2002 Saturn Vue

I BEGAN TO HEAR A LITTLE BIT MORE ENGINE NOISE THAN NORMAL, LIKE A TAPPING NOISE. I HAD THE OIL CHANGED AS I DID REGULARLY AND WITHIN MANUFACTURERS RECOMMENDATION. LOCAL MECHANIC SAID IT WAS THE TIMING CHAIN AND TO CONTINUE WITH FREQUENT OIL CHANGES. CAR DIED WHILE TRAVELING AT 40 MPH LOCALLY ON THE WEEKEND, BUT COULD HAVE HAPPENED WHILE TRAVELING 65MPH ON MY WAY TO WORK IF IT WAS A WEEKDAY. LUCKILY, I WAS ABLE TO PULL IMMEDIATELY INTO A SIDE STREET AND HAVE THE CAR TOWED TO LOCAL GOODYEAR SERVICE CENTER. I'VE SEEN INTERNET POSTINGS CITING THE SAME PROBLEMS ON SATURN MODELS WITH THE SAME ENGINE. THERE MAY EVEN BE A RECALL FOR THE L-CLASS SATURN CARS WITH THE SAME ENGINE AND NOT THE VUE? *TR

THE CAR SHUT OFF WHILE DRIVING. THERE WAS NO WARNING PRIOR TO CAR TURNING OFF: NO INTERIOR WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON PRIOR TO CAR STOPPING AND NO NOISES WERE HEARD PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT. I WAS UNABLE TO START THE CAR BACK UP AND MOVE OFF OF THE ROAD. THIS CAR HAS ALL OF IT'S ROUTINE MAINTENANCE UP TO DATE. DEALERSHIP SYSTEM DIAGNOSTICS SHOWS THAT IT IS A PROBLEM WITH THE "CRANK SHAFT POSITION SENSOR." *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 SATURN VUE. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE ENGINE AND REDUCED POWER LIGHTS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT CONTROL PANEL. THE VEHICLE COMPLETELY LOST POWER. THE CONTACT HAD TO SHIFT INTO NEUTRAL IN ORDER TO PULL OFF THE ROAD. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A LOCAL DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THE TIMING CHAIN FAILED. SHE HAS PICTURES OF THE FAILED COMPONENT. THE CONTACT FILED A FORMAL COMPLAINT WITH THE MANUFACTURER. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 117,000. UPDATED 02/15/08. *LJ

WHILE DRIVING MY 2002 SATURN VUE 2.2L 4CYL LAST NIGHT AT APPROX. 55-60MPH, MY REDUCED POWER LIGHT CAME ON, ALONG WITH THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON. I HAD NO FOREWARNING NOISES OR INDICATION MY CAR WAS GOING INTO FAILURE. I IMMEDIATELY PUT MY CAR INTO NEUTRAL, SHUT THE IGNITION DOWN, AND PULLED OFF THE ROAD AS SAFELY AS I COULD, STILL AT APPROX. 50 MPH SPEED AS I HAD MY 3 CHILDREN IN THE CAR WITH ME. AFTER THE CAR WAS SHUT DOWN FOR 5 MINS AND SPEAKING TO MY GM DEALERSHIP, THEY ADVISED ME TO TRY TO TURN THE CAR OVER IN CASE IT WAS JUST A "GLITCH" IN THE COMPUTER SYSTEM, TO NO AVAIL. IT WOULDN'T TURN OVER. AFTER BEING TOWED TO MY GM DEALERSHIP, I WAS TOLD MY VEHICLE HAD A "ZERO TOLERANCE" ENGINE, AND THAT MY TIMING CHAIN HAD BROKE. I WAS TOLD MY ENGINE WAS MOST LIKELY BLOWN, AND THAT I NEEDED TO HAVE MY ENGINE REPLACED. THE MINIMAL COST OF THIS TIMING CHAIN ERROR IS $3,000 EVEN WITH A USED ENGINE GOING INTO MY CAR. I SEE MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT SATURN'S 2.2L ENGINE IN THE APPROX. 2001-2002 RANGE, AND I BELIEVE MY VEHICLE IS PART OF THIS. I AM CONTACTING SATURN ON MONDAY THE 21ST TO SEE IF I CAN GET SOME SORT OF HELP IN REPLACING MY ENGINE, AS THIS IS APPARENTLY AN OBVIOUS PROBLEM WITH THEIR ENGINES. *TR

