general problems of the 2009 Saturn Aura - part 1

My steering wheel started to randomly shake while I was driving this car through a car wash that I go through monthly. All of a sudden my wheel locked up and flashing warning signals appeared on my dashboard “service esc” making me at a loss of electric power steering assist. I never got in an accident or anything. It just happened while I was driving through a car wash. . I know my vehicle should be involved in the loss of electric power steering assist as it has had every symptom and have had multiple 3rd party mechanics tell me the same thing that this is under a recall, but when I check I do not see this recall for my VIN. I was very concerned for my well being and am confused why this is not covered as I had a special coverage for this under my VIN : [xxx] . 2009 Saturn Aura xe sedan. It is a consistent message I get on my vehicle when I start and am unfortunately not able to drive it because I do not want to put others at risk. Thank you. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle intermittently lost power steering functionality. The message "eps failure" was displayed. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 14e044000 (steering); however, the contact related the failure to the recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 64,194.

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and making left or right turns on several occasions, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact stated that the steering wheel became firm and required added effort to turn the steering wheel while driving. The contact stated that simultaneously, the eps warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was turned off and restarted each time, but the failure reoccurred a short time later. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 150,000.

I was driving and all of a sudden I lost power steering and I had to get over pull over and I was freaking out I could have crashed my dash was saying service ecs.

The car turned off while driving on the highway. The car just recently within the last year or so started giving us electrical problems. The mechanic on August 14, 2025. Replaced the alternator, the second within 3 years. The battery replaced twice within 3 years, as well. Internal dashboard light flickers. The car fails to start several times a month. The driver & passenger seats is not stable, it shifts or moves. The battery's pos and neg poles are extremely hot. Steering wheel stiffened up hard to maneuver. The above problems are ongoing throughout the years. My wife hears a popping sound coming from under the hood.

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated that while coming to a stoplight, the transmission failed to shift properly, and the vehicle jerked. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized with the power steering warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 124,000.

Lost power steering while driving. The power steering warning came on. I pulled over and turned the car off. When I turned it back on the power steering returned. An inspection at the zeigler Buick GMC of lincolnwood in chicago on 4/19/2025 confirmed that the power steering column needs replaced. I'm having it replaced, so the part will not be available for inspection. Thankfully, I was able to pull over right away after I lost power steering, so no damage was caused. This is the first issue I've ever had with my power steering in this car.

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated that while driving at speeds of 20 mph or slower, the power steering function failed to operate as intended. The contact stated that the loss of power steering warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and turned off and then restarted the vehicle to regain power steering functionality. The contact found information on NHTSA campaign number: 14v153000 (steering). The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and confirmed that the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.

Electric power steering randomly disables assist but resumes with restart. Brake lights randomly illuminate and randomly stop working.

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated while driving 40 mph and attempting to make a turn, the steering seized. The power steering warning light was illuminated. The message "service esc" was displayed. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, and the power steering became functional; however, the failure recurred while driving back to the residence. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the next available appointment was in 3 weeks. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 14v153000 (steering); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 119,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated driving 55 mph, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The power steering warning light was illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the road. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle; however, the failure persisted. The contact turned off and inspected the vehicle and noticed that the power steering was electric. The contact's brother turned off, restarted the vehicle, and shook the steering wheel several times until the steering wheel became operable. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to the residence at slow speeds. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed. The mechanic determined that the electric power steering assist system had failed, and the failure was related to NHTSA campaign number: 14v153000 (steering). The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 175,168.

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds the electronic power steering had failed causing the steering wheel to become unable to turn in either direction. After immediately turning the vehicle off and restarting the engine the power steering was corrected and operated as normal. The contact indicated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was taken the local mechanic who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 85,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated while driving 50 mph the steering wheel became stiff and the warning message saying that the steering fluid was low illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 171,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. Additionally, while driving 50-55 mph, the transmission jolted. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact related the failure to NHTSA campaign numbers: 14v252000 (electrical system, exterior lighting, vehicle speed control, electronic stability control), 14v153000 (steering), 12v460000 (power train), and 09v073000 (power train). The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 126,000.

Power steering keeps going off. Have to restart car to get it to work. Now it won’t work at all.

Wife has repeatedly mentioned loss of power steering and for a petite woman each incident was quite scary for her. I drove it for two days before it happened to me. It was much worse than simply a car with no power steering, which I've owned before. It seemed like something was actively working to prevent the steering wheel from turning. The force required was at my own limits to steer adequately. The next time the car was started it was fine. However, it goes out while driving; about 40 mph, in my case, as I was merging onto the highway. As others have mentioned, my VIN is not included in the recall for the torque angle steering sensor. I also must advocate for the recall to be widened. Obviously gm purposely narrowed the recall, knowing the later vehicles had parts that were not substantially different.

Steering occasionally gives out without warning. There is a recall for this make, model, and year of vehicle, but my VIN search says it is not included. This recall needs to be expanded to include a wider range of VIN numbers.

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated that while her mother was turning into a gas station, the steering wheel lost power steering inadvertently. The steering warning light illuminated. The contact stated that upon turning off and restarting the vehicle, the steering wheel regained power steering. The contact's mother attempted to purchase power steering fluid but became aware that the vehicle power steering was electrical. The contact stated that the steering wheel was making abnormal whining sounds and was jerking while driving. The contact contacted an independent mechanic who informed her that the failure was related to an unknown steering recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 133,149.

