Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 04/26/1997 | 1 | 05/01/1993 | |
| The transmission shifts gears harshly & erratically. it's not only uncomfortable but dangerous as well. saturn is aware of the problem because i have a copy of a technical bulletin(#93-t-22a) that they issued which describes the problem. i wrote to the president of saturn (don hudler) in april 1997. the reply i received from his office was that since the warranty is up, the need for repairs is unfortunate and they refused to reimburse me $750. they also said that just because they issue a technical bulletin doesn't mean that the car has any problem. so, after having it fixed in 4/97, the car was fine until 8/98. i'm having the same exact problem again. i can give you a copy of the technical bulletin and letter from saturn if you need it. i know i'm not the only one with this problem. dozens of mechanics have told me that they've encountered this problem plenty of times with saturns. when i took the car to lee myles transmissions, they knew what was wrong with the trany before they even took it for a test d | |||
| 01/01/1995 | 1 | ||
| Transmission fluid reservoir gasket leaks. | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 01/19/1993 | 35000 | 1 | 05/01/1993 |
| After turning the vehicle on and placing the gear in park or neutral vehicle will jumped forward, dealer examined the vehicle, and found that the valve body assembly had to be replaced. *ak the consumer owns four other saturn vehicles. three of them have also had their valve body assemblies replaced. all of the vehicles had under 50000 miles on their odometer's. *nm | |||
| 08/15/2001 | |||
| Transmission exploded while driving caused by a pin coming loose from within, and forcing it through transmission case. dealer/manufacturer were notified. feel free to provide any further details on this matter.*ak | |||
| 08/15/2001 | 1 | 04/01/1999 | |
| While traveling at 65 mph transmission blew up, and some pieces flew into car*ak consumer states transmission is a 5 speed manual, the differential within the transmission failed causing the internal parts to violently puncture the transmission case making the vehicle difficult if not impossible to control, the transmission shifter was jammed and unable to shift gears.*jb | |||
| 09/06/2000 | 04/01/1993 | ||
| Valve body failed - trouble with gears engaging then during total failure, tansmission went into 2nd gear without any change in incline, or power application and surged in and out of second gear (at highway speed). valve body replaced - dealer readily admits a common probelm with saturns built in early 90's. if gears fail to engage i see a safety concern - especially since replacement parts are different from original stock - the a solution to this has been engineered but why no recall? | |||
| 03/01/2000 | 2 | 04/01/1993 | |
| Transmission hesitates before going into reverse and lurches backward when it does. | |||
| 1 | 07/01/1999 | ||
| I have a very difficult time putting car in reverse, i beleive because of the transmission...the reverse gear takes a while to kick-in. there is a loud noise (coming from the transmission). the dealer was notified when i was under my 60day warranty about the reverse problem (there was no noise yet) and he took it for a ride and said nothing was wrong (it doesn't happen everytime). now, i called him and said that this had happened to the transmission and he says he doesn't remember ..and the warranty is up. | |||
| 12/28/1999 | 12/01/1997 | ||
| Engine block has split near the location of alternator ,causing it to be lose and cut into the belt. the block busted upon starting the vehicle. transmission has a problem when shifting, and saturn has told me they can't find anything odd about it. nor is there anything odd about the engine overheating during barely warm days in the summer. possibly connected. *ak | |||
| 07/15/1995 | 5 | 04/01/1993 | |
| Transmission delays then slames into reverse when hot. the valve body was replaced four times by the same dealer. now the dealer wants to take the trans. apart with a five hour labor charge. the cost would about $500. just to find out what was wrong all the long. with no reimbursement for the first four valve bodies. | |||
| 01/21/1993 | 1 | 12/30/1992 | |
| Second gear actuator failed. mjs | |||
| 06/01/1996 | 1 | 05/01/1993 | |
| Transmission bangs into gear and has trouble going into reverse gear due to failure of the valve body. | |||
| 06/11/1994 | |||
| Brakes have never worked properly. have to brake ahead of time to avoid accident. dealer replaced and resurfaced rotors 2 times. transmission leaking. replaced valve body cover gasket. another mechanic claims crack in tranmission. first half was done under warranty. second time rotors/pads warranty had expired. defect is still reoccurring. *ak | |||
| POWER TRAIN - DRIVELINE | |||
| 10/10/1994 | 3 | ||
| Vehicle vibration when shifting into drive at idle. replaced transmission mount. tt | |||
| POWER TRAIN - MANUAL TRANSMISSION | |||
| 08/15/2001 | 1 | 04/01/1999 | |
| While traveling at 65 mph transmission blew up, and some pieces flew into car*ak consumer states transmission is a 5 speed manual, the differential within the transmission failed causing the internal parts to violently puncture the transmission case making the vehicle difficult if not impossible to control, the transmission shifter was jammed and unable to shift gears.*jb | |||
| 11/01/2000 | 1 | ||
| Transmission was replaced, it would not go into reverse and would not shift into a higher gear. *slc | |||
| 1 | |||
| Transmission slips. | |||
| 06/25/1996 | |||
| While making right/left hand turns transmission pops out of 3rd gear without warning.*ak | |||
| Manual trans axle w/5 spd system blew up, throwing shrapnal. please describe details.*ak | |||