Recalls


CampaignManufacturerManufacturing dateType# of units affectedDate Owner notified MfgRecall Initiated byManufacturers of recalled vehicles/productsReport Recieved DateRecord Creation DateRegulation Part NumberFMVSS Number
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - PARK/NEUTRAL START SWITCH
00V310000GENERAL MOTORS CORP.from 03/01/2000 to 07/31/2000V (Vehicle)6500010/06/2000MFRGENERAL MOTORS CORP.10/12/200010/24/2000571114
Defect SummaryVehicle description: certain passenger vehicles, equipped with automatic transaxles, fail to comply with the requirements of fmvss no. 114, theft protection. these vehicles were built with an improperly adjusted automatic transaxle park lock cable assembly. if improperly adjusted, it is possible to shift from the park position with the ignition key removed.
Consequence SummaryThis condition increases the risk of a crash resulting from the unintended movement of parked vehicles.
Corrective SummarySaturn is asking owners and retailers to perform a functional check of the automatic transaxle park lock cable assembly operation, and if necessary, to have the cable adjusted. if owners are not comfortable performing the functional check themselves, they can have their dealer perform this inspection for them.
NotesOwner notification began october 6, 2000.owners who have questions about this recall should contact saturn at 1-800-553-6000. also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-dash-2-dot (1-888-327-4236).

Consumer Complaints


Fail datemilesoccurencesPurchase date
POWER TRAIN
11/02/2011132000
 Tl- the contact owns a 2001 saturn sl1. the contact stated that while driving 70 mph, he heard a loud noise and the vehicle started shaking excessively. neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who informed the contact that the valve body was defective and needed to be replaced. the contact was awaiting repairs. the current and the failure mileages were 132,000. kmj
11/02/2011132000
 Tl-the contact owns a 2001 saturn sl1. while driving 70 mph, the contact stated that he heard a loud noise when the vehicle started shaking excessively. the dealer or manufacturer had not been notified. the vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who informed the contact that the valve body was defective and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was awaiting repairs. the current and failure mileages were 132,000. bw
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
05/12/201197000
 Saturn 2001 sl1, my girlfriend was driving the car and called me saying that it was knocking she only drove it around the block due to her being scared of the sounds. i then drove the car around to ensure that it was a transmission problem. the car has 97,000 miles on it and i just had the o2 sensor changed for an idle high issue. i also had to clean out the idle air control valve due to build up and faulty operation. i brought my car to aamco to ensure the transmission is taken care of properly. they have to rebuild the transmission replacing every part inside the casing. 2,480$ in the hole, so i better not have anymore issues with this car after this. also the door lock gets stuck on the driver side, so you have to manually push over the leaver every time you exit the vehicle.
03/05/2008600001
 Only had the car for a couple of months - started having problems with the transmission..... kept shifting real hard from 2nd to 3rd (automatic). took it to our mechanic and said it was out of his hands and referred us to a transmission specialist. had the car towed to them and once he looked it over it needed a new transmission!!!! only had 60,000 miles - go figure. valve body!! wrote a letter to the saturn corporate office about the problem to see what they could do and told us that we should have taken the car to a saturn service station. we already were in the process of getting it repair, costing us $ 2,000.00!!!! i feel that saturn should look into their customer's complaints and realize that there actually is a problem with this models transmission. this could lead to an injury or something more serious. i don't think saturn would like to have that on their shoulders!! the more complaints about the transmission problem the better and hopefully they will make this a recall for the safety of the consumers. *tr
03/16/2008610001
 Transmission. *tr
10/15/200565945109/13/2005
 I was driving going about 55 when the car started to loose power i pushed on the gas and it went up to 5 rpm before kicking in the transmission then it kept doing that where the rmp had to go way up before kicking. i took it to the service department to have it look at but they could not find anything wrong. however it took them three times to find out about my brake problems. *jb
06/08/200553000102/22/2004
 The transmission started going out on my 2001 saturn sl1 (automatic), which only has 53,000 miles on it. a saturn service agent accidentally (i think) told me that the valve body tends to go out in that model. a local transmission specialist has verified that, and is repeatedly repairing transmissions on this model. *jb
01/26/20051
 While driving 50 mph vehicle stalled. driver tried to restart the vehicle and was not able to do so. vehicle was towed to a garage for inspection, and mechanic inspected the vehicle and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. *ak
POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL)
08/03/20015000212/24/2000
 2001 sl1 saturn