CarComplaints.com Notes: The Saturn Aura was a mid-size car meant to replace the somewhat problematic L-Series. Unfortunately, the Aura brought its own problems: namely cheap brake parts that needed early replacement and a gear shifter that could say it’s in park while the transmission was still engaged.

Brake problems, including uneven wear and warped rotors that cause the car to wobble, are common complaints from 2007 owners. Did GM use metal for its rotors that can’t stand the heat? That’s what some say, and it’s hard to argue when reports show that rotors could start to warp as early as 500 miles off the dealer lot.

Meanwhile, a busted gear shifter cable lead to some unwanted rollaways. That’s because the shifter could say “Park” while the transmission was still in drive, reverse or neutral. A defect investigation into the issue was opened in 2011, eventually leading to a recall of 56,000 vehicles in 2014.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
70,256 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2007 Saturn Aura accessories - interior problems

accessories - interior problem

Find something helpful? Spread the word.
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2007 Saturn Aura:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

2007 Saturn Aura Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #29

Feb 172020

Aura

  • 73,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Today my driver seat caught fire and burnt a whole all the way through my seat

- Lincoln, NE, USA

problem #28

Mar 112017

Aura

  • 110,000 miles
Driver seat frame weld broke under normal usage. While driving under normal conditions, the back left of the driver seat "popped" and sank about 2 inches. Seat no longer stable. Mechanic confirmed that the weld had failed.

- Dripping Springs, TX, USA

problem #27

Aug 012016

Aura

  • 160,000 miles
The cross member on the driver's seat has broken causing the seat to lean towards the center console. Seat is very unstable and dangerous.

- Simi Valley, CA, USA

problem #26

Apr 152016

Aura

  • 160,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Drivers seat track broken. Weld between a cross tube and the tracks broke which appears to be a common problem with GM cars of a certain type during this same year as well as before and after 2007. Seat now is not stable, it rocks because it dropped down in the back left rear of the seat. Unstable drivers seat is not an ideal situation for maintaining control of the vehicle under certain maneuvers.

- Rochester Hills, MI, USA

problem #25

Feb 022015

Aura 6-cyl

  • 117,000 miles
I was adjusting the seat height as I was cleaning the vehicle, and I heard a snap/pop sound. The right side of the seat was not being supported up and I could also jiggle the side forward and back. The only position that feels ok is completely lowered, but the right side still can move slightly both forward and backward. I have removed the seat from the car and there is a weld failure of a tube that extends across the front of the seat, and on the back of the passenger side, a bracket connected to a steel tube snapped from the tube. While I don't mind being low in the car, I am concerned that the driver side may give way.

- Troy, MI, USA

problem #24

Feb 012014

Aura 6-cyl

  • 138,000 miles
Left side of power driver seat collapsed while rounding a corner. Upon examination it appears the weld broke attaching a vertical bracket to a horizontal tube that extends under the width of the seat near the rear and is capped on both ends. Upon searching online data sources, it appeared that this is a "known issue" that extends across the platforms that share this particular seat design(Chevrolet Malibu, Pontiac G6, Saturn Aura) and possibly others. I'd like to add my incident to the record.

- Tucson, AZ, USA

problem #23

Sep 082014

Aura 6-cyl

  • 116,300 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Got into the car to drive to work and felt the rear outer corner dropped abruptly after being seated for maybe a minute. Car seat is no longer attached on the outer rear edge which makes it extremely dangerous if hit from behind.

- Villa Hills, KY, USA

problem #22

Sep 032014

Aura 6-cyl

  • 97,000 miles
Seat weld broke away on the rear section of the drivers seat. No longer anchored to the frame allowing it to move several inches in either direction. Possible safety hazard if in an accident.

- Arlington Heights, IL, USA

problem #21

Jun 222007

Aura

  • 594 miles
The plastic back covering of the driver seat is popping off again. It feels like the right side of the seat leans back. The seat has been replaced twice already. The first time was in 2007. It seems to last about 2.5 - 3 years. I believe a seat should last longer than 3 years.

