25th Nov 2005, 05:07

It nice to see I’m not the only one having problems with my Saturn LS2. My last car was a repair nightmare, so the most important thing for me was making sure I wouldn’t be stranded on the road, so I bought a warranty for the duration of my car payments, and it’s paid for itself over and over again. I’ve only put on 20,000 miles.

Shortly after buying it, the fuel pump broke and I had to have it towed. Saturn fixed it under the warranty, minus my deductible and the service was great. The towing company scratched the trunk badly, and Saturn gave me a mobile detailer. The mobile detailer got her buffer wet and ruined the finish on the whole car, which after going back to Saturn, they fixed right. During this, they also provided me a rental car at no charge. I was impressed with the service. I complained to them about a transmission problem and they couldn’t find it. It’s the same problem as stated in the above owner’s description of a jerky delayed shift during quick acceleration at high speeds. They told me to keep an eye on it, but until they could find a problem, there was nothing they could do about it.

Shortly after that, things started going wrong with the interior of the car. The driver’s side window wouldn’t close properly. As I do have this deductible, I get things fixed in bulk to keep costs down. The passenger door lock wouldn’t go down all the way. The light panel on the rear door fell off. The trunk lock quit working, and the transmission still wasn’t working properly. They replaced everything, but the transmission under my warranty. They still couldn’t find the problem with that.

On Thanksgiving last year, the battery died and had to be replaced. That was not under warranty, even though I had the car for less than a year. I was not impressed with that.

Shortly after that, the same lock they replaced on the passenger door locked wouldn’t close when I used the child safety feature. The key began getting stuck in the ignition, and the service engine finally went off. Again, I went to Saturn, and again they gave me a rental car. They finally replaced the transmission and re-replaced the door lock, but told me to get a fresh key for my ignition and that was the problem. The remote controls were unresponsive and they also replaced them. There was no charge for any of that.

Now I’m about to go into the third lock replacement on the door, and the ignition has left me stranded twice this month with the key unable to be turned. It took a lot of jiggling and slamming on the steering wheel to get unstranded. I received a recall on the brake lights or something like that, and am sure my car is going to have to be left overnight. I expect they will provide another rental car and repair all of it at no charge.

Overall, the ride on this car is nice. Putting a seatbelt on a child is horrible, because the latch pushes into the car seat and takes two hands to do. Small children cannot do that by themselves in this car. I drove it across the country and had no problems. I’ve been very impressed with Saturn’s service, but not so with the car. If I hadn’t listened to my gut about getting the warranty, I’d be kicking and screaming about the car.

26th Aug 2006, 13:49

I have the car since May-2000 and had the same problems as mentioned above. For the brake lights there was a recall and was fixed free. My worse problem is the tires. I have now 38,000 miles on the car and am on my 3rd set of tires, which are again wearing on the front very strange on the outside, anyone else having tire problems?

4th Oct 2006, 18:29

I have had a 2000 LS2 since new. Nothing but trouble. I also had ignition replaced because of key not working. ($600) Also had problems with front tires going bald on the inside. Taillight recall to fix corrosion. Entire air conditioning system replaced. ($2000). New battery and positive battery cable ($500) Apparently the battery cable is hard to replace. Now the engine is making noises like a diesel engine and won't accelerate over 20 km per hour. I'm unloading this baby as soon as I get it repaired...again.

5th Oct 2006, 15:47

For all those drivers that are having problems with their transmissions slamming into gear, go and have you Mass Air Flow sensor checked. Mine did the same thing for a couple of months and I went in to have it checked. Saturn told me that the Mass Air Flow sensor is what was causing the problem. They replaced the sensor and it fixed the problem. Now the car shifts smooth. I can't feel it shift when I am on the interstate or in town.

8th Oct 2006, 21:17

I also had a LS2 and loved it. Sure I had a few problems with the car, but wish I didn't have to trade it in for for a new car. A year ago I ran into a puddle of water and shorted out the electrical system to the cooling fan. That caused the fan to keep running and ran down my battery.

Caution: Do not have your car engine steam cleaned, the same thing happened to me when I detailed the car in preparation to use it as a trade in. The car died in the parking lot of the Saturn dealer and it was not worth a dime.

20th Nov 2006, 09:51

I too had problems with my LS2 slamming into gear when the service light (with the wrench) was lit. I would turn off the engine and restart and the light would be gone for a while. Then, it would come on again. I took my Saturn in numerous times and they could not figure out the problem. However, after reading this board and seeing the Mass Air Flow sensor, I explained to the service man that this might be the problem or the transmission selonoid. He said, "Well, that's the internet, and not your car." Well, they came to me while I was waiting in the showcase room and said, "We found your problem. It's the Mass Air Flow Sensor." Needless to say -- THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

1st Jan 2007, 18:15

I bought my LS2 new, and I've been driving it for the past 7 years. After driving numerous vehicles I have found that the LS2 is easily the most fun to drive. The power to weight ratio is the best in its class providing a ridiculous 0-60 time. I have had a few minor problems that Saturn really made every effort to correct. The problems include:

- A solenoid in the transmission went bad, causing it to slam into the next gear.

- The brake light sockets were recalled and once replaced worked perfectly

- The mass-air flow sensor went bad and was replaced.

Other than those problems that were all fixed under the warranty, I have to say that this is one of the best cars out there. My LS2 has 76,000 miles on it and I plan on keeping it until the engine seizes or I get enough money to buy a Corvette. This is an unbelievable sleeper car that has won me quite a bit of money off of my friends.