I have a 2005 Saturn Vue, bought it brand new from dealer. It had 2 new transmissions installed in as many weeks. 3 days later car lost all power from cold start. 5 mins. later- full power. Took to dealer- “nothing’s wrong”. Also had back windows repaired 3 times due to not going up properly, replaced CD player, replaced bezel twice. I’m at my wit’s end- just waiting for it to crud out on me again. Still under warranty, by the way. I need advice. Thank you!
Two new transmissions in two weeks? When did this happen? How many miles?
Please define “lost all power from cold start.”
I have to ask, “Why do you still own this vehicle?” Have you looked into your state’s “lemon law?”
What I would do if I were you would be to contact the Saturn regional office and verify the authenticity of these warranty transmission replacements.
There is no way that Saturn, not the same as the dealer, is going to throw new transmissions at a vehicle en masse under warranty without raising an eyebrow or two. Two new transmissions in 2 weeks means someone at the dealer better be quick on their feet in answering questions from Saturn about this problem.
Saturn is the one doing the warranty reimbursement so they’re going to be on top of this entire affair.
The same could be said about the repeated rear window repair, especially if it was multiple repairs under warranty on the same window.
I can’t be of much help to you on this but there’s a little bit of a red flag here that you may have been yanked around on a trans replacement.
If these repairs were legitimately done under warranty (strange as it is) then the regional office should have all of the sordid details on file.
If they have nothing on file…you been had.
I should have added something.
If you talk to the regional office do not tell them what has been done; only ask how many warranty claims have been processed against the vehicle and for what.
The transmissions were replaced in the middle of November and then again at the end of November. Each time they had the car for 5 days. There were 51,000 miles on the thing and I have to point out that I have kept up on service religiously.
I drove down my alley into the street (3 houses) and that’s when the car lost power- it was the first drive in the morning. (Cold start). I have looked into the lemon law and am forwarding my records to an attorney, having said that, I’m looking for answers because the dealer’s not taking me seriously. Thanks for your help!
First of all, what happened to your original transmission?? Why did it have to be replaced?? Next, what happened to the replacement transmission which made them replace it again?? I’m just trying to figure out whether they did something wrong while replacing the first trans.
transman
First time- I took the car in because it was making a lot of noise in the front, 15 mph up hills, no power. According to the service tech’s comments in my records " cause- broken, fractured. found the noise coming from the transaxle fluid changed, replaced trans cover, added friction modifier".
Second time- When I picked the car up after the above repair, I knew something wasn’t right as it sounded completely different. Service guys told me it was the fluid and to let it run through, etc, etc. Clearly things weren’t as they said because I went back in and the service guys notes say “confirmed customers concerns of grind noise coming from transmission when vehicle is in park. found fault with vti case half.”
The service tech explained to me that HALF of the transmission was replaced each time, if that makes sense. Forgive me for not stating that originally. He said the original tranny in the Vue was bad and the new one that they put in TWICE in 2 weeks is better. Seems pretty crazy that a 3 year old car has this many problems.
Make sure everything is written in detail on the shop orders, including the dates you brought the car in and the dates you picked it up, and keep your copies. You can research your state’s lemon laws on the JD Power website.
It sounds to me like a clear lemon. Whether it meets the legal definition at this point will be ascertainable once you read your state’s version of the law.
Sincere best.
Thanks for all of the information and advice- I appreciate it!