The contact owns a 2008 Saturn Vue. The contact stated that the passenger's side windshield wiper was inoperable. Upon investigation, the contact self-diagnosed the vehicle with windshield wiper linkage failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that the last 8-digits of the VIN were recognized as another make and model vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 125,000.
Saturn Vue wipers problems
46 of the 2,351 owner complaints about the Saturn Vue describe windshield wiper failure, most of them for the 2003 model year.
- owner complaints
- 46
- worst model year
- 2003
- typical mileage
- 63,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
Headlights 5Check engine light 5Fire or smoke 4Grinding brakes 4Loss of power 3Door locks 3Transmission failure 2Stalling 2
What owners say
When my horn fuse in my horn is non stop blaring also my front wipers fuse in good and my wipes are not working
Vehicle experienced burning smoke emissions and a burning odor from the steering wheel / steering column area where the wipers and signal light/highbeam headlight switches are connected. The smoke emissions and the burning odor appeared to be triggered by the turning signals or from activation of the headlights. For safety purposes, the vehicle was turned off and parked; however, the headlights continued to illuminate after the headlights were shut off. Eventually, the car battery died; but the headlights continued to illuminate; headlights were finally extinguished with disconnection of battery cable.
Windshield wipers shut off randomly while driving. This has been going on since we bought the car in 2015.
Over the past year and half I've had numerous electrical issues. Head lights dimming and flashing at very high intervals almost like a dim strobe. Radio not turning on. Interior lights not coming on. Odometer light dims. Random dinging noise. Turn signal not always working or working sporadically. Front windshield wipers not always coming on and when they do it's sporadic. Rear windshield not coming on but will after an engine restart. Key stuck in the ignition. Hazard lights not working when engine is off. All this has happened slowly over the last year and half. I've replaced the battery twice and have had it in the shop multiple times and they can't find an issue. Everyone with these problems will tell you that a mechanic can't run a test for the problem if it's not happening at that time. We also all know too well these problems come and go very quickly and sometimes temporarily fix themselves with just an engine restart, driving over a bump (which also brings on the issues) or shaking the wire harness on top of the battery. So taking it to a shop to run a test is almost meaningless unless towed and even then it's not 100% chance you're going to get a code(s) to read. The last few months the problems have gotten worse. The big occurrence came when I was just two minutes down the road from where I live, I had the vue not start up or even turn over and the key was locked in the ignition. I opened up the hood, tapped once on the black box on top of the battery and the vue started dinging and was able to turn the vehicle on. I then drove to my house and the vehicle completely shut off on me and restarted twice within that two min drive. I lost total power and very limited control of the steering wheel. This issue has been brought up and complained about hundreds of times on the internet and has yet to be investigated. Please investigate this electrical issue. -11.4.17
While I was sitting in my car waiting for my daughter to get out of work, the car was running, when there was smoke pouring from the steering column. I immediately shut the car off and the smoke dissipated. This was 2 days ago and now my wipers do not work. My mechanic said that the air bag wires had caught fire and burned out the wipers.
The passenger wiper arm disconnected from the motor while I was driving in the rain. Lucky I was near my home at the time.
The rear defroster does not work. When you press the rear defroster windshield wiper fluid pours out of the vehicle. No defrosting happens
On a rainy day the wipers will stop working then eventually start back up. While using the delay wipers they would work half the time, sometimes go fast, and even stop. You just never know if they will work which is really scary on heavy rains.
Occasionally there has been a line of smoke coming from my steering column when I start the car. Now my windshield wipers will not turn off unless I remove the fuse. I am concerned about a fire and will be getting it fixed, however I have read of other saturn owners having this same problem. So I know mine is not the only car out there to have this problem.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Saturn Vue wipers
Which Saturn Vue years have windshield wiper failure problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2003 (17 complaints), 2008 (12 complaints) and 2006 (6 complaints).
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used Saturn Vue?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history