Teach me: Saturn Vue

In reply to ProDarwin:

FYI, the only maintenance costs in the first year/15K miles on the Mazda5 have been 3 oil changes and 1 trans service.

In reply to ProDarwin:

Is yours an AWD/CVT by chance? My daughter's(she inherited ) is still going for now, but I might as well start stockpiling parts.

In reply to petegossett:

One of there clear statements of this thread (which might not be so clear now 7 pages later) is that all CVT'ed Saturn Vues should be avoided.

The question is not if it will fail but when. Once this failure happens the real dilemma is that there really is no CVT fix. New transmissions are no longer available and anything used by now either has failed already or is just about to fail.

In mid '05 - '07 the Vues with fwd 4cyl became a 4speed auto. These are standard GM quality with a solid aftermarket. You could convert your CVT to one of these but it becomes rather cumbersome and admittedly you might find it to be cost (and time) prohibitive. Requires replacement of BMC as well with reporograming.

Best of luck with your CVT. I would limit your investments into the vehicle otherwise since you know you have that time bomb waiting to go off in the trans.

In reply to JohnRW1621:

I'm well aware of how bad the CVT is. Sadly, this one(an '04) was bought brand new by her grandparents, and before her grandma died 2-years ago she left it to my daughter(who did not yet have her license then). I'm surprised that flushing the trans several months ago actually quieted it down, but I have zero hope for any longevity from it.

I've had several good long honest talks with my daughter about it. She understands one day it will fail, and at that point it will likely be junk, and that I don't have the $$ to buy her a replacement vehicle. I've suggested she sells it now while it still works - particularly being AWD in the middle of winter - and considering her foot barely reaches the floor while it's on the brake pedal, I'd definitely prefer she sold it & got something a bit more her size.

The short story is her grandpa(my ex's father) would start major drama if he thought I forced her to sell it, so unless she decides she doesn't want it, I'm just sitting back waiting for the inevitable.

petegossett wrote: In reply to ProDarwin: Is yours an AWD/CVT by chance? My daughter's(she inherited ) is still going for now, but I might as well start stockpiling parts.

Nope, 4cyl/5spd

Javelin wrote: In reply to ProDarwin: FYI, the only maintenance costs in the first year/15K miles on the Mazda5 have been 3 oil changes and 1 trans service.

Good, hopefully I'll be at that point a year from now :)

The VUE failures did bother me, and I don't consider them acceptable, but they were far less catastrophic than the failures of many used cars (transmission, headgasket, engine, etc.). I think what bothers me most about the BCM is its A) hard to diagnose apparently B) has to be done by a dealer and C) isn't a lifetime fix - the replacements go bad as well.

A $400 repair on a car is hard for me to stomach, but that's because I'm used to something I can fix blindfolded for very little cost.