THE ONLY "EVENT" WHICH LED TO THE FAILURE WAS ACCELERATING TO THEN MERGE INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC. THE TIMING CHAIN FAILED/BROKE DURING ACCELERATION WHILE MERGING WITH ONCOMING TRAFFIC. POWER WAS THEN LOST,THE VEHICLE DIED WHILE GOING DOWNHILL. THIS CAUSED LOSS OF FULL BRAKES AND STEERING WHILE THE VEHICLE ROLLED TO A STOP. THE CHAIN THEN DAMAGED MULTIPLE VALVES LEADING TO A POTENTIAL MINIMUM $2000 REPAIR. *TR

MY 16 YEAR OLD SON WAS DRIVING. MY 13 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WAS HIS PASSENGER. HE WAS DRIVING A 2002 SATURN VUE. HE HIT A TREE, DEAD-ON, GOING 40 MPH. THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. FIREFIGHTERS, POLICE, AMBULANCE FOLKS, BODY SHOP REP: THEY ALL SAID THE SAME THING AND LOOK AT ME WITH AMAZEMENT THAT THIS HAPPENED (OR DIDN'T HAPPEN). I BOUGHT THE CAR WITH THE IMPRESSION IT WAS EQUIPPED WITH WORKING AIRBAGS. IF A VEHICLE HITS SOMEONE, DEAD-ON, GOING 40MPH, I EXPECT AIRBAGS TO WORK, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS SOLD TO ME USING THIS AS A FEATURE. LAST NIGHT, A WEEK AFTER OUR ACCIDENT, WE PASSED YET ANOTHER VUE ACCIDENT SO I STOPPED OUT OF CURIOSITY. THIS LADY WAS TRAVELING 40-45 MPH AND REAR ENDED ANOTHER CAR. GUESS WHAT, HER AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY EITHER. I SUPPOSE I'LL HAVE TO START MY OWN LITTLE "SATURN" INVESTIGATION SERVICE AS I INTEND TO FIND OUT JUST HOW OFTEN THIS HAPPENS. THIS LADY HAD A 2007 VUE, SO I DO NOT ACCEPT MY CAR BEING OLDER OR ANYTHING ELSE AS AN EXCUSE OF SOMETHING THAT LOOKS TO ME LIKE WAS DEFECTIVE TO START WITH. *TR

I PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE USED (APP 47K MILES ON IT) IN MARCH 2006. DURING SUMMER OF 2006 THERE STARTED TO BE A PROBLEM WHEREIN THE CAR, WHEN TRAVELING DOWN THE ROAD, WOULD SUDDENLY SWITCH, WITHOUT WARNING, INTO A "REDUCED POWER MODE". A SMALL LIGHT WOULD COME ON INDICATING THIS, BUT THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WAS THAT ABOUT 5 SECONDS AFTER THIS LIGHT COMES ON, THE VEHICLE DOWN SHIFTED INTO 2ND GEAR AND CAUSED THE ENGINE TO BREAK DOWN TO 30 MPH. THE ONLY WAY TO RESTORE POWER WAS TO PULL OVER AND SHUT THE VEHICLE OFF FOR 30-60 SECONDS. ***I WAS TOLD BY THE REPAIR CENTER THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETINS WITHIN SATURN FOR THIS DEFECT, SO THEY KNOW IT EXISTS. *** HOWEVER, BECAUSE THE COST OF THE REPAIR (TO CONSUMERS) IS OVER $1300, THEY HAVE NOT MADE A RECALL OF WHAT IS OBVIOUSLY A SAFETY DEFECT. THE DEALER HAS ATTEMPTED SEVERAL SHORTCUTS IN THE PAST YEAR TO FIX THE PROBLEM, EACH TIME WITH ONLY TEMPORARY SUCCESS. I HAVE COMPLAINED TO BOTH THE SATURN REPAIR CENTER AND SATURN CORPORATE CUSTOMER SERVICE, NEITHER WILL OFFER ANY CONCESSIONS OTHER THAN COVERING A $100 DIAGNOSTIC FEE AFTER I HAD ALREADY PAID SUCH FEE TWICE. A DEFECT WHICH CAUSES THE CAR TO FORCEFULLY SLOW DOWN TO 30 MPH IS RISKING THE LIFE OF MY FAMILY, SINCE WE OFTEN TRAVEL ON HIGHWAYS TO GET TO WHERE WE ARE GOING. CURRENTLY, WE DO NOT USE THE VEHICLE FOR HIGHWAY TRAVEL AND ARE FORCED TO USE OUR OTHER CAR. *JB