general problems of the 2002 Saturn LS

Vehicle was in motion at 30 mph on city street, engine completely stopped working with loss of power steering and power brakes. Coasted vehicle to a side street & stopped. Had car towed to a mechanic. We were quoted $1700 bill to repair due to broken timing chain. Researched recalls and found that NHTSA had a recall #07v519000 for 2001 Saturn l100. This seems grossly shortsighted on the part of NHTSA, as there have been dozens of duplicate complaints. This prompted the state of north carolina consumers council to issue a defect petition for 2000-2003 Saturn l series with the 2. 2l engine with the NHTSA. It is surprising how little effort the NHTSA has made in light of the scope of this problem.

The contact owns a 2002 Saturn l100. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, the check engine warning light illuminated as engine power began to reduce independently. The contact merged to the shoulder, shut off and then restarted the vehicle. The contact then saw smoke coming from the front of the vehicle. The manufacturer was contact and advised that the vehicle was not included in any recalls. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The technician stated that the brakes, fuel filter and fuel line would have to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 168,000 and the current mileage was 168,000.

In November of 2009, the brakes on my 2002 Saturn 200l suddenly gave out. They went all the way to the floor. After pumping them several times, they came up a little. I thought the brakes needed changing, so I had that done. A few months later, it happened again. It has happened a total of 4 times. I go to stop and suddenly there are no brakes. They always work ok after several pumps. This is a serious safety problem and I see on mycarstats. Com that there are several complaints about this same problem.

My Saturn (manual 5 sp) has over 202,000 miles and the parking brake cables are frozen/broken. I cannot currently find any replacement/after market.

The windshield wipers would skip around on the windshield when in use. The dealer has serviced the wipers several times but can't correct the problem. The weatherstrip on the rear driver's side door was discolored. The lf seat belt height adjuster knob was missing. The driver's side of the dash rattled around the vent area when slowing to a stop. The technician determined that the left front door was out of alignment causing noise against primary weatherstrip. The windshield washers were inoperative because the hole was plugged. Technician removed and cleaned the washers. The vehicle brakes were noise in the morning during the first couple of stops. The consumer initiated a lemon law claim with the bbb regarding the dealers inability to correct the problem with the windshield wipers. The consumer's claim was denied.