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New Saturn VUE Green Line Owners -Give Us Your Report

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Comments

  • serrdonserrdon Member Posts: 16
    Mine has been in for 6 weeks too. On this visit. It's been in for almost 3 weeks on it's other visits. So basically I'm paying way to much a month (car payment) for my stripped down gas guzzling rental.

    I wonder if we are talking to the same person at Saturn as I keep getting the same comment every time I talk to them. Or if that is just their programmed response to anything said to them.
  • tackepjtackepj Member Posts: 13
    serrdon,

    Is your GL at the dealer also waiting on a replacement battery?
  • city_livingcity_living Member Posts: 11
    Just heard from service manager that the 'new' ign. switch and housing they installed is SUPPOSED to 'pling.' My question to them is 'why isn't the new 08 loaner doing that?' Their responce, "Maybe this was changed since you purchased your Vue." Then, why is this 'new' one doing it, and not the NEW 08?

    Will p/u tonight, and I have a call in to my lawyer. Getting the run around isn't what I expected with either the purchase of a new car, or Saturn.

    Now, where'd I put the email address for the 'investigation' that will soon hit the fan....I have a story to tell.
  • serrdonserrdon Member Posts: 16
    yes, it's been waiting for the replacement battery. They finally called and said it's ready. So I'm heading over now. They have all the managers waiting to talk to me about making me "happy". Somehow I doubt they will offer what I want.
  • kamighkamigh Member Posts: 3
    Got a call Friday saying that my car was ready and I could drop off the rental/pick up Saturday morning. When I dropped off the rental, they told me that Saturn expected me to pay the tax and they would pick up the 'cost' of the rental. I had the rental for 43 days and the taxes were something like $6.23 a day!!!!! I told them I was refusing to pay and that Saturn could pay the whole thing. Enterprise was fine with that but they almost blew a gasket at Saturn when I told them that. When I did pick up my car, there was a HOLE in the back of the drivers seat, a scratch in interior of the backseat driver's side door panel, and a scratch on the outside of the door!!!!!!!!!!!! Somehow they managed to mangle the inside of my car while repairing the battery. So it will have to go back to the shop at some point for them to repair those items. It took almost an hour for them to get all the paperwork done and give me my car back. While I was waiting I asked to talk to the general manager, and got the sales manager, who apparently is the 'acting' GM. I had spoken to him earlier about a possible trade, and he told me that it wasn't his problem, he just sells the cars, and that I would take a 'significant loss' if I tried to trade in my 07 Saturn. He didn't even know that there were 4 other Vues in the shop for the same problem!!!! Totally a waste of skin. Mean, and completely uninterested in what happens to the cars after he sells them. He actually told me that all he cares about is selling - that once they leave the lot he has nothing to do with them and doesn't need to know and doesn't care!!!!!! I certainly didn't have anyone rushing around trying to do any sort of customer service for me!!!!! Hopefully things go better for people at other dealerships.
  • chmsommchmsomm Member Posts: 36
    We had the harness fix back in July.

    It only took our dealership 4 1/2 months to fix our panels.
  • serrdonserrdon Member Posts: 16
    you've been able to get your panels fixed? Mine has gone in twice for that but it keeps coming back.

    They are still "working" on what they are going to do for me. I assume something besides ignore me.
  • kamighkamigh Member Posts: 3
    Well this is insulting . . . got a call from my 'customer service rep' (and I use that term lightly) regarding the 'goodwill' they would like to extend since my vehicle was out of service for 43 days and needs to go back since they damaged it while fixing it. They have offered me . . .(drumroll please) . . . Free oil changes and tire rotations until my car hits 30,000 miles!!!!!!! Whooppeee!!! Woo hoo!!! She tried to tell me this was worth more than 1 1/2 car payments, which is what I asked her for, and what the dealership told me they would probably do for me. Every time I think that things can't get more ridiculous, Saturn proves me wrong.
  • megfoxmegfox Member Posts: 33
    please call a lemon law attorney. they can get you WAY more than a car payment and you can still keep the car. that's what we did and we got 5,000 back from Saturn and i'm still driving the car. Do not attempt to negotiate with Saturn yourself. They offered us $400 (one car payment) and the very next day with an attorney involved the offer went up to $2000. Call someone asap and get professional advice and help. you will not regret it but you will if you try to deal with Saturn yourself.
  • silverglvuesilverglvue Member Posts: 8
    In May 2007 our green line vue had the battery harness replaced. The vehicle had been on the road for <3 months and had about 3,500 miles on it.

    Over the summer we struggled with a locking gas cap (purchased for the vehicle) and visited the shop 3 times.

