Are you a current or recent car shopper who bought an EV and then installed solar – or who had solar already, making the decision to go electric easier?
OR
Are you a recent EV buyer (past 3 months) as a result of manufacturer incentives and dealer discounts on these vehicles, including year-end deals? Were you convinced to buy an EV after finding a good end-of-year deal, or due to uncertainty around which EVs will no longer qualify for full/partial EV tax credits in 2024? A national business reporter is interested in speaking with you. Please reach out to [email protected] by 12/15 if interested in sharing your story.
OR
Are you a recent EV buyer (past 3 months) as a result of manufacturer incentives and dealer discounts on these vehicles, including year-end deals? Were you convinced to buy an EV after finding a good end-of-year deal, or due to uncertainty around which EVs will no longer qualify for full/partial EV tax credits in 2024? A national business reporter is interested in speaking with you. Please reach out to [email protected] by 12/15 if interested in sharing your story.
Comments
and we are told that we must replace the front
disc rotors because they are out of round. The
rotors were previously replaced right after
purchase, then replaced again in 2004,
resurfaced in 2005, and started giving vibration
early this year but only at highway speed did we
notice it. First to eliminate the driver from
the equation, she has driven several vehicles for
at least 250K without a single rotor or brake issue.
When I discuss the problem with the dealer's service
manager, which is not that the rotors are out of round,
(that is the result of the problem) the dealer appears
to not have much in the way of corporate research or
procedures to eliminate the problem. It is as if there
is no reason for them to invest time and energy to resolve
what may be a marginal design where material substitutions
have occured somewhere down the product line, or there may
be a maintenance point or adjustment that was not monitored
at the factory when producing the vehicles.
We discussed that perhaps the ratio of front to
back braking force was not correct and that
could have contributed to having the front
rotors doing more than their designed share of
the braking and thereby producing repeated out
of round rotors. I asked them to clarify whether
one or both rotors were out of round and I was
told that they both were out of round, so that
would seem to eliminate a single caliper issue
in the front causing one rotor to go out of round. And
it appears to me that if two rotors are warping equally
and at the same time, it is either a design issue or an
abnormal usage issue. I have the benefit of being married
to the driver of the vehicle so I know it is not a usage issue.
So I went ahead and had the dealer do the rear brakes
adjustment in the event that this might resolve the root
problem. (I was told that braking in reverse will not
fully adjust them and in order to adjust them properly
it must be done manually by a technician). This I was very
suprised at. Anyone have any expert advice here?
I then asked if perhaps the wrong pad material
was installed at the factory which could be the
root problem, the dealer checked and reported
that the pad material installed on the vehicle is the
correct pads material for the vehicle which was installed
at the factory because they had not been changed at this point 37,500 Miles on the 2003 vehicle...
So I ask you for assistance in helping to
determine the root cause of the problem. At this
point I do not want to invest >$500 in new
rotors only to have them out of round in a year
or two.
I have two options as I see it:
1. Buy aftermarket drilled/scored lifetime
warranty rotors and pads and install them.
ex:http://brakeperformance.com/site/brake_rotors.php?vehicle_type_id=1&vehicle_m- ake_id=1621&ad=google
2. Fix the root cause problem and have the
dealer replace the rotors with OEM equipment.
What could I be missing? I have not read the service manual for this vehicle yet as it cost >$300 to purchase. Any input or similar experience?
Rob
When I reminder the dealership about changing rotors 3 times all they said was Ya we know.
I know it won't do any good, but I am calling Corporate and I want to call a state agency just to record this problem. I'm afraid that evenutally the rotors won't be covered under the warranty.
Because the "Average Joe" shouldn't be touching this car..! They are far too technical for anyone other than a trained mechanic. Screw with it and it will cost you lots to get it fixed. Save your money and pay someone who has a clue what they are doing.
Not trying to be nasty, but mechanics get rich off guys who are going to save money. I know, I'm one who makes a killing fixing DIY'ers screw up... DON'T DO IT...!
Does anyone know the recommended frequency of a tune up for the 2002 Saturn Vue. Mine has just over 106,000 km and has never had a tune up. I've checked the owners manual and there is no mention in the maitenance and repair section.
If I do need to get one done, should I go to the dealership or can I bring it my local mechanic which I've used before to change brakes etc.
Also, just noticed the vehicle is leaking oil from underneath the engine - I think it may be a leaky gasket? Has anyone else experienced this with this vehicle. Thanks.
Brakes are a problem usually generated by jammed calipers. When this happen the caliper does not retract so the brake are all the time in contact with the disc. Equally if the brake is above 2-3 years the spring that hold the brake pads get corroded and the pad start to goes out of place. If the wheel has hit something hard the disc may be out of round (round out) and this affect the disc unevenly producing vibration when braking. For years I have this problem in my car and the garage was sucking me the money. I know about this jobs because I read and I did my practice when I started to look after my car. There is hundreds of very helpful advice in the Internet of how to do things for ourselves.
Manuals can be very useful indeed. There ‘Troubleshooting” sections for each piece of car item. Of course there are problem that I could not solve by myself, as for example the blinking of a light in the instrumentation panel. I read the manual and I inferred that a sensor might be wrong. I took the car to the garage, show the page on the manual to the technician and he went to the part department got the sensor and changed it for me. They charged me ½ hour of labor plus the part. The blinking stopped.
I understand that this engine was only used in 2002-03. I had wanted to drive this car for another 3-4 years - now I don't trust it.
Any Ideas??
We also had rotors replaced at 17K and 30K. Dealer did not want to cover under warrent. VUE now has 50K. My opinion is the rotors are too small for vehicle and warp under heat caused during braking and next time I will replace them myself with after market rotors which are 1/2 the price. According to dealer front brakes only good for 30K miles
Was thinking could it be the voltage level on the battery ?
Rob
I don't think this is necessary and wanted to get some thoughts on what I could do to secure the shift knob to the shifter. I was thinking of just using glue. Any thoughts? Thanks.
$ 150 from GM, cheaper on Ebay
I miss the days when you could check the computer with a paper clip...
The first problem is that the volume control (+) on the steering wheel will turn the volume down,
I have taken it back to Saturn 5 times for this.
They have tried several fixes: the switch on the steering wheel, reprograming the vehicle, replaced the radio. all did not fix the problem. They had to replace a coil in the steering wheel. The volume buttons were getting interference with the air bag causing this problem. I've had it going almost a week now and the problem seems to be gone.
A second problem, which has not been fixed yet. is when listening to AM for an extended period of time, then switching to FM, the sound is muffled. If you turn the radio off - on again the probelm goes away. And no, it's not a station that is out of range.
My 07 VUE has about 15K
Until driving and it the other day, it took all I had to get it out of 5th gear.
Long story short, someone said that there are two cables that are connected to the shifter and one of them is bad.
Question....
Is this mucho $$$ bucks as far as repair costs?
This is an 02 and has 55 k miles on it.
Shifter cable replacement shouldn't be a bank breaker - they attach to the shifter, go through the firewall and attach to the top of the trans. I'm guessing the cable costs about $ 100- 150 and figure 200-250 for labor if its only one. Just a guess, please don't hold me to it! Good luck, it could have been worse. Are you sure its the cable? Might just be a shifter bushing (yours wouldn't be the 1st)
Good Luck
According to the guy (mechanic) friend he said that he tried both the cables and only the one seemed bad. Also he had asked if it was hard to shift when the car was turned off. Yep, sure was. So I suppose that would mean it wasn't the hydraulic's? Which would break my bank for sure.
I think i'm getting a bargain, he will only charge for the parts and not the labor.
I should of purchased an automatic to begin with Ughhhh!
You are getting a bargain - the labor is always the most expensive part of any repair job.
Don't sweat it too much - Everything mechanical breaks from time to time no matter who built it...and why the heck would you want an automatic when the stick shift in these things is so darn much fun!!!!!!!!! :shades:
I own a 2005 Saturn Vue- manual transmission. I bought it brand new- only 37 miles on it from the dealership. I really like my car... when it's not breaking down on me while I am driving down the road that is. Here's the summary.
