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.
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