NHTSA — Suspension Problems

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
98,776 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.

2004 Saturn Vue suspension problems

suspension problem

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2004 Saturn Vue Owner Comments

problem #13

Jan 222019

Vue

  • 26,600 miles

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

Going 40 mph made a left turn, medium loud noise and front right control arm tore in 2 (been replaced and have part) and back left tire now tilted in at top about 1 inch( still trying to get fixed ).

- Stanhope, NJ, USA

problem #12

Jul 072018

Vue

  • 160,000 miles
I was driving from providence ri to athens oh. I was in West Virginia around morgantown, driving from 68 West to 79 South ramp, and I was driving in the range of speed limits. Suddenly in the ramp, I felt car is turning unwantedly to the left, and I tried to bring it back to the road but I could not, and the car hit orthogonally the jersey barriers on the left hand side of the ramp. My airbags opened, one of my tires exploded, and front of my car completely wrecked. Fortunately, no one hit me from side and behind. I could really die, I see death in front of my eyes when I was turning with the car. I had replaced my control arm, shocks rotors, brake pads, all in the past two months of the accident. But this car was terribly bad in the turns and ramps before the accident. The suspension system did not work well in these cars in compare to their heights, and always you have the chance of collapsing. Fortunately, I did not collapse. It had happened a lot for me that I felt these car in not stable in ramps and turns, but I never thought a dangerous accident would happen to me. I also did not have collision insurance, and I had to sell my car for a 100 $ to a junk yards. I am almost sure there is some problem with their suspension systems, and I am requesting to investigate this issue in these cars.

- Kingston, RI, USA

problem #11

May 012016

Vue

  • miles
Takata recall it starting making a whistle noise and it feel that it's slipping it is unsafe to drive

- Lancaster, CA, USA

problem #10

Mar 032016

Vue

  • 144,000 miles

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

While driving straight down a state route (thankfully at low speed) the rear right wheel collapsed on our 2004 Saturn Vue. This was recalled and repaired in 2004 under recall campaign #04067001. Had this been at higher speeds, my wife could have been severely injured or killed.

- Piqua, OH, USA

problem #9

Aug 102015

Vue

  • 41,000 miles
Before we paid our 2nd payment our ABS system failed. The front breaks were crunching. It then threw out our wheel barrings, balljoints and rotors. Therefore it wouldn't pass inspection when it was due for it. The dealership did the original inspection there and they never changed the breaks. Which is an illegal practice. With all these problems we rarely drove the car. Till one day, less than having it under 1 year, it would no longer start.we lost out over$5,000 on payments and our large down payment too. They have been calling us ever since wanting us to pay for a car that won't start and won't pass inspection.

- Fulton, NY, USA

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problem #8

Aug 142015

Vue

  • 151,634 miles
I was making a left turn when I heard a pop sound so I pulled over on another block so I wouldn't be in traffic. Once I pulled over I can see my tire leaning inwards. Once the car was jacked up with the car jack we could see that the bracket broke off of the lower control arm.

- Roosevelt, NY, USA

problem #7

Aug 212014

Vue

  • 50,000 miles

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

I was going to park into a parking space of a shopping mall and when I was going to straighten out the Vue, the engine shut down and so did the ignition and I couldn't steer or stop in time before it hit a concrete base of a pole light fixture (that most of all shopping malls have throughout their lots). The right, passenger, side tire was bent so bad that it couldn't be driven and had to be towed...it smashed the fender, grill, bottom covering of the entire front plastic part along with tire rod end, strut, stabilizer bar, alignment, paint job and cost...fortunately, we have collision on this vehicle and only had to the first $1,000 for the complete job.

- Dupont, PA, USA

problem #6

Oct 242014

Vue

  • 127,000 miles
My wife was driving on the highway when the rear passenger wheel broke and slanted inward toward ghe vehicle. She was lucky she was not killed. It was determined to be the rear subframe failed. The vehicle is in decent condition with little to no corosion. There was no outside cause to this premature failure. The local dealer and GM refuse to assist in any repairs. After researching this I have found there was an actual dearh incident due to the same failure. I have a strong concern this could happen to someone else.

- Holden, MA, USA

problem #5

Oct 032014

Vue

  • 103,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Saturn Vue. While driving 20 mph, the contact heard an abnormal noise coming from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was merged to the side of the road where the contact noticed that the rear passenger side wheel was leaned into the wheel well. The dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was notified. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was 103,000.

- Sun Praire, WI, USA

problem #4

Sep 132014

Vue 6-cyl

  • 170,854 miles
I noticed the right rear tire on my 2004 Saturn Vue was at an angle. I went and looked and I thought it was just a bad bushing. I took it to my mechanic and found out that the rear cross member was all broken. As I got looking on the internet I found that GM knew about this problem and did nothing unless you complained and brought in in to the dealer. Well Saturn is no longer and I'm stuck with fixing this part and GM will do nothing. I could have lost my wife and all my family. They knew about this and they should have issued a recall.

- Hayfield, MN, USA

problem #3

Aug 242014

Vue

  • 138,000 miles

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

While driving on the freeway with children in the car, the rear differential broke, making steering extremely difficult. It felt as if we were going to flip, I slowly moved over and luckily we were able to stop before a horrific accident occurred. Once we stopped we got out to find the passenger rear tire tilted inward and undrivable. After taking it to the shop we found that the rear differential and frame broke as well as the control arms. This seems to be a known problem on these vehicles and is completely unsafe for anyone to be driving a recall needs to be done on this again to ensure the safety of our families.

- Royal Oak, MI, USA

problem #2

Dec 022011

Vue

  • 52,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Saturn Vue. While driving approximately 10 mph, the vehicle exhibited a loud bang from the rear. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the technicians advised that the rear suspension link was fractured and caused the frame rail to fracture as well. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 52,000.

- Menasha, WI, USA

problem #1

May 012011

Vue

  • 120,000 miles
While driving the vehicle, the driver heard a loud "pop" from rear of car. After pulling over the driver saw that the top of the right rear wheel was tipped in. The car was towed to an authorized Saturn repair facility. It was determined that the right rear lateral link assembly broke. The mounting bolt broke causing the mounting flange to brake off of the frame. This action also caused the frame to bend. It was necessary to replace the frame, links, control arms and shock absorber. Total cost to me was $1,602 Saturn said they were not responsible and would not pay for any expenses. The driver was traveling at 30 mph, did not hit a pot hole or other object. There was no accident involved, and no one was injured. These are not parts that require periodic maintenance or upkeep. The parts on this car failed. If this failure would have occurred on an interstate road going at a much faster rate of speed, I can't imagine the consequences. Thank you.

- New Berlin, WI, USA

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