NHTSA Complaint #10981648 — 2009 SATURN VUE

THE FIRST PROBLEM OCCURRED ABOUT A YEAR AGO, WHEN A MESSAGE STATING "STABILITRACK OFF" APPEARED WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE. I CONTINUED DRIVING WITH THE MESSAGE AND PARKED AS NORMAL.THE NEXT TIME I STARTED THE CAR THE MESSAGE WAS GONE. SEVERAL MONTHS LATER I WENT TO START THE CAR AND IT WAS COMPLETELY DEAD. DOOR LOCKS, RADIO, EVERYTHING WAS DEAD. WE REPLACED THE BATTERY AND THOUGHT THE PROBLEM WAS FIXED, BUT ABOUT TWO MONTHS LATER I WENT OUT IN THE MORNING TO A DEAD CAR AGAIN. JUMPING THE CAR WAS AN INSTANT FIX, AND THE VEHICLE RAN FINE AGAIN FOR ABOUT 3 WEEKS. THIS HAPPENED ABOUT ONCE A MONTH FOR THE NEXT 6 MONTHS, WITH THE "STABILITRAK OFF" MESSAGE OCCASIONALLY POPPING UP WHILE DRIVING. EACH TIME IT WOULD NOT START A JUMP WAS REQUIRED, AND THEN THE CAR WOULD DRIVE FINE. THERE WAS NEVER ANY INDICATION THAT THE BATTERY WAS LOW, AND IT NEVER QUIT WHILE ACTIVELY BEING DRIVEN. OVER THE PAST MONTH THE PROBLEMS HAVE OCCURRED MORE FREQUENTLY, AND NOW HAPPEN ABOUT 3-4 TIMES PER WEEK. I HAVE TO KEEP A PORTABLE BATTERY CHARGER IN MY GLOVEBOX TO JUMP IT MYSELF. WE HAVE REPLACED THE BATTERY TWICE AND STILL HAVE THESE ISSUES. WE TOOK IT TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO WAS UNABLE TO FIND THE PROBLEM, THOUGH HE ASSURED US THE BATTERY, ALTERNATOR, ETC. WERE FINE. AT THIS POINT WE ARE LOOKING TO SELL THE VEHICLE, BECAUSE MY KIDS AND I CANNOT KEEP BEING STRANDED WHEN IT WON'T START. I NO LONGER FEEL IT IS A SAFE VEHICLE FOR THEM TO BE RIDING IN. UNFORTUNATELY WE WILL TAKE A HUGE HIT WHEN WE SELL, AS THE CAR IS OBVIOUSLY NOT WORTH WHAT WE PAID FOR IT SINCE THESE PROBLEMS WERE UNKNOWN THEN. IT HAS 80,000 MILES ON IT NOW, AND THESE PROBLEMS STARTED AT 75,000 MILES.