RoadVitals

1997 Saturn S-Series Sedan Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
2
Latest Aug 8, 2006
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
0
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Dec 8, 2004

What this page shows

Our database holds 2 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 1997 Saturn S-Series Sedan. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–2 of 2

Electrical
Filed Aug 8, 2006

THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE WIRING THE CAR IS A 1997 SATURN AND I HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE HEATER BLOWER MOTOR WORKING SOMETIMES AND THEN NOT YOU HAVE TO PLAY WITH THE WIRING TO GET IT TO WORK AND THE SAME FOR THE BLINKERS THE BLOWER WORKS NOW AND THE BLINKERS DON'T? *NM

NHTSA ID
10164989
Incident
Aug 4, 2006
Mileage
180,000 mi
Engine
Filed Dec 8, 2004

OIL FOUND IN COOLANT IN MY 1997 SATURN SL IN SUMMER 2004 AFTER MINOR FRONT-END COLLISION. IN THE 2-3 MONTHS PRIOR TO COLLISION, I HAD TO ADD COOLANT EVERY 3-4 WEEKS, AS COOLANT LOW WARNING LIGHT WOULD COME ON. COOLANT HAD NORMAL APPEARANCE PRIOR TO ACCIDENT. CAR RAN FINE, TEMP GAUGE NEVER WENT ABOVE NORMAL. CAR HAD @ 78,000 MILES WHEN THIS BEGAN TO HAPPEN. ADVISED BY MECHANIC FRIEND THAT I HAD PROBABLY BEGUN TO DEVELOP A CRACKED HEAD BEFORE ACCIDENT, THIS WAS A COMMON OCCURRENCE IN SATURNS BUILT IN 90'S. THE COLLISION POSSIBLY WORSENED CONDITION. HE ADVISED THAT HEAD WOULD CERTAINLY NEED TO BE REPLACED, BUT CAR COULD POTENTIALLY RUN FOR SOME TIME BEFORE OVERHEATING PROBLEMS DEVELOPED-STATED I WOULD HAVE AN EXPENSIVE REPAIR, AND I COULD REPAIR NOW OR WAIT UNTIL I HAD TO REPLACE PART. HE ADVISED CAREFUL WATCHING OF GAUGE AND OIL IF I CHOSE TO WAIT. CAR RAN FINE FOR 6 FULL MONTHS AFTER OIL FIRST FOUND IN COOLANT, WITH FREQUENT OIL "TOP-OFFS" AND RELIGIOUS WATCHING OF TEMP GAUGE, WHICH NEVER WAVERED FROM NORMAL IN THOSE 6 MONTHS. ABSOLUTELY NO NOTICEABLE EFFECT ON CAR'S PERFORMANCE. IN LATE NOVEMBER CAR FINALLY OVERHEATED. THE CRACKED HEAD I KNEW I HAD 6 MONTHS AGO IS NOW BEING REPLACED. I AM FORTUNATE TO HAVE "FRIENDS IN THE BUSINESS," SO MY REPAIR WILL NOT BE AS EXPENSIVE AS THE FOLKS FORCED TO GO TO THE DEALERSHIP. I AM REPAIRING THIS CAR BECAUSE OTHER THAN THIS INCIDENT, THE ONLY MECHANICAL REPAIRS NEEDED HAVE BEEN A FEW MINOR REPLACEMENT CAMPAIGN PROGRAM ITEMS (HORN ISSUE AND STEERING ISSUE) TAKEN CARE OF FOR FREE BY THE DEALER AND ONE MINOR OIL LEAK FIXED UNDER WARRANTY. *JB

NHTSA ID
10102371
Incident
Nov 18, 2004
Mileage
82,000 mi

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .