2004 Saturn Ion / Sales and Repair

2004 Saturn Ion / Sales and Repair

Saturn of Appleton (Bergstrom Auto)

Appleton, Wisconsin We purchased our 2004 Saturn Ion on January 27, 2004. By 3500 miles, the front passenger turn signal & running light went out. The car was also sputtering when first started, and we were told that it was a crack in the head that had probably been there before we even purchased the car. Had we known this before 1500 miles, we would most certainly have returned the car.

We were given a rental car, but we had to drive 45 minutes one way to bring it to Saturn of Green Bay to be fixed. Within a month, the driver side front running light and turn signal went out. We had to drive 1 hour one way to Saturn of Appleton where we purchased the car, and wait almost 2 hours with our 3 year old while the wiring was replaced. In August 2004, the car was making a noise whenever we would turn up into a driveway from a lower road. In Michigan for vacation, we had to drive over 1 hour 1 way to Saturn of Troy; the swaybar and mounting brackets had to be removed, fixed, and reattached.

We waited for over 2 hours with our son while it was fixed. In September 2004, the front passenger running light and turn signal went out again; this time they replaced the resistor. We drove 1 hour 1 way for the repair, and waited almost 2 hours with our son while it was done. We had also asked about the cruise because it was making a funny noise, but they said it was fine. In April 2005, the cruise stopped working and had to be fixed. When they first checked it out, I was driven to my school of work, but had to walk between it and my second school of work. I was picked up approximately 20 minutes late and then was told that I would be called when the cruise part came in. The driver side resistor for the lights was also replaced finally at this time.

I waited, and finally called over a week later to find out if the part had come it. The person I'd been working with wasn't there, and the person there had no idea what was going on. The next morning the service person I'd been working with finally called and said that the part was in. The earliest time I could schedule the repair came just 1 day shy of 2 weeks from when I originally brought the car in for repair. I was told that a shipment of parts had come in, but not that the part was in the shipment, leading me to believe that the part had been at Saturn of Green Bay for some time and no one had called me. On the day of that final repair, I was driven to school and hard to walk to my second school again. This time I was picked up about 30 minutes late.

Although Saturn of Appleton and Saturn of Green Bay are separate dealerships, both are owned by Bergstrom Auto. Despite everything we've been through with a new car that should need minimal care at this point, we've been basically told that we should take the $2600 hit to buy a new car while the dealer breaks even. Although Saturn of Appleton technically did not "make" the product in that a separate factory in another part of the country built the car, Saturn of Appleton sells this product and only the Saturn product new at their dealership.

They should stand behind the product they sell, even if it means having to occasionally take the hit for a product that they sold to someone that is not up to the standards it should me. Since Saturn of Appleton is not willing to do this, this is poor salesmanship, and we will not be purchasing Saturn products any longer.

Travis & Leeann

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Comment On This

I have had similar problems with a dealership in MI, "Saturn of Lakeside." I purchased a used, certified Vue that was a 2005 with 43,000 miles. I was told this vehicle had had a "50 point inspection' and that it was in great shape.

I took it back to the dealership three months later for its first oil change as the new owner. They proceeded to tell me that it was leaking oil from the main seal, and that it would cost $1000.00 to fix!! When I spoke to the manager of the used car division, he was extremely condescending and told me that "vehicles are machines, and machines break."

I have spoken to a couple of mechanics, who told me that there is no reason a vehicle with less than 50,000 miles should be leaking from the rear seal unless it was installed incorrectly in the factory AND that it was probably leaking before I purchased it. Most likely, the used car division of the dealership put "stop leak" in it, but one hand didn't know what the other hand was doing when the shop told me about the leak!