    In Nov 2007, at 11,000 miles, the check engine light came on again. The vehicle had an odor. Upon arrival to the Saturn service they asked if it smelled like rotten eggs and suspected the battery. A call later indicated that indeed it was the battery and it would be 2 weeks before it would be available.

    Based on other experiences posted - we're not sure if it'll be 2 weeks but we'll certainly be having a discussion with dealership when we return to pick it up.

    Any information about the replacement batteries? Are they improved?
  • megfoxmegfox Member Posts: 33
    I had the battery replaced and so far so good (except some idiot hit me today and took off my front bumper) but the car is driving well
  • serrdonserrdon Member Posts: 16
    I got offered the same "deal". I told him that I would pass their offer on to my attorney. He didn't like that, but as you said, that offer was just insulting. I've been driving some stripped down rental for 2/3 of the time I have owned this piece of crap and am scared to drive the thing when I have it and they think that's fair? :mad:
  • megfoxmegfox Member Posts: 33
    and now that you've said the word "lawyer" they won't speak to you anymore so i hope you actually have one! but seriously, they will only get serious when they do hear from your lawyer.
  • serrdonserrdon Member Posts: 16
    Well, I had the hated car back for a whole two weeks and it's back in the service department AGAIN. Now it won't start. Plus the doors don't automatically lock/unlock. And the auto headlight thing no longer works. Can anything else go wrong on the thing?

    The best part is while I'm sitting in there showroom waiting for a loaner car with my three children, the manager (who I think was to scared to show his face to me by now) sent someone out to let me know I could trade it in on a different car. Let me guess, they would be thrilled to offer me blue book for it. So I could roll over what i'm upside down on the piece of crap into an even more expensive new car. So my payment can even be higher. How lucky for me. I was almost polite in my response to that offer. On the bright side, they got me out of there really fast so I wouldn't be there with all of their potential customers. ;)
  • serrdonserrdon Member Posts: 16
    I most definitely do have a lawyer. :) I definitely need one, the car has been in for the same thing three times (plus other issues) AND been in service department for over 60 days and they are still fighting it.
  • tackepjtackepj Member Posts: 13
    What did the service department find was wrong with the car?
  • kaytexkaytex Member Posts: 2
    After 28 days waiting for the new battery, I picked up my Green Line Vue last week. I've put over 800 miles on it since then, and everything is great. the dealership contacted XM to get me a month's credit. It took me less than a minute on the phone with On-Star to get two month's credit. I'm sorry others have had a bad time. Mine had a problem; my rental was really nice while I waited; now I'm back to the hybrid SUV I so enjoy.
  • serrdonserrdon Member Posts: 16
    They tried to tell me it was the DVD drawing down the battery. And that apparently keeps the door locks and headlights from working as well according to my dealer.Told me if I disconnected it that all my problems would be over immediately. So I played their game and picked up the car. I took it to my brother (who builds fire trucks including all the equipment and computers in the vehicles) who disconnected the DVD. While he did that, he found a bunch of wires (sorry, I know nothing about cars :blush: ) under the steering wheel that were rubbing against some metal and the wires were half way cut through. So my brother called them up and explained what was wrong. So they have my car again. Keep in mind that the dealer is an hour away. So I'm definitely NOT amused. AND they ripped my headliner. :mad:

    Oh well, 3 more days (at least) on my case. I think I'm over 60 days now. It's been in the service department 1/3 of the time that I've owned it.
  • tackepjtackepj Member Posts: 13
    Is your DVD the optional Saturn one or an add-on? Either way, hardly seems like that could cause your problem. Hopefully the wires your brother found will be the solution to the problem. Sounds like this dealer isn't too interested in helping you properly.
  • serrdonserrdon Member Posts: 16
    It gets better. They called this morning saying it was all fixed. So I drove back out there again, and the car wouldn't start. So I left, again, in my loaner. I think the die hard "we fixed it this time" guy in service has given up. He told me I need to get out of the car. No kidding!