- Hellam, PA, USA

problem #20

Apr 012014

Aura

  • 145,000 miles
Tried to adjust the vertical lift on the power driver's seat and felt something pushing through the seat on the left side. Additionally, the rear left of the seat was no longer attached to the floor and could be pulled several inches up. Ultimately determined that the seat frame had broken; specifically, the horizontal bar at the rear of the seat to which the vertical lifter is attached was broken at the welds. This would be unsafe in case of a crash. The car seat frame cannot be repaired. A new one costs $1000. I have had many cars and never had one with seat failure at this mileage.

- Pinon Hills, CA, USA

problem #19

Apr 252014

Aura 6-cyl

  • 140,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Structural weld under the driver's side seat broke. Seat now sways left to right, not secure in the vehicle. Visual indication of a weak, non-penetrative, robotic structural weld keeping the seat in place. GM will not cover repair or replacement costs. Internet search shows this same issue happening across millions of vehicles under the Chevrolet and Saturn makes.

- Oceanside, CA, USA

problem #18

Apr 012014

Aura 6-cyl

  • miles
2007 Saturn Aura. Consumer writes in regards to air bag light comes on intermittently and other vehicle problems. The consumer stated the dealer told him to ignore the light or cancel it using the button on the steering wheel. The dealer stated there was nothing wrong with the air bag itself. The problem persisted and eventually, the dealer stated the entire passenger seat needed to be replaced. In June of 2013, when the consumer stopped for gas, the vehicle would not re-start. The vehicle had to be towed 150 miles to the local dealer. The problem was diagnosed as an ignition module. A few days ago, the driver's seat belt would beep 5 times and then a red light on the dash would blink, even though the driver had his seat belt on. Driving along a couple of miles, the beeping noise returned, as well as the red light. The problem was intermittent, but continued on for the remainder of the ride. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealer, where the problem was determined to be a module in the driver's seat and it would cost $1242 to replace it.

- Santa Maria, CA, USA

problem #17

Sep 162011

Aura 6-cyl

  • 67,580 miles
I was adjusting my electronic drivers seat when I noticed that right side wasn't responding to any vertical adjustments I tried to make. It still worked forwards and back so I thought nothing of it and started on my 2 hours drive to work. I discovered that whenever I banked left on the freeway that the right side of the seat would raise up and then slam back down because it was now loose. The mounting bar for the drivers seat was broken. It was dangerous to drive the this way - always bouncing around made it hard to steer straight. I took it to the dealer and was quoted $600 + labor to replace the seat. I did not have the work done. I took a metal hose clamp and secured the two broken ends of the mounting bar together then wrapped it with duck tape to keep the clamp in place. The seat still could not be raised or lowered but the fix worked for the last three years. I have seen dozens of posts from people with the same problem and it just doesn't seem right that this should happen.

- Tracy, CA, USA

problem #16

Jul 102013

Aura 6-cyl

  • 61,325 miles
I have a 2007 Saturn Aura xe my problem is the seat motors housing driver side are starting to come apart when I move seat up/down the parts make a grinding noise and the frame is poking through the seat on the left back side lower cushion that is sticking me in the butt when I get into car.also the front brakes get really shaky when I have to stop suddenly on rough roads pedal seems to go to floor and brakes make loud clunking noise its a little scary to say the least. Also the post for my gas cap that allows the door to pop open fell apart the pin fell into the mounting hole and whole assembly is coming apart.

- Vero Beach, FL, USA

problem #15

Mar 012013

Aura

  • 81,000 miles
The heated seats comes on its own on both driver and passenger sides. The passenger seat belt light comes on when no one is in the front passenger seat. The service air bag light illuminates often when starting the car and when I turn car off and restart it goes out...but lately it stays on longer.

- Laurel, MD, USA

problem #14

Oct 012012

Aura

  • 50,000 miles
While driving my 2007 Saturn Aura with power driver seats. The drivers seat was just about half way elevated and while dropping a friend off going up-hill on a windy road - I began to feel the drivers seat moving in the motion of the turn. After a couple other occasions it became an issue as the drivers seat felt crooked while driving and more pronounced that it affected driving as the seat moved even more as the days progressed and dangerous as it could have caused me to turn into something more-so or accelerate without cause; due to the imbalance in the drivers seat. One remedy to this situation is the fully lower the seat so that the brackets are at its lowest position. Although I don't prefer to be that close as the drivers seat is normally a little higher it does cause inconvenience. Not only to me, but other drivers that use the vehicle. Another reason why it's at it's lowest position is to avoid further damage to the seat and it's components. The integrity of the seat is already compromised and would hate to raise the seat in fear of a collision due to the frame or full failure of the seat itself. I would appreciate any investigation to this matter as I feel it's not an isolated issue and would hope that the manufacturer would assist in getting not only my seat repaired, but others with the same issue. Thank you.

