NHTSA Complaint #10468774 — 2003 SATURN VUE

WHILE RETURNING ON A TRIP AND USING THE TURN SIGNAL NORMALLY, THERE WERE SEVERAL INCIDENTS IN WHICH THE TURN SIGNAL SOUNDED LIKE IT WAS WORKING AT ABOUT TWICE THE NORMAL RATE, HOWEVER THERE WAS NO INDICATION THAT THE TURN LIGHTS WERE COMING ON. ON ONE PARTICULAR INSTANCE, WHEN THIS HAPPENED, THE TURN SIGNAL GOT EXTREMELY WARM TO THE TOUCH AND SMOKE WAS OBSERVED COMING FROM THE SWITCH. THERE WERE SEVERAL SUBSEQUENT INCIDENTS DURING THIS TRIP AND ON SUBSEQUENT DAYS, BUT ONLY THE ONE IN WHICH THE SWITCH ACTUALLY SMOKED (WHICH IS WHY I INDICATED A FIRE ABOVE). WHEN I CALLED SATURN (GM DEALERSHIP) ABOUT THIS, THEY MENTIONED THAT A SIMILAR SWITCH WAS UNDER RECALL, BUT NOT THIS ONE. AFTER HAVING REPLACED THE TURN SIGNAL SWITCH, I HAD ASKED IF SATURN WANTED THE DEFECTIVE UNIT. SURPRISINGLY, SATURN DIDN'T SEEM TOO CONCERNED AND ASKED ME TO CONTACT THE DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIP, IN TURN, TOLD ME THAT ALL THEY COULD DETERMINE IS THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE SWITCH AND TO CONTACT SATURN CUSTOMER SERVICE. I AM QUITE CERTAIN THAT IF WE HADN'T CORRECTED THE ISSUE (WHICH IS DIFFICULT TO DESCRIBE) THAT A MORE DANGEROUS SITUATION COULD'VE BEEN CAUSED, AND THAT THIS SWITCH DESIGN IS FAULTY AND MAY POSE A SAFETY (THERMAL) CONCERN. I HAVE KEPT THE OLD SWITCH AND WILL GLADLY PROVIDE IT TO NHTSA IF REQUESTED TO DO SO. I DIDN'T FEEL IT SAFE TO KEEP USING THE OLD SWITCH, AND WHILE THE COST WAS RATHER MINIMAL TO HAVE IT REPLACED, I'M SURPRISED THAT SATURN DIDN'T OFFER TO REIMBURSE ME AND AS I STATED PREVIOUSLY, DIDN'T REQUEST THE FAULTY PART TO BE RETURNED. I HAVE NOT HAD ANY SIMILAR INCIDENTS SINCE REPLACING THE SWITCH, WHICH CERTAINLY CORRECTED IT. THE PART NUMBER LISTED ON THE OLD SWITCH IS SHOWN AS BEING AR339790736/22679804. IN ORDER TO NOT CAUSE THE SWITCH TO GO INTO THE MODE DESCRIBED ABOVE, IT WAS BEST TO NOT USE THE TURN SIGNAL ANY MORE THAN POSSIBLE. *TR