NHTSA Complaint #10215436 — 2002 SATURN VUE

WHILE DRIVING MY 2002 SATURN VUE 2.2L 4CYL LAST NIGHT AT APPROX. 55-60MPH, MY REDUCED POWER LIGHT CAME ON, ALONG WITH THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON. I HAD NO FOREWARNING NOISES OR INDICATION MY CAR WAS GOING INTO FAILURE. I IMMEDIATELY PUT MY CAR INTO NEUTRAL, SHUT THE IGNITION DOWN, AND PULLED OFF THE ROAD AS SAFELY AS I COULD, STILL AT APPROX. 50 MPH SPEED AS I HAD MY 3 CHILDREN IN THE CAR WITH ME. AFTER THE CAR WAS SHUT DOWN FOR 5 MINS AND SPEAKING TO MY GM DEALERSHIP, THEY ADVISED ME TO TRY TO TURN THE CAR OVER IN CASE IT WAS JUST A "GLITCH" IN THE COMPUTER SYSTEM, TO NO AVAIL. IT WOULDN'T TURN OVER. AFTER BEING TOWED TO MY GM DEALERSHIP, I WAS TOLD MY VEHICLE HAD A "ZERO TOLERANCE" ENGINE, AND THAT MY TIMING CHAIN HAD BROKE. I WAS TOLD MY ENGINE WAS MOST LIKELY BLOWN, AND THAT I NEEDED TO HAVE MY ENGINE REPLACED. THE MINIMAL COST OF THIS TIMING CHAIN ERROR IS $3,000 EVEN WITH A USED ENGINE GOING INTO MY CAR. I SEE MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT SATURN'S 2.2L ENGINE IN THE APPROX. 2001-2002 RANGE, AND I BELIEVE MY VEHICLE IS PART OF THIS. I AM CONTACTING SATURN ON MONDAY THE 21ST TO SEE IF I CAN GET SOME SORT OF HELP IN REPLACING MY ENGINE, AS THIS IS APPARENTLY AN OBVIOUS PROBLEM WITH THEIR ENGINES. *TR