    The DVD player, which is completely out of the car now, was an aftermarket DVD player.
  • mdecjwmdecjw Member Posts: 1
    My Vue is now 12mos old, 32k miles and running great. Only issue thus far, it "wind" noise. Gas mileage approx 30. Handles great in the snow! I am very happy with this vehicle.........thus far :)
  • ckb2ckb2 Member Posts: 1
    After reading the terrible maintenance stories on this forum, I really regret putting $500. reserve deposit on the 2008 model. It seems that a high percentage of owners are experiencing lengthy and repetitive repair problems. My biggest concern was whether or not the Vue Hybrid would be under powered. Any body know if these battery problems in particular have been ironed out on '08 model?
  • anixanix Member Posts: 3
    I went to the dealership last week for routine maintenance and found out that there was a recall for the wiring harness. They replaced it and hopefully my car will continue to work well. I just wish I was getting the higher gas mileage as some of you as I get anywhere from 23 to 26 mpg in the city and up to 28mpg on the freeway.
    :)
  • joncanadajoncanada Member Posts: 29
    I'd hope that the battery problems would be ironed out on the 08 model, but the 08's were pretty much completed when I drove our 2007 off the lot (was the last one of it's kind in Canada) and still had problems so who knows what they have done to correct the 08's. Personally I'd transfer my deposit to a non-hybrid but I'm bias because of all the issues we've had :) Toyota Hylanders are really nice :D
  • silverglvuesilverglvue Member Posts: 8
    We had our battery replaced 2 months ago. The vehicle seemed to working well until the last 5 days in which we noticed an odor. The Vue GL is no longer going into auto stop. We're just wondering if anybody else had a similar experience after replacing the harness and then the battery itself. This is all in <14,000 miles and <1 year on the road :lemon: .
  • megfoxmegfox Member Posts: 33
    i had both replaced and my auto stop has stopped working regularly. enough to be affecting my gas mileage in a very bad way. I've gone from getting over 400 miles per tank to about 300. I'm going to take it back in.

    ugh.
  • joncanadajoncanada Member Posts: 29
    Our vehicle will now never go into auto-stop if the heater / air conditioning unit is on regardless of the temperature setting. Anybody else experienced this?
  • kallopkallop Member Posts: 10
    We have 7700 miles on our Greenline, it no longer operates as a HYBRID. The fuel mileage is worse then our '03 Vue with AWD, nothing works anymore and the dealer said there is nothing wrong with it. They say it operates as it should. What the ^%$^%#$ does that mean? :sick:
  • silverglvuesilverglvue Member Posts: 8
    Thanks for your reply!

    Our GL Vue went to the service department today. We were told that the battery wasn't getting charged enough. The tech wrote that maybe we should drive it more. We explained how much we drive it....next it seemed that maybe the cold is causing part of the issue.

    Regardless, we bought this vehicle to drive in whatever conditions exists and whenever we need to drive it. Additionally, we did not buy a vehicle to have the battery charging odor inside the vehicle.

    We started discussing a buy back and were told that it needs to be taken directly to Saturn so we will start that process.

    To all - please note that a strange smell in the vehicle (and sometimes outside) is a battery related issue.
  • dreamcrdreamcr Member Posts: 2
    I have a 2007 Greenline. Have had nothing but trouble with it. First the ignition switch started giving me trouble. The key would stick. Took the car back a week after buying it. Dealer stated it just needed oiling. It continued to get worse. Then I found out there was a recall on the wiring harness. They replaced the harness and I got a mile from the shop and it was doing exactly the same thing, not shutting off when coming to a stop and the electric motor not kicking in when accelerating or cruising. They said the battery was defective, so they kept it another week for a total of 2 weeks! When I got the car back it got about 29 mpg. I noticed after about a week that it was only getting 24-26mpg. That slowly decreased over the last few months. Just got back from Las Vegas. Got 21-22mpg. The electric motor was not assisting at all! Periodically doesn't shut off at a stop. Dropped it off at the dealer, they called me and said there is nothing wrong with it! They said the air conditioning unit was making a noise so they were replacing it! I told it them it's the middle of winter I'm not using the air conditioner, and what does that have to do with the electric motor?!!!!! All I can say is this thing has never lived up to the all the hype! It a plain case of false advertising and fraud if you ask me!
  • silverglvuesilverglvue Member Posts: 8
    I'm curious - do you live in a cold weather state? Our hybrid is also not working properly (or at all on some days) which we attribute to the cold weather impacting the battery charge (causing the smell in or out of the vehicle). The hybrid seemed to work better in our 2 days of warmer >45 degree F weather but is back to it's problematic.

    It seems like there is a theme of the hybrid not working (note the at least 4-5 vehicles posted recently) properly.

