So as I was reading my email today, I received a note from another dissatisfied Saturn owner expressing sympathy for me regarding my car. This reminded me that I was going to keep you all posted on what was going on regarding my 2005 Ion.
The car currently has 36,000KM on it. It has been in the shop more often than I have been able to drive it this year. A few weeks ago, my power steering stopped working. It, like all of the other problems on my car was intermittent. I had been driving it for an hour or so, and stopped at a photo lab to drop off some prints I had been working on for a client. About 10 minutes later, I came back outside, and drove down the block to Wal-Mart. I only picked up 1 item at Wal-Mart, and I went outside and started my vehicle. Everything appeared normal until I attempted to back out of my parking space. The steering wheel wasn't turning! I thought perhaps that I had a large build up of snow and ice around one of the wheel wells (This is a frequent problem with this car) and that maybe it was preventing the wheels from turning. I got out and checked, but the wheel wells were clear. So I jumped back in the car, started it again, and heard that lovely beeping sound that indicates there is something wrong with the car. Sure enough, the Power Steering message was flashing on the LCD screen.
So, I drove the car home using my superior biceps to control the vehicle. I immediately made an appointment to take my car in for servicing. The soonest I could get it into the shop was in 3 days time.
So the next day, being that I do have a job, I drove the car without power steering. On the second day before going into the shop, I turned over the engine, and wouldn't you know it, my power steering was back, and the car thought everything was peachy keen. And it remained that way right up until the car went into the shop.
At the shop, the mechanics said they had no idea what caused the problem. There were 3 error codes in the computers log, and they simply indicated that there was a low voltage problem. They had asked me if the car had recently been boosted, or if I had given anyone a boost. I said no. So they listed the repair as 'No Fault Found' and sent me on my way.
The next day, I had driven to a client's office. I went to park my car, and wouldn't you know it, the key wouldn't come out of the ignition. This would be the 4th time that the car has went into the shop for this specific problem.
I cancelled my meeting with the client and drove the car home. I had to leave it in the driveway with the key stuck in the ignition. Of course, I locked the vehicle using my spare key.
I called Saturn to make an appointment to take my car in for service. Being that I am currently in Fort McMurray, and there is no Saturn Dealership here, Saturn asked me to take the vehicle to Canadian Tire, because the automotive manager there used to be a technician for Saturn. I drove the car there that day, and the service manager told me he would diagnose the problem and call me the next day.
He lived up to his promise. He told me this time (unlike the last few times that I had taken the car in for this problem) that the problem was the shifter. It was not locking into place, and therefore, the car did not know that it had been put into 'Park', and therefore, would not release the key. He told me that he had contacted Saturn to let them know what the problem was, and that he was waiting for the Saturn Dealership in Edmonton to let him know how he should proceed. He said he would get back to me on Monday (as this was currently Friday).
In the mean time, I had made sure that I contacted Saturn's 1-800 number to make sure everything was documented, and that this would be listed as a warranty issue. The woman who was helping me deal with this was really quite pleasant and helpful. Her name was Marg Powell.
I also asked to speak with Mary Clarke. She is on Saturn's Management Review Board. I had spoken with her in the past when I had NOT been receiving any help from the call centre employees, and had asked her to help me find a solution with this piece of junk car. I suggested giving me a new car for the duration of my lease, or simply canceling my existing lease. Of course she told me neither of these solutions would happen.
Again I told her about the numerous problems I had been encountering. I did mention that Marg was being very helpful following up with the dealership on my current warranty issues, but that this was not solving the problem of the car constantly breaking down. Again I asked if we could come up with a co-operative solution to the car issues. And again, she gave me the same response, saying there was nothing wrong with the car, and any issues that arise are being dealt with under the warranty program.
I again pointed out the fact that I have had the car for 22 months, and that this would be about the 20th warranty repair. I said this was not acceptable. She told me, if I liked that I could trade the car in for a new one. Which means extending my lease, and having to take the hit of paying off the remainder of the existing lease. Also not acceptable. She told me there was nothing else that could be done. I told her that she left me with no other option but to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, contact the local Edmonton media, and to file a complaint with AMVIC (Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council). Mary Clarke's response was 'If that's what you feel you need to do, sir, then by all means.' That was the end of my dealing with Mary Clarke.
So, back to Canadian Tire. Monday goes by with no one contacting me. I did not think too much of it, as all repair shops in Fort McMurray currently have more business then they can handle. On Tuesday, I receive a phone call from Marg Powell at Saturn's customer care line. She is pleasant as always, and asks me how the car is running for me now. I told her I didn't have a clue, and that I still hadn't received a phone call from Canadian Tire, let alone actually have the car back in my possession. She was shocked. According to the notes that she had, the Saturn Dealership in Edmonton told her there was no fault found with the car, and that I had it in my possession, and that I was to monitor the car for future problems of this nature.
Naturally this enraged me, as none of it was true, and why should I be responsible to monitor the car for problems? I was already supposed to be monitoring it for transmission problems that they were unable to fix, let alone the key not coming out of the ignition. She told me she would contact the dealership to get confirmation of what was going on, and that I was to contact Canadian Tire to see where they were on the issue. I did so.
Canadian Tire told me that they had contacted the dealership with details on the problem, and were still waiting for the dealership's recommendation on how to proceed with the problem.
Fortunately for me, I had to fly back to Edmonton this same week. I called Saturn of Edmonton West while I was there and demanded to speak the GM and the Service Manager. While both of them were very nice in person, the GM was completely unfamiliar with any of the issues I had encountered. Apparently, the Service Manager I had been used to dealing with no longer worked for Saturn, and so they had a new guy in this position that was also unfamiliar with me.
I had them pull the service history for my vehicle. (10 pages of it!) We went through everything. All of the problems with the car, all of the problems with the servicing of the car, and especially Mary Clarke at the Corporate Care line.
The solution was to contact Canadian Tire again to tell them to fix the car. Also, I now have to drive the car back to Edmonton (a five hour drive) to have the car thoroughly inspected while the Saturn Sales Rep for Alberta happens to be there, so that he can be personally involved. Also, they were going to request the tapes from my phone calls with Mary Clarke, as they could not believe that she told me to go ahead and file complaints about Saturn if it made me feel better.
It certainly is not a new car or ending the lease, but I suppose it is at least a step in the right direction. I did tell them that I was concerned about driving the car all the way down there to have it inspected when all of the problems with the car are intermittent. What happens if I bring the car down there and it works perfectly fine for them? They didn't really have much of an answer for this, but did say clearly the car needed to be inspected regardless of whether or not the car currently had an issue.
So I wait. I have to take the car back on February 14th. And speaking of intermittent problems, I stopped at the corner store on the way back home yesterday afternoon. When I exited the store, I turned on my vehicle to drive home. You guessed it.... Once again I had no power steering. And this time, the car did not give me the warning light. When I pulled into my driveway, I turned the car off, and immediately turned it back on again. The power steering was back.
So I guess we will see what happens. In the meantime, NEVER EVER buy a Saturn. And, if you ever buy a used vehicle, even if it is from a branded dealership, do an online search for the VIN number and see what comes up. There are numerous websites that log and record service histories for each VIN number. And, I can assure you, when I give up this lousy car, I will make sure that I do the same thing on this website.
I will keep you all posted on how the car's inspection goes next week.
Peace,
Rainn
