Saturn Vue Years to Avoid — and the Years to Buy
Every Saturn Vue model year from 2002 to 2010, benchmarked against each other with 3,274 federal complaints, 7 recall campaigns, and the odometer readings owners put in their reports.
Avoid: 2003. These years top the Vue's complaint rankings by volume and severity.
The method in one line: every NHTSA complaint for this model is counted, weighted for crashes, fires, injuries, and deaths, and each year is measured against the Vue's own worst year — full methodology.
The trouble strip
One cell per model year. The whole answer in one glance — click any year for the full report.
The defining problem
Electrical tops the Saturn Vue file with 762 complaints, concentrated in the 2003–2008 model years, most often reported around 82,150 miles. The year pages break down what fails and when.
Every year, ranked
| Year | Verdict | Complaints | Recalls | Top problem | Trouble index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Few reports | 9 | 0 | — | 1 |
| 2009 | Typical | 171 | 2 | Electrical | 24 |
| 2008 | Below average | 575 | 3 | Transmission & drivetrain | 67 |
| 2007 | Below average | 417 | 0 | Electrical | 48 |
| 2006 | Below average | 433 | 0 | Electrical | 49 |
| 2005 | Typical | 216 | 0 | Electrical | 28 |
| 2004 | Below average | 360 | 2 | Transmission & drivetrain | 48 |
| 2003 | Avoid | 873 | 1 | Transmission & drivetrain | 100 |
| 2002 | Typical | 220 | 2 | Electrical | 26 |
Technical service bulletins
Beyond complaints and recalls, 6,565 manufacturer communications — service bulletins, service campaigns, warranty extensions — are on file for the Saturn Vue. A TSB is factory repair guidance, not a recall — the repair is not automatically free.
Browse the Saturn Vue TSB list by year →
Questions buyers ask
What Saturn Vue years should I avoid?
Federal complaint records point to 2003 as the Saturn Vue years to avoid — they drew the highest volume of serious complaints relative to the model's other years.
What is the most common Saturn Vue problem?
Electrical tops the Saturn Vue file with 762 complaints, concentrated in the 2003–2008 model years, most often reported around 82,150 miles.
Every number on this page is a count of records in the federal complaint, recall, and investigation files published by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. Counts cover the Saturn Vue only, scored against this model's own worst year — not against other models. Check