken cv axle replaced yesterday. Well, after a loud pop, the vibration is back and so is the noise. The shop pulled up an information sheet with details about the rear drive module differential clutch drum drawing moisture and failing and how to fix and update to avoid future problems. Problem is, they should recall this problem, not tell shops how to fix and make money off it. Saturn is aware of serious problems and is not going to recall and remedy. I've spent well over 5000.00 on repairs and maintenance already. I'm going to war with them. No more Saturn for me.

May 30 2008

Halifax Nova Scotia

My 2003 Vue VTI 4 cyl 128.000 kms just died at a stop light; no fwd or reverse in traffic, waiting for the verdict from local Saturn dealer.

After having read the previous reviews, shame on me, I should have done my home work before buying. I owe too much on it not to get it fixed, but at the same time probably will not be able to afford the fix. As I am now aware what a lemon. Hope Saturn will give me something for it, even knowing I am going to take a big financial hit, regardless, I think I will get rid of it ASAP.

Dave

Halifax N.S.