I had a blowout on the rear, driver-side tire. When I took it to the tire shop to get a new one, the technician had to replace both rear tires due to wear on the inside of both rear tires. They advised me to get an alignment. The alignment shop found out about a servive bulletin #00-t-72a issued in july 2002 regarding a problem with the rear suspension. Both the rear tires lean in at the top. I took the car to the saturn dealer to get it fixed, but they told me that it was not a recall and it would not be repaired free of charge. I want to know the difference between a recall and a service bulletin and why a service bulletin is not considered a "defect" in the vehicle. There were no injuries caused, but if the tire had blown out during my out of town trip the night before there could have been or even worse. The inside of both the rear tires was so worn that both were showing the steel belts. Thank you, louise a. Leader
2002 Saturn LS suspension complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 18 of 18, newest first, as owners wrote them.
While driving at low speeds and turning driver heard a loud popping noise coming from the steering wheel which vibrated. Driver will contact the dealer in the near future.
Vehicle's alignment was off, making it hard to maneuver. Vehicle was taken to saturn for repairs, and it was found that the back tires were worn out, as a result of an alignment problem.*ak the vehicle is now on it's fourth set of tires.
Consumer took vehicle into dealer for a regular maintenance check up. The dealer indicated the need to replace all four tires and install a rear alignment kit. *ak the consumer was told by the service manager that the uneven tire wear was caused by the factory alignment. *ph
The headlights and dashboard lights flickered intermittently while driving at night. Dealer kept the vehicle for two weeks, however the problem continued. *ak there was a squeaking noise only when the steering wheel was turned to the left. The suspension link was replaced. The service engine soon light illuminated on the vehicle and the ignition control module was replaced. The driver side window skipped when being rolled down. The right rear brake light bulb had burned out, the windshield wipers went across the window half way before it squirted any spray and then scratched the windshield.
Since the vehicle was purchased the dealer has replaced 5 sets of tires. The tires were replaced because they constantly cupped. The dealer replaced the tires, installed a shim kit and adjusted the front toe, but none of those repairs stopped the tires from cupping. The consumer contacted the manufacturer and requested that they re-purchase the vehicle. The manufacturer denied the request but offered to extend the warranty to 75,000 miles. The consumer is convinced that the problem will re-occur. *ak *scc
The tires on my 2002 saturn lw300 wore out at an excessive rate, requiring replacement at 22,000 miles. I brought my car into the dealership describing steering wheel vibration at high speed and excessively worn tires. Although the symptoms I described met the symptoms in existing tsbs for my vehicle, the saturn dealer ignored these and until I did research to find the tsbs, was not going to cover this under warranty. From my research, the excessive wear on the tires is far from an isolated incident and adversely affects the performance, and therefore safety, of the vehicle. The dealer also informed me that there was "cupping" on my rear tires making them out of round.while there is a tsb out for this incident, certain saturn dealers are choosing to ignore this even when customers report the problems directly related to the tsbs. Since this is a known issue to saturn and is related to the configuration of the suspension and saturn's selection for tires (firestone affinity hps), there should be a recall on the vehicle to correct the manufacturer's defect, and avert future safety issues relating to low tire traction. Furthermore, the fact that this tire wear occurs at such an early period in the car's life that many consumers will not even know that they have worn out tires until they have a failure leading to an accident. Thankfully that did not happen in my case but tread life is not something I would normally be checking on a car with 22,000 miles because there is no reason for tires on a new car to wear out at 22,000 miles.
Vehicle vibrates significantly at highways speeds, stability, safety and enjoyment are severely impaired. Seat pad and cover come loose repeatedly.
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