2003 Saturn Vue transmission problems

Owners reported transmission problems in 213 complaints for the 2003 Saturn Vue, 24% of the complaints on file. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.

Complaints: 213 24% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage: 67,000 miles 185 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires: 2 and 0
Injuries and deaths: 3 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When transmission problems show up

Based on 185 complaints that include mileage. 45% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.

View the numbers

Mileage	Complaints
0k to 20k miles	44
20k to 40k miles	18
40k to 60k miles	22
60k to 80k miles	31
80k to 100k miles	37
100k to 120k miles	24
120k to 140k miles	6
140k to 160k miles	2
160k to 180k miles	1
180k to 200k miles	0
200k+ miles	0

What the data shows

Of the 185 transmission complaints that report mileage, the median is about 67,000 miles, and 45% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 2 crashes, 3 injuries.

What owners wrote

2003 saturn vue 117,000 miles transmission went out while driving on busy street no warning. Called GM found out about a "bulletin" they had in place on my saturn vue 100,000 miles or 8yrs old and they would replace transmission for half the cost which is 7,000 dollars!!!!! I tried to get a few estimates but nobody but the dealer wanted to even mess with this type of transmission? Don't know what to do ?

Reported at 117,000 miles, May 2010 Injury

Transmission disengages and looses power. This causes the vehicle to decelerate to a complete stop. This occurs when vehicle goes over a bump or an imperfection in the road while accelerating. Although the dealership is aware of the failure a remedy has not been found.

Reported at 28,000 miles, March 2003

Transmission problems in other years

2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002

Transmission problems across all Saturn models