While I was driving on the freeway my power steering failed and the car became impossible to maneuver safely. I had to take back roads home to minimize risks. I took it to an autoparts shop to see if they could help me find the power steering fluid resovior. This was when I found out my vehilce had an electric power assist and did not have a power steering pump. I drove home and the power assist would go in and out intermittenly. I looked online and found that my year of Saturn Auras had a recall associated with this exact problem. My complaint is that I have had the exact same issue present itself in my vehicle, but my VIN number states it did not have a recall. My question is why was it not recalled? it is an expensive repair and logically it seems that the recall should apply to my vehicle. It is the same make and model, but was not in recall according to VIN. I'm complaining that both gm and national department of transportation should have included my VIN in recall. I'm left with a car unsafe to drive. I could have a fatal accident when the power assist failed.

The power steering completely failed while driving. This made the car very difficult to turn and because it happened at a high speed, if there had been an immediate need to swerve, it would not have been possible due to the power steering failure. It is not as if the steering became like a car with "manual steering", as I have driven one without power steering before. It was much worse. Similar to how a handicap access door is very difficult to open manually as it can also be opened with the push of a button. In addition, it should be noted that normal alerts made by the car are supposed to play a chime through the speakers. For this car, it seems to be played through the driver speaker, which also stopped working some time ago. In fact both the front speakers have failed and I've only been able to replace the passenger one thus far. Therefore, when you are driving, when the power steering fails randomly, the warning chime is not heard. The only way you would know it has failed is if you look down at the information center in the dash and catch the alert - or you try to make a turn. As you can imagine, finding out your steering has failed in the middle of a turn is incredibly terrifying and it is only by the grace of god that we have not had a wreck up to this point. We immediately stopped driving this car once this issue presented itself as it is not safe to drive. The dealer just made me aware that the failure was caused by the steering torque angle sensor. I had just recently had the power steering motor replaced because of the same exact problem. As it turns out, there is an outstanding product safety recall for the steering torque angle sensor: 14116b. However, my Saturn Aura was manufactured in 2009 making it ineligible for the safety recall. The recall only covers Auras (and other similar gm cars) manufactured through mid-2008. It is clear that this recall should be expanded to cover my vehicle for both of the aforementioned failures.

Three separate incidents of complete loss of power steering while driving.

Esc disabled alarm and a loss of power steering.

Power steering has failed. Yes, it is available for inspection. Can not properly control the steering, difficult to go around a corner. Problem is constant - but not yet inspected. Warning lights for traction control and check engine appear, and service power steering appears on the information station, but not prior to the failure. Problem started around Dec 15, 2021 after parking it overnight. Started it the next morning and that is when the problem started. A recall posted in may 2014 calls for repair of some 2007 & 2008 cars for this problem, but not for this particular car, built in April 2009. Seems as though all Saturn cars using these same parts should have been recalled. Thank you.

Wife reported power steering went out while in city traffic and she was not able to execute right hand turn. She had to gradually approach side of road, park, turned car off, turned on, jiggled steering wheel and assisted steering returned. She says at least one dashboard lit up, but doesn't remember which one.

I've lost power steering three times now. Once on the highway while changing lanes. Once while trying to pull into a parking spot, and the final time while pulling into my drive way.

The power steering fails intermittently while driving causing the vehicle to become extremely difficult to steer. This can happen at any speed and in any conditions.

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed the vehicle stalled without warning. Additionally, while driving and making either right or left turns, the vehicle pulled in the opposite direction. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The bureau of automotive repair was contacted and the contact was notified of NHTSA campaign number: 14v252000 (electrical system, exterior lighting, vehicle speed control, electronic stability control) and 14v153000 (steering) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 133,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated while driving 10 mph, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The vehicle was restarted and steering functionality was returned. The contact stated that the power steering warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed but not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA campaign number: 14v153000 (steering) however, the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was approximately 82,000.

The power steering goes out and my daughter is unable to steer the car. This is a intermittent problem. The power steering well go in and out with no warning, and then start working again. This can happen while driving or were you just started up.

The steering locked up when I was driving on the highway. It was scary especially because I was changing lane and this has happened several time now I can't even drive my car.

The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated while driving 35 mph and making a left turn, the contact heard a warning alert coming from the vehicle. The contact continued driving and then heard another warning alert and unknown warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle loss power steering and the vehicle became difficult to drive. The contact pulled over and restarted the vehicle and the vehicle regained power steering functionality. The contact stated that the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 180,000.

Steering shaft torque sensor (23232310 sensor kit) was replaced under the special warranty 3 years ago. This is failing again, so gm obviously still hasn't fixed the problem with this critical safety component. I again have intermittent power steering shaking, partial or complete loss. Gm won't recall or cover this critical item even though it still has an obvious problem.

The electronic steering assist will lose power so essentially will cause the power steering to go out at any given time. The current temporary remedy is to , turn off the key and wait. Restart the vehicle and the power steering will resume. I discovered this doing online research finding that this was a common recall for this vehicle in 2008 and 2009. But the date of manufacture for this vehicle. Was in 08/2008 making it a little over 1 month from being eligible for the recall. I contacted gm but was unable to talk to a live person and 2 gm dealers one of which previously sold the car, and got no results. This started out as a vibration and wobble in the steering wheel and has progressively gotten worse. The power steering so far has gone out upon starting the vehicle. My online research has named the recall on the same vehicle part malfunction as power steering electric assist.

While I was driving the power steering got hard without any notice and the service airbag just start to show without no car accident make, need to know how to deal with it do I have to take to the dealership.

The contact's partner owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact's partner noticed that the brake lights randomly would illuminate. The contact said that this happened at any speed and related the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 14v252000 (electrical system, exterior lighting, vehicle speed control, and electronic stability control). Additionally, when the contact's partner was coming to stop while driving, the power steering failed. The contact related this failure to NHTSA campaign number: 14v153000 (steering). The failure of the power steering had only occurred once. The failure of the brake lights was recurring. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 230,000.