Faults:

I purchased this car brand new in 2002. I have owned two other Saturn sedans before so I was not nervous about buying the Vue. That was a huge mistake.

The fuel pump went out after 3000 miles.

It took two visits to the dealership to fix a coolant leak at 6500 miles.

A head shield of some sort came loose, causing even more road noise than usual to come into the car.

A trans-axle oil leak appeared at 9800 miles.

The blower for the air conditioning/heater burnt out and needed replaced.

The radio would not operate and had to be replaced.

Today, my heater would not function. I drove to the dealership in 16 degree weather with my windows cracked to keep the windshield from fogging up. Turned out to be a shorted out wire assembly.

General Comments:

When I bought a brand new car, I never dreamed these problems would occur. Sure, maybe a bug or two, but this many? And I have to ask, what next?

The dealership has not been helpful, other than the service department. I guess they don't care that I was almost stranded in a blizzard because my defrost wasn't melting the sheet of ice that was building up on my windshield.

The two Saturn's I had in the past, an 1997 SL1 and a 1999 SL2, were excellent cars.

A friend of mine has a 2001 Saturn Wagon and has had in it in for repair over 20 times. Obviously Saturns quality has gone down the tubes.

Faults:

No problems in 27,543 miles.

General Comments:

The handling is great, goes through snow very well, comfortable on short and long trips, and gas mileage is 27 mpg in town and over 30 mpg on the open road.

Faults:

I have had the same problem four separate times. The "Service Engine Soon" light comes on, and the car suffers a noticeable lack of power and acceleration ability, particularly on hills. On some, but not all, of these four occasions the "Reduced Power" light also comes on intermittently. In addition to the four occasions mentioned, the problem has also happened two other times for very brief periods (less than 15 minutes) and then disappeared.

General Comments:

The first time I took the car into the service department for repair, they said they could not find a problem. So they turned off the "Service Engine Soon" light and told me the car was ready to go. It worked fine for about two weeks, and then the problem reappeared. The second time in the shop, they replaced a "Throttle Position Assembly" and told me the problem was fixed. The car worked well for another few months, and the same problem happened again. So this third time, they replaced the gas pedal and a few other parts whose names I cannot recall. Then the car worked for two more weeks. I am scheduled to go back to the service department in a few days.

Eventually, if they keep replacing parts, I will have a brand new car. Someday, they might find the actual problem. I am not holding my breath. But I am getting well acquainted with the Saturn service department.

It would be nice if Saturn would offer a "loaner car" program.