Saturn VUE - Problems, Statistics, and Analysis

Saturn VUE owners have reported a total of 3,212 problems for their cars built in the 9 model years listed in the chart below. The chart shows the number of problems reported across all service years for each given model year of the Saturn VUE. The 2003 Saturn VUE cars have the most problems reported (862 problems).

Table 1. Total number of problems by model year for Saturn VUE

Model Year Number of Problems
  2010 VUE
9
  2009 VUE
168
  2008 VUE
563
  2007 VUE
406
  2006 VUE
421
  2005 VUE
215
  2004 VUE
351
  2003 VUE
862
  2002 VUE
217

🔍 Common problems of Saturn VUE

The following chart shows the 27 most common problems for Saturn VUE cars. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's power train (630 problems). The second most common problem is related to the vehicle's electrical system (615 problems).

Table 2. Common problems of Saturn VUE

Problem Category Number of Problems
  Power Train
630
  Electrical System
615
  Air Bag
307
  Engine And Engine Cooling
286
  Steering
284
  Equipment
267
  Suspension
130
  Service Brakes
91
  Structure
88
  Vehicle Speed Control
75
   
  Visibility
68
  Other Fuel System
55
  Exterior Lighting
53
  Latches/locks/linkage
47
  Electronic Stability Control
40
  Gasoline Fuel System
38
  Seat Belt
29
  Seats
28
  Unknown Or Other
26
  Wheel
25
  Tire
20
  Traction Control System
3
  Air Brake
3
  Interior Lighting
1
  Parking Brake
1
  Forward Collision Avoidance
1
  Child Seat
1

📉 Compare Reliability Across Model Years Using PPMY Index

It would not be fair to compare the Saturn VUE of an older model year to newer model years since older vehicles have been in service longer and thus are expected to have more problems. In order to compare the reliability across VUE model years, we use the PPMY index which is defined as the problems reported per thousand vehicles per Year. A smaller PPMY index indicates greater reliability of the given model year cars.

    PPMY = P / S / Y * 1000,

where P = total problems reported during the life of a Saturn VUE model year; S = total units sold of the model year; Y = years since the debut of the model year (the age of the vehicle).

The results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Use PPMY Index to Compare Reliability Across VUE Model Years

VUE
Model Year
Problems Sales [1] Vehicle
Age
PPMY Index
  2010 92,90716    
0.19
  2009 16839,34317    
0.25
  2008 563108,53718    
0.29
  2007 40676,11119    
0.28
  2006 42195,11620    
0.22
  2005 21565,10521    
0.16
  2004 35192,35922    
0.17
  2003 862109,45423    
0.34
  2002 21735,31924    
0.26

📊 Number of Problems Reported During the First Year

Another way to measure the reliability across the model years of the Saturn VUE is to use the total number of problems reported during the vehicle's first year in service, as shown in the Table 4.

Table 4. Number of problems in vehicle's; first service year

Model YearProblems Reported
  2009 VUE
3
  2008 VUE
44
  2007 VUE
37
  2006 VUE
17
  2005 VUE
19
  2004 VUE
41
  2003 VUE
120
  2002 VUE
22


VUE Service Bulletins
VUE Safety Recalls
VUE Defect Investigations
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