Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 03/07/2005 | 40000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2002 saturn l200. the contact attempted to start the vehicle and was unable to do so. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer who replaced the ignition cylinder according to recall 03v231000 (electrical system:ignition:module). the brake lights were inoperable and the timing chain failed without warning on a separate occasion. the dealer repaired the timing chain and the contact paid half of the repair cost. most recently, the powertrain control module and body control module suddenly failed. the vehicle had not been repaired. the vin was unavailable when the complaint was filed. the failure mileage was approximately 40,000. | |||
| 01/29/2010 | 95257 | 1 | |
| On friday, january 29, 2010, my daughter was driving on the highway, when the car started knocking and then just cut off. she was not able to restart it and struggled to quickly guide it to the shoulder of the road. she then called a wrecker who towed it to a local garage. they ran an analysis and discovered the timing chain had broken. he said , in his opinion, that this was highly unusual which spurred us to search the internet to learn if this was a documented problem with other 2002 saturn l200's with less than 100,000 miles, and apparently it is. we called the only saturn dealership left in our city and were told that her vin number was not on the recall list. with all that i have read in the past 24 hours, i find it very hard to believe this problem is only limited to just the 2001 l200 series. saturn seems not to want to help in any way, shape or form other than to bring the car in and replace the parts and/or engine at our expense! this is not acceptable for her or anyone else with similar problems! she has always taken good care of this vehicle. if my daughter had not had the presence of mind to get the car off the road when she did, there could have been a far different outcome! *tr | |||
| 11/15/2007 | 1 | ||
| 2002 saturn l200 52,000 miles i was driving on the loop here in lubbock going about 65mph when my car suddenly lost power. my car started going very slow and then came to a complete stop. the car also lost power steering so i was lucky enough to be able to get on the shoulder of the road. i had my car towed to a local mechanic to be worked on and he thought it might be the fuel pump. well he called later and said it was the timing chain and it had broke. he was very concerned about this because he said it should have outlasted the life of the engine. not only did this break, but when it broke, it tore up my engine as well. i then did a search on google for l200 timeing chain and it seems this is a common problem. not only is this a common problem, but saturn was aware of this problem and posted a bulletin to their service centers. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 07/26/2008 | 47300 | 1 | |
| I was driving home on 7/26/08 saturday night, and all of the sudden my engine just shut off. i had no warning and almost got in an accident. i pulled over and had to push the car into a parking lot at 11:00 pm. i did hear a noise from the engine right before it stopped, but i had no idea what it was. i had my mechanic tow it to his shop only to have him call me and tell me the timing chain had broken. it is going to cost 2000.00 dollars to fix and i am a single mother, and don't have that kind of money. i guess i am trying to figure out why saturn can get away with only recalling certain year cars for this problem!!!! my car is a saturn l200 series, and i got it in 2002. it only has 45000 miles on it, and i can't believe this timing chain randomly broke!!! they should be held accountable for all the cars in question no matter what the cost. i almost made my daughter motherless!!!!!!!!!! *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL) | |||
| 05/08/2006 | 31057 | 3 | 01/01/2005 |
| Dt*: the contact stated recall letter #05v245000 concerning the brake lights was received in december 2005. however, the vehicle was not experiencing any problems and was not taken to the dealer for immediate repair. recently, the contact was alerted by another driver that the brake lights were not working. the vehicle was driven to the dealer for inspection, and the dealer installed two tail lights, reinforced socket adapters and sockets under the recall. also, the dealer determined the brake light switch needed to be replaced, but this work has not been completed. when the vehicle was taken from the dealer, the cruise control no longer worked, the gear shift became difficult to shift into drive, and the parking lights and brake lights no longer worked. the dealer informed the contact these items failed as a result of the need to replace the brake light switch. updated 05/30/06. *ak | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AXLE ASSEMBLY | |||
| 07/11/2003 | 23614 | 1 | 03/08/2003 |
| While driving consumer her head a roaring in the front end. drive shift caused consumer to wreck 2002 saturn. *ts the consumer noticed noise/vibration in the front end. the consumer has replaced several tires. when the brakes were applied the vehicle would pull to the left. an alignment was performed correcting the rear cam and setting the front and rear toe. a collapsed motor mount caused rough idle. the rotors and pads had to be replaced. the rear hub assembly had to be replaced twice. left rear hub bearing had to be replaced. the front driver's side drive axle assembly had to be replaced. *nm | |||
| 03/09/2003 | 28000 | 20 | 03/08/2003 |
| Dt: the contact purchased a used vehicle two years ago, and the second day after purchasing the vehicle there was a roaring noise from the front of the vehicle. the dealer said this was a problem with the front tires ,and the dealer replaced both tires. about two weeks later the noise returned. the vehicle has been to the dealer numerous times for numerous repairs. the vehicle would jerk to the right which caused the contact to hit a curb. there were no injuries but a police report was taken. there have been multiple repairs to the wheel bearings and joints which have not corrected this problem. also the motor mounts and axles have been replaced in hopes of correcting this problem. the dealer has never been able to accurately repair the vehicle. currently there is a need for new rotors and more tires. the vehicle continues to have a roaring sound like a locomotive as noted by the contact. *ak update 1/11/2006 - *nm | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AXLE ASSEMBLY - AXLE SHAFT - SEAL | |||
| 01/01/1901 | 1 | ||
| Consumer complaint about leaking axle seals. consumer states that the mechanic informed him that the axle seals were leaking and it would cost him about $770.00 to fix it. *kb ***nar*** | |||
| POWER TRAIN - DRIVELINE | |||
| 03/11/2009 | 124000 | 1 | |
| The timing chain broke. the car was properly cared for and maintained, receiving oil changes and other preventive maintenance at the appropriate times. *tr | |||