    Saturn wants ours to go back to the shop......
  • dreamcrdreamcr Member Posts: 2
    NO, I live in California. Seldom gets below freezing where I live. Yes, mines still in the shop, who knows when I'll get it back. I've contacted an attorney, hopefully I can get back some of the money I've paid into this thing. I sure will never will buy another Saturn! I've been a pretty loyal GM fan. I bought this car because I drive in my business. If I'd known I was only going to get 21-24mpg I would have kept my Envoy, which got 20mpg! Heck my 2003 Cadillac Seville got 26-28mpg and it was a V8!
  • dcpt1999dcpt1999 Member Posts: 1
    So I have had some fun the last two days here in Boston. My Hybrid stopped working, so called the dealership explained the situation and the recall and scheduled and appointment. Brought the Vue in yesterday, called mid day and was told it would be ready at 5pm. Returned my rental car and took a cab to the dealership only to find out it was never fixed because they didn't have the parts to fix the harness. They kept the car all day today, and it still doesn't work. Mechanic told me that Saturn will be sending out another recall in the next month or two to completely replace the whole Hybrid battery. In the meantime I have to bring my car back in another week for them to put a new defective battery in because mine doesn't work at all, only to have that one replaced when the next recall is issued. So glad I bought a hybrid, especially one that won't be working for a total of 3 months.

    :sick:
  • joncanadajoncanada Member Posts: 29
    At last calculation we are currently getting 20MPG. Dear lord.
  • hybridvuehybridvue Member Posts: 31
    Your mechanic is correct - Saturn is sending out another recall letter. However, they are NOT replacing the whole Hybrid battery.

    Here are the important paragraphs from the recall letter:

    The recall includes all 2007 AURA Green Line and VUE Green Line as well as certain 2008 model year Saturn AURA Green Line Hybrid Vehicles. There may be a voltage imbalance within the hybrid battery. If the imbalance exceeds 0.6 volts, the check engine light will illuminate and hybrid function will be disabled. If this occurs, the charge/assist gauge would show no movement, the fuel economy light (ECO) would not illuminate, and the vehicle would be powered by the gasoline engine only.

    What will be done: Your Saturn retailer will replace the three hybrid cassettes within the battery assembly. This one-time service will be performed for you at no charge within a period of 8 years or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first, from the date your vehicle was placed in service.

    How long will the repair take? Because of service scheduling requirements, it is likely that your retailer will need your vehicle longer than the actual service correction time of approximately 2 to 3 hours.

    By the way - this recall pertains to ALL 2007 VUE Greenline models from VIN (last 8 digits) 7S800023 thru 7S880949 UNLESS your 36V battery cassettes had already been replaced sometime in the last few months with the latest part numbers (PN# 25953382 or 25964892 for the VUE GL)

    Most owners have yet to receive the letters as they will be coming out in stages.

    In the mean time I just logged a 33.85mpg tank with 455.6 miles on it in 30 degree Maryland Winter weather. 38,000+ miles & smiles with this owner.

    I love my Hybrid Vue :)
  • Karen_SKaren_S Member Posts: 5,092
    A reporter hopes to speak with consumers who want to buy hybrid SUVs that are having a hard time finding them at dealerships and/or are frustrated by dealers marking up the prices on the hybrids. If you are a consumer looking to purchase a hybrid SUV, please respond to ctalati@edmunds.com with your daytime contact information no later than Tuesday, March 25, 2008.
  • joncanadajoncanada Member Posts: 29
    ^ Tell them to contact me and I've got a hybrid vue they can purchase ;)
  • silverglvuesilverglvue Member Posts: 8
    We contacted Saturn to work on getting out of our 07 GL Vue which continued to have battery charging issues (resulting in poor Hybrid gas mileage [21 mpg] and bad odor) and spent too much time in the shop (5 times in a year). If you look at my previous postings you will see that the solution to my problem was to 'drive it more'. :mad:

    Saturn corporate service was terrible. After a number of calls over 2 weeks (and them 'putting all of their resources on it'), they mentioned possibly giving us an extended warranty. Clearly, not what we wanted since we needed a reliable vehicle that didn't need to be in the shop regularly and we wanted to have the advantages (like better gas mileage) of a hybrid.

    It was clear that Saturn was not going to willingly work with us. We contacted a lemon lawyer to deal with them. The lemon law lawyer had a cash settlement for us in about 7 days. We called the local dealership to check on a trade value and were quoted $14,000 (about $2,500) less than expected trade in based on research. For this low trade, we really didn't want to deal with Saturn especially given our experience on the distance to the dealership.

    We decided to check out the local Honda dealership where we were offered $15,500 trade in based on what they were quoted by the local Saturn dealer (the on that quoted $14,000 to us) who were planning to take it off their hands.

    So...our vue is now being driven by some other lucky (ok most likely unlucky) person. We are driving a CRV which is getting 22 mpg in town (and planned 28 on hwy). Hmm...pretty much what the Vue was getting the last 3-5 months and now we don't have to deliver it to the dealership for it's regular breakdown servicing.