My car has had to been rendered inoperable & has needed to be towed to the dealership 4 times in the 2 1/2 years/51,000 miles that I have owned it. The repairs are as follows: 9,000 mi could not get in to reverse- replaced the shifter cable clip; 19,000 clutch, slave cylinder, shifter plate were all replaced; 19,900 miles the entire transmission was replaced; 46,000 both shifter cables replaced; 51,000 both shifter cables replaced again.
Also, anyone have any ideas on how to best clean the interior back seats? The color is a medium tan color- cloth. I've tried everything I can think of and they are still stained. Nothing in particular has ever been spilled. If rain drops fall on the seat there is a "stain.'' I have two 8 year old boys which make cleaning it a constant challenge
Thank you in advance for any help.
I have a 2002 Vue, manual 5 speed, front wheel drive with the 4 cylinder engine and I replace my rotors every 50,000 miles or so. The rotors that Saturn (GM) provide are pieces of junk and you should not invest your money in them. I purchased high performance racing rotors (slotted rotors, zinc plated) on the Internet a year ago for my Vue and installed them myself and installed high performance racing brake pads. These rotors and brake pads are excellent and show no visible signs of wear after 20,000 miles. The OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) rotors and pads that are provided by Saturn (GM) are very poor and much more expensive than high quality after market parts. Find a close male friend who knows how to replace the rotors and brake pads and ask him to do the brake job for you. I have 109,000 miles on my Vue and I am on my third set of rotors. The original rotors lasted quite a long time and they were actually in good shape but....it cost more to "turn" them (shave them down) than it cost me to buy new ones from an auto parts store (NOT SATURN OR GM). So I always replace the rotors when I replace the brake pads. Anyway, the rotors I have now are very nice, slotted, racing rotors from an auto parts store in California (I don't remember the company name). I paid $104 plus $30 shipping to get these high performance rotors and they are well worth it! The brake pads I bought from Advance Auto Parts and they are the high end racing pads. Cost of pads was around $60. So, I installed the rotors and pads in under an hour myself for all of $190 and my Vue brakes like it never did before. Oh, one more VERY IMPORTANT item: NEVER use an air wrench on your wheels! One of the reasons the rotors warp is because the mechanic who installed your wheels used an air wrench. Air wrench's notoriously apply too much torque to the wheel nut which causes the rotor to warp (hence it is ruined). Look in your Saturn Vue owner manual and you will find the torque specification for the wheel nuts. Make sure that whoever does your brake job installs the wheels correctly using a torque wrench and not an air wrench and that they follow the "star" pattern when installing the lug nuts. If you don't want to spend the amount I did for high performance rotors and pads you can lower your total cost to less than $100 for two front rotors and brake pads from any reputable auto parts company. Just do the work yourself or ask a friend who is savy in this department and don't take it to a dealership. Dealerships are there to rip people off and make money from their deceptions. I have done ALL the maintenance on my Vue which I bought new in February 2002 and I have never had any problems with it. NONE. Oh, one more thing. The rear brakes on most cars never need replacing (if they are drums). I have a 1993 Saturn SL2 with 360,000 miles on it and it has the ORIGINAL rear drum brakes which have never been replaced. I have checked them several times over the years and they are still in great shape. My SL2 runs perfectly and gets just over 40 mpg on the highway. I also use only synthetic oil in the engine and transmission on all my vehicles which is why they last so long. Hope this helps!
Has anyone had any luck going to GM and seeing if they would cover any of the cost of replacing the rotors? I would think if there are this many complaints they would have done something to assist their customers. I am going to try the dealership and if that fails, GM has a customer hotline. Spinning my wheels? (No pun intended) :confuse:
That being said, its certainly worth a try, you may be spinning your wheels but why not try?
One recommendation though - the one reason that it might not be worth your time getting the dealer to replace the rotors is that you'll get new versions of the same lousy rotors and in 37K miles you'll be in the same position. Might be better to just put on a good quality set of rotors & pads and be done with it...just a thought