NHTSA Complaint #10152344 — 2001 SATURN LS

I PURCHASED A 2001 SATURN L200 IN OCTOBER 2004. IT HAD ROUGHLY 64000 MILES ON IT. THIS PAST OCTOBER MY DAUGHTER WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE. THE CAR SLOWED TO A COMPLETE STOP. THE CAR WOULD NOT START. WE HAD IT TOWED TO A SERVICE STATION AND THE NEXT DAY I WAS TOLD THAT THE TIMING CHAIN WAS BROKE. I CONTACTED THE LOCAL SATURN DEALERSHIP : SATURN OF SAGINAW. AFTER I EXPLAINED WHAT HAPPENED ,THEY MADE IT SOUND LIKE IT WAS MY FAULT . THEY CLAIMED THAT I WAS NEGLIGENT WITH MY OIL CHANGES. I TOLD THEM THAT I HAD EVERY OIL CHANGE RECEIPT AND THAT THEY WERE ALWAYS AROUND THE 3000 MILE LIMIT. THEY INFORMED ME THAT THERE WAS NO SERVICE BULLETIN ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. THEY INFORMED ME THAT IT WOULD COST $2500 FOR A NEW CHAIN AND REPAIRS(BENT VALVES) OR $ 4000 FOR A NEW ENGINE. THEY CLAIMED THAT I SHOULD EXPECT NO HELP FROM SATURN. SO I HAD THE ENGINE REPAIRED FOR $1700 FROM THE STATION THAT INITIALLY DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM. SINCE THE REPAIRS, THE CAR IS RUNNING FINE, I READ ON THE WEB ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE THAT HAS HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AS MYSELF. MY CAR HAD 71000 MILES ON IT WHEN IT FAILED. *JB