    We're now very happy owners of the CRV. We will never consider a Saturn again. This particular Saturn was in the shop more times in 13,500 miles than our previous other 2 brand new vehicles were in during their entire warranty (36,000). The experience was bad enough that we will not likely consider GM purchases in the near future.
  • fordfan_17fordfan_17 Member Posts: 175
    this tsb concern "loss of hybrid function"

    vehicles affected 2007-2008 saturn Aura and 2007 saturn Vue

    tsb release date june 11,2008
  • kallopkallop Member Posts: 10
    silverglvu,

    I was wondering who you used as your LEMON LAW Atty.?
    Congrats by the way on getting out of your SATURN!!!!

    :sick: :lemon:
  • chmsommchmsomm Member Posts: 36
    Fordfan_17,

    Could you please provide more detail on tsb# 0731BA.

    What is the actual name of the tsb? Exactly what does it cover? Is this a recall? Is it a bulletin to Saturn Service with a particular fix? Is there a web address where we can get the specifics?

    I did a search and came up empty.

    Thanks

    chmsomm
  • silverglvuesilverglvue Member Posts: 8
    The attorney we used was Alex Simanovsky & Associates, LLC in GA. We were very happy with how they handled our case and treated us.

    We are so happy to be out of the Vue. After driving our CRV for 4 months we have found that we get around 21-22 MPG in town and around 26-28 MPG on highway (traveling in speeds up to 75 mph).

    Two other things that we don't miss about the VUE:
    1. The not so great air conditioner.
    2. The wind noise that makes you keep checking to see if you're window is cracked!

    Best of luck!
  • ktjensenktjensen Member Posts: 12
    2. Wind Noise - get your doors adjusted.,. we did windows now quiet.
    1. - AC too warm? get it recharged and seal tested. should be under warrentee.

    Still using the VUE after 30,000 and still works fine.
  • Karen_SKaren_S Member Posts: 5,092
    A reporter with a large financial magazine would like to speak with hybrid owners and their experiences. If you are a hybrid owner, please respond to ctalati@edmunds.com with your daytime contact information no later than Wednesday, August 6th.
  • melisabmelisab Member Posts: 5
    I am receiving today, a third battery in my 2007 Saturn Vue Hybrid. This one only 5 months after the second which was a factory recall. Now that I have " loss of Hybrid function" and am up in Canada, I am paying $2600 for the battery plus labour! GM of Canada will not warantee this battery as they claim they have not had any complaints with the new replacemtn batteries.

    Anyone considering a Saturn hybrid- DON'T DO IT!
    I was very happy with it at the beginning and did not understand others complaints. now I do and am very sorry for purchasing the Lemon!
  • joncanadajoncanada Member Posts: 29
    We received a notification of the first recall from GM of Canada 8 months after the recall took place - my guess is GM is very out of the loop. We haven't yet got our second recall battery as I'm sure many others haven't, so I have no doubts they will have complaints given enough time as they can't seem to do anything right with this vehicle. The hybrid system is supposed to have an 8 year warranty. There's no way they would get another 2600 out of my for this vehicle. Any GM employee wondering why they got laid off should look no further than this thread.
  • stevedebistevedebi Member Posts: 4,098
    "I am receiving today, a third battery in my 2007 Saturn Vue Hybrid. This one only 5 months after the second which was a factory recall. Now that I have " loss of Hybrid function" and am up in Canada, I am paying $2600 for the battery plus labour! GM of Canada will not warantee this battery as they claim they have not had any complaints with the new replacemtn batteries. "

    Sorry for your experience. Hard to believe Canada has no hybrid warranties. Here in the US, the standard hybrid warranty is 8 years/110K miles, or 10 years/150K miles (for CARB states). That covers all parts of the hybrid system including batteries and drivetrain.
  • melisabmelisab Member Posts: 5
    i guess because i saved so much money buying it in the US and importing it into Canada, they are not happy with me. they will not warranty the new battery that was replacing in California. But as I am a Canadian resident, i can not go down to the US to have if fixed. Personally i don't think it should matter. it is still the same part and they should stand behind there products nonetheless.
  • stevedebistevedebi Member Posts: 4,098
    " But as I am a Canadian resident, i can not go down to the US to have if fixed. "

    Are you sure? Have you checked with Saturn of America (or whatever they are called)? I don't know if the Federal Laws apply to cars that are subsequently shipped out of country - they were purchased in the US.
  • dmathews3dmathews3 Member Posts: 1,739
    A lot of electronics as in cameras are that way. You can buy a canadian digital camera a lot cheaper than US ones as there isn't a warranty.
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