Here are some of the responses that
we've received in just the few days that this site has been up:
(some responses have been edited
for brevity)
From: Scott A.
Hello Ryan and Katie,
I'm sorry you are having trouble
with your Saturn. Problem Saturn's are
few and far between, but they can
still be a let down. I'm going to go
on a few assumptions here, so if
I'm off on these then this may not be
very helpful.
First assumption is your problem
has been reoccurring. Second, the
first occurrence of the problem
happened within a few months of having
bought the car. Third, you
have brought the car back to the dealer on
several occasions to try and have
the problem corrected. Fourth, the
problem has to be detrimental to
the operation of the vehicle (a squeaky
dash, although annoying doesn't
count).
When you purchased your car they
are required to give you a Lemon Law
booklet which details your rights
as a consumer. It would be best if
you start with this book and review
how your situation falls in its
guidelines. If you do, then
the booklet details the steps you can take
for filing a complaint and getting
a replacement vehicle.
In my case I had fallen outside
the statutes for being a "lemon". So I
called the main number for Saturn
(1-800-553-6000) in Spring Hill after
getting nowhere with the dealer.
They were absolutely wonderful in
addressing my problem. I
was in the midst of moving to another part of
the state, so in my case Saturn
asked if I could bring my car to the new
local dealership to have it serviced
again. I just wanted my car fixed.
Over the course of the next couple
of months I would be back to the
dealer and on the phone with the
customer rep in Spring Hill who I began
to know on a personal basis ("how
are the kids" etc.). Once it became
apparent that the quality of the
maintenance personal at the dealer
wasn't going to make a difference,
I stated to the Spring Hill rep that
I wanted something done about getting
me into another car.
Since I was more than fair with
them, in giving them plenty of
opportunity to fix the problem,
and since I still wanted to drive a
Saturn, they were more than helpful.
They treated the whole situation
as if I still was within the lemon
law statutes and handled the trade
accordingly.
BTW, you never just get a new car.
They work the deal as a "trade-in"
of your old car and then you finance
the difference on the new one.
Saturn was VERY fair on my "trade-in".
As a matter of fact they treated
us so well (I won't go into details
of the trade) that when my wife's
Honda Accord finally died 4 months
later, she wanted to get a Saturn for
herself. So we are now a
two Saturn family.
Sincerely
Scott
Scott's experiences certainly
very different from our own. I am happy that things worked out for
him, but they are polar opposite from our own, even to the point where
we were told that "Saturn has no program for buying back cars," when they
obviously do.
From: Jeff
Ryan and Kathleen,
I'm sorry to hear of your
problems with your Saturn. It is
appalling the way you have been
treated and Saturn's lack of interest
in getting your problems resolved.
I haven't owned a Saturn and
stories like this will probably
keep it that way.
Best of luck resolving your
problems.
-Jeff
DO YOU HEAR THAT SPRING HILL?!?! Jeff isn't going to be buying a Saturn because of stories like ours.
From: Scott W
Dear Ryan and Kathleen,
It just breaks my heart to
see how badly Saturn has treated you. I was
one of the first 10,000 people
to buy a Saturn. I bought a 91 SL2 from
Saturn of Santa Ana, California.
The dealer sales manager was crooked.
After being jacked around and Baited
and Switched for nearly 30 days on
the financing, I tried to return
my car. Suddenly the sales people were
all unavailable due to a "meeting".
I brought my car into Saturn
of Fresno, California twice to comply with
Saturn safety and emission recalls.
Both times the dealer broke my
car. I live 45 miles from
the closest dealer so I effected the repairs
myself
I'm active duty military.
While I was home on leave, I took my car
into Saturn of Plymouth, Michigan
to have the headlights aimed. They
ran the car through their touchless
carwash. When I went to pick up my
car, I realized that my front license
plate was missing. (In Michigan,
front license plates are not issued
and all their cars are sold without
the front license plate bracket.)
I went back into the dealer and asked
to see the manager to inquire as
to what might have happened to my
California plate, the guy went
back into their car wash and found it.
He hosed it off and nonchalantly
handed it to me. I was furious with
the apathetic treatment I received.
To make a long story short, I
eventually had the assistant manager
out there on his hands and knees
reattaching my front license plate.
I notice that the alternator
failed on your car twice. Those new style
alternators (Delco CS series) are
used on all new GM cars. They are
_very_ sensitive to over tightening
of the battery terminal bolt on the
back. That's one of the things
our dealer broke during recall work the
first time. (They get
in a big hurry trying to fix all those lemon
Saturns that they don't take
the time or the care to do the job right.)
I too was stonewalled by Saturn
(the dealer and customer service). My
wife took the car in for the second
recall for a PCM change. As she was
driving the car home from the dealer,
it kept stalling. She went right
back to the dealer and told them
they did something to her car. (I
bought it for her, so it's her's.)
The service manager outright told my
wife that she was being emotional
and was imagining things. Now my
wife is a small woman with a loving
personality. She's also Sunday
school teacher. She got so
mad at the service manager that she actually
threatened to kill him if she was
stranded on the way home. I found the
battery cables were never tightened
after recall work was done. I only
went back to the dealer to buy
parts after that.
At one time, I considered
draining all the fluids from my car, removing
the wheels and mounting it upside
down to a trailer by the wheel hubs.
I was going to make up some big
signs about MY Saturn experience and
park it in the street in front
of Saturn of Fresno. I have the know how
and the ability to pull that off.
I will never buy another
Saturn, that's for sure! Every time I see
those stupid Saturn commercials
with that whiny guy Tommy, I change the
channel! I wish you the
best in your endeavors to reach an equitable
settlement with Saturn.
-Scott W
That's right folks, the Saturn people made a gentle Sunday School teacher threaten a man's life because they just didn't care enough to fix the car correctly, and were treating her horribly while doing it. My wife, and I, have both been brought to tears because of our car.
And, if you read the last paragraph, you'll notice that Scott is just one more person that will never buy a Saturn again.