general problems of the 2003 Saturn VUE - part 2

Transmission blew out on freeway with my kids in it. It had only less than 80000 miles on it. Saturn covered only half of cost for new transmission, should been recall. They should have covered for full cost of this failed transmission. Should not happen in first place. Very dangerous car. Please investigate.

I have a Saturn Vue 2003, that shut down while driving at speeds of 50 mph. I believe it is a vti transmission problem. I fear the worse when driving with my kids, I do not feel safe. I hate to dump alot of money into this vehicle if the problem will not be permittently fixed. There are alot of complaints regarding this matter on these vehicles.

I bought a used 2003 Saturn Vue two months ago, and since then it has been nothing but trouble. The major problem with it know is the transmission (automatic vti). When driving on the freeway two days ago, the car was on cruise control at 65 mph, when all of the sudden, the rpms red lined at 7000. After that I disengaged the cruise control and attempted to drive the car onto the shoulder, but it would not accelerate. Also when stopping the car, the engine starts to rumble and shake, then when accelerating again the engine revs up but no movement. After about five to ten seconds the car catches gear and it feels like I've been in a rear end collision when it does. Three days ago the car did this in the middle of an intersection while I was making a left hand turn (it stopped and just revved the engine), I was almost hit by an oncoming car but they managed to swerve out of the way to avoid a collision. The Vue is currently in the shop and I am unable to afford a new transmission so I am stuck with a dead vehicle which I just purchased two months ago.

Major transmission problems as well as ignition problems. Recently have smoke coming out of my steering wheel when car is started.

The contact owns a 2003 Saturn Vue. While driving approximately 70 mph, the warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. Suddenly, the vehicle stalled. The contact made several attempts to restart the vehicle, but was unsuccessful. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who stated that the powertrain fuse failed. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred two days later. The vehicle is in the process of being taken to an independent mechanic for inspection. There were no authorized dealers in the area for a second opinion. The VIN was unknown. The failure and current mileages were 82,067.

The vehicle in question is a 2003 Saturn Vue. I purchased the vehicle with 53,048 miles on it, so I agreed to buy it in "as is" condition. I got the vehicle on Dec. 31st 2007, and I drove it off the lot. I felt a weird shake that reminded me of when a battery was dying. On hills the truck would roll backwards, and kick hard when I pushed the gas. It would just randomly jerk, and it did this all throughout my ownership. The truck was serviced regularly, and mechanics never saw a problem. Finally, about 2 weeks ago, the truck encountered major problems. The truck decided that it was no longer going to accelerate, it was a fight to move forward. The rpms stayed between 1-3 even when the vehicle was not in motion. The transmission is unique, and is said to have less parts. It is said to be bad because the truck is too heavy for the transmission. It is a minimum of 3 thousand dollars to repair. They say that the problem will reoccur. The repairs are frequent and costly and something should be done.

2003 Saturn Vue. At 80,000 miles transmission went out and had to get it replaced. At 98000 miles 8 months later noticed sputtering and took it to dealership. Was told at first it was the ignition coil and the spark plugs and modules needed replaced for 682 dollars. 4 hours later they called and said they fixed it and it is not fixed I now have a bad #1 cylinder and have to get the whole engine replaced for 5400 dollars. Awaiting call back from Saturn corporate to see if they are going to help. It is pretty sad that a 5 year old can needs both the tranny built and a new engine before 100,000 miles. Should of kept my Honda civic with 230,000 miles. It runs better.

I own a 2003 Saturn Vue awd car that has 79,500 miles. There have been numerous problems with the car since purchasing it brand new in 2003. The biggest issue involved the power train. A secondary belt in the engine broke while the car was being driven on the highway. When the secondary belt broke is tangled with the timing belt causing the timing belt to skip a tooth. 12 valves were bent. I contacted a Saturn dealership regarding the issue with the power train and was told it would cost 7000. 00 to repair. I have had the engine repaired by an independent mechanic. No warning lights ever appeared to denote any issue with the power train.

Vehicle lost power when accelerating to make a left turn. Almost had collision from oncoming vehicle. Vehicle hesitated again with loss of power while attempting to accelerate vehicle to speed. Took to dealer and was advised it was the vti transmission and they were aware of the problem. They serviced the transmission as per service bulletin, however, the following day same hesitation when accelerating with loss of power. Next step was to replace transmission as per dealers comment.

The vehicle experienced a hard hesitation, lack of power in the engine and lost of acceleration when the pavement was wet or uneven. There was also a possible transmission problem.

When the vehicle was on an incline, it rolled back. The dealer told the consumer the vehicle was designed that way.

Clutch chatters when in reverse. It did this from day one. We have not had it fixed due to no dealer close to monterey CA.

1. Recall transaxle 2. Same day ---check ingine light would not go out. They fixed it and same day it came on again, they fixed it again 3. Same day car is lurching shen coming to a stop. They fixed it. 4. Next week the car is not getting any gas when press the excelerator. 5. Car had to be towed in becasue it would not start at all. They fixed it. 6. Same day after pick up hear knocking sound when turn a corner and then rattle when increase in speed. They said they donot hear anything.

Vibration in powertrain after firmware upgrade. . . .

2003 Saturn Vue with acceleration problems. Customer states the vehicle sometimes will not accelerate. Mechanic told her the transmission needed to be fixed or replaced. After the repair was made, the car is sometimes hard to accelerate or it over accelerates. The consumer also stated the vehicle began to smoke and it smelled like burnt rubber. The consumer returned the vehicle back to the dealer, however when she picked it up and began to drive, several things started to happen:the vehicle slowed down and wouldn't accelerate, as she pressed the accelerator, the vehicle would bolt and speed up, and just before arriving home, it slowed down again and the consumer was barely able to park the vehicle.

2003 Vue customer states that the transmission had a recall and after having it fix it began to have problems a couple of months later then the whole transmission had to be replaced* the drivers door would not open from the inside, the brakes squealed whenever the consumer backed-up and the rear wiper was replaced.

2003 Saturn Vue vti with a defective transmission. Customer states that it has been many reposts of bad transmissions*.