Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 12/10/2011 | 110000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2001 saturn sl2. the contact stated that the vehicle would not start. the vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop and the contact was informed that the timing chain needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. the failure mileage was 110,000. | |||
| 12/10/2011 | 110000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2001 saturn sl2. the contact stated that the vehicle would not start. the vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop and the contact was informed that the timing chain needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. the failure mileage was 110,000. sm. | |||
| 04/12/2009 | 66636 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2001 saturn sl2. while driving 7 mph, the vehicle failed. the contact attempted to restart the vehicle, but was unsuccessful. she did not notice any warnings prior to the failure. the vehicle was towed to a local repair shop and the technician stated that the timing chain failed. the repair would cost $2,000. the contact called the manufacturer and was advised to take the vehicle to a local dealer for further inspection. the vehicle was towed to the dealer and they also stated that the timing chain failed. the manufacturer stated that there was no current recall on her vehicle, but they would cover half of the repair cost. the contact does not feel she should have to pay because there is a service bulletin pertaining to the timing chain failure. the vehicle has not been repaired. the failure mileage was 66,636. | |||
| 07/14/2007 | 57777 | 1 | |
| I was pulling out of a parking lot onto the main highway when the car made a pffff sound and i lost all power to the car the motor just stopped. i had no power steering and no power brakes. the dealer stated the timing chain just snapped and then 12 out of the 16 valves in the car bent. i found this incredible on a vehicle with such low mileage. *tr | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM - HOSE | |||
| 08/01/2000 | 99 | ||
| Numerous brake failure. brake pedal fades to the floor after sitting overnight, notice not fluid at rt front brake line, replace master cylinder. power bleed and rt 26 miles after rapair, normal braking performance. poor brake performance, sometimes a loud snap or click before failure, sometime no warning, sometime just a soft or spongy brake pedal. battery leaking acid into battery box, verified and found battery leaking at possitive cable replace battery, cover, possitive cable, trans filter and cleaned engine compartment. hose from coolant tank to throttle body rubbed, replace hose. adjustment parking brakes hard to pull, adjust per service manuel. | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 04/01/2006 | 75000 | 1 | 01/01/2005 |
| Excessive oil consumption - epa problem at 75,000 miles our 2001 sl2 began to consume oil at an alarming rate. 1 qt in less than 150 miles. this is less that one quart per fuel stop. no oil is dripping and the engine is dry of oil. there are thousands of such cases posted on numerous web sites. all with the same symptoms starting at between 60,000 and 80,000 miles. it seems that gm used low tension oil rings and they stick easily allowing the oil to burn in the cylinder. a temporary fix can be obtained by removing the spark plugs and filling each cylinder with car cleaner. a soaking of several hours will stop the oil usage for about 3000 miles then it will start again. this is also an epa problem as the oil is going out the exhaust. the response from saturn is this falls in the realm of normal oil usage. *tr | |||
| 01/05/2003 | 43000 | 1 | |
| 2001 saturn 1.9 liter l4 sl2 5 speed. the manifold gasket went bad causing anti-freeze to leak into the engine and caused the water pump to go bad. the car had 46,000 miles. *jb | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||
| 12/04/2005 | 10000 | 50 | 09/10/2000 |
| We noticed that sometimes the car was engine was racing when coming to a stop and you have to hold extra pressure on the bake pedal to keep the car from moving forward. the idle speed increases from a normal 750 rpm to approximately 1750 rpm while in neutral, intermediately, sometimes right after starting the car, sometimes after driving for a while. the car engine when it does this will exceed 1100 rpm while in drive with your foot on the brake. the car was taken to the dealer numerous times under while under warranty and one time specifically while it was exhibiting the high idle and no cause was discovered, no parts replaced; the problem still exists today. the dealer is unable to find the problem, even though we took it in while the engine was high idling. *nm | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM - MANIFOLD/HEADER/MUFFLER/TAIL PIPE | |||
| 02/13/2004 | 41000 | 1 | 09/09/2000 |
| We had to have the intake manifold gasket replaced on our 2001 saturn sl2 with only 41,500 miles. the car received regular maintenance and was just out of warranty. i understand this may be a common problem with gm vehicles and believe that saturn should be responsible for the cost of the repair.*ak | |||