NHTSA Complaint #10107518 — 2002 SATURN VUE

MY FIANCE AND I BOTH PURCHASED A 2002 SATURN VUE. DURING THE COURSE OF NORMAL DRIVING SHE USED HER HORN IN ALERTING OTHER DRIVERS AND THE HORN FAILED TO STOP SOUNDING. THE ONLY REMEDY WAS TO PULL OVER AND REMOVE THE FUSE TO STOP THE HORN FROM SOUNDING. THIS OCCURRED THREE TIMES DURING HER OWNERSHIP OF THE VEHICLE AND EACH TIME THE DEFECTIVE PART WAS REPLACED THE PROBLEM WOULD RETURN SHORTLY AFTER. AFTER MUCH INQUIRY WE FINALLY HAD A MANAGER ADMIT TO US THERE WAS A PRODUCT REDESIGN TO FIX THE PROBLEM WITH IT SHORTING OUT WHICH ALSO AFFECTED THE AIR BAG FUNCTIONALITY AS WELL. BOTH SAFETY ISSUES. NOW DURING THE COURSE OF NORMAL DRIVING MY VEHICLE, ALSO A SATURN VUE OF THE SAME YEAR, HAS SUFFERED THE SAME FAILURE. ALTHOUGH THIS IS MY FIRST SUCH INCIDENT WITH THE PROBLEM, I SUSPECT THIS IS NOT AN ISOLATED CASE. I WAS TOLD THAT THE PART WOULD COST ROUGHLY $1000 TO REPLACE WHEN WE HAD TO REPLACE HERS THREE TIMES! I AM NOW FINDING MYSELF IN THE SAME SITUATION WHERE I HONKED THE HORN AND IT REFUSED TO TURN OFF UNTIL I PULLED THE FUSE. I ASSUME THEY WILL ALSO TRY TO CHARGE ME $1000 FOR IT'S REPAIR. *NM