- Honolulu, HI, USA

problem #13

Apr 012013

Aura 6-cyl

  • 68,000 miles
I have had problems with this car since shortly after purchase, most of which have never been repaired even after several attempts by dealership, passenger airbag turns off even with passenger in seat, heated seats come on by themselves, I gave up on repair of those long ago, but they are minor compared other problems I any several other owners of this car as you can read at edmunds.com consumer discussions, this cannot be coincidence, traction control, water pumps, clunking in the steering column and most recently check engine light issues, which in the process of more than one mechanic/dealership trying to figure out what is wrong with this car I have paid for what I would call unnecessary repairs, finally my local dealership tells me GM has told them the timing chain is stretched, I'm assuming GM knows this because they have other vehicles some 2007 models with a timing chain recall/issues, according to a local mechanic timing chains do not need regular maint. And should last much longer than my 68000 miles, I now need a 3500$$ repair although my local dealership "sympathizes" with me they feel "things just are not made they way they used to be." Just thought I'd join the many others who feel a complaint needed to be filed with GM regarding this vehicle!!!

- Harvey, LA, USA

problem #12

Jul 142010

Aura

  • miles
Identical to the recent airbag related recall initiated at Chrysler, GM has had the same issue on multiple platforms, most notably the Saturn Aura xr. My vehicle is a 2007 edition. I first noticed the issue on my vehicle in 2010. First, the passenger sensing system indicated that no passenger was present. Second, the "service airbag soon" icaw would annunciate, sometimes while in motion and sometimes while stationary, when this happened traveling on the interstate I got quite flustered. I called the service center and took it to the last Saturn service center in fort worth where they told me that I'd most assuredly flooded my passenger compartment (never drove the car into a body of water--confused"?"). the fix was to replace the acm, the passenger sensing mat, and the seat heater--total cost ~$1K. But my car was still under warranty! this problem continued to happen and another dealership could never isolate the problem. Fast forward to now when I contacted GM about my concerns since nobody else could help me...GM stated that there was nothing they could do because my car was out of warranty. I asked the GM P.O.C. about the tsb I had found related to this issue. I stated my concerns for a tsb related to air bags over a 7 year period. Yes, you read that right. GM has had a tsb related to my problem, and the same airbag related recall Chrysler just started, for 7 years!!! please assist myself and other consumers from being hurt by this...

- Fort Worth, TX, USA

problem #11

Apr 152010

Aura 6-cyl

  • 35,500 miles
Two times " I originally had the drivers seat frame replaced while under warranty in April 2009. Recently in December 2012 it broke again. Obviously the seat frame is a poorly engineered product. The issue causes the seat to lean into the center of the vehicle and rock when turning to the right and sometimes it simply clunks downwards without warning. The fact that the clunking down is sudden, it is quite startling and very distracting from what's is going on road. I attempted to secure some assistance or financial offset for the second seat frame through GM?S customer assistance center to no avail. The car sat at the dealership for five days while GM's cac supposedly deliberated on my request and only to return it to me in worst condition due to their inspection. I'm not a super heavy guy, I average 230 lbs. GM should be required to issue a recall for this part with the complaints listed here and the numerous web pages also describing the parts failure. I have owned seven GM cars but I'll be sure not to give GM not one penny more then the eventual repair of this issue. It leaves me wondering why did we american's allowed the bail out of this company"

- Lakewood, OH, USA

problem #10

Nov 012012

Aura

  • 91,600 miles
While adjusting the power seat, there was a loud snapping sound and the seat began to list to the right. Upon inspecting the seat, I found that the forward and rear rails that connect perpendicular to the right side seat frame are snapped off at the welds. There also appears to be surface rust on the metal of the frame that supports the seat and its motors.

- Pontiac, MI, USA

Read the next 9 complaints »

Not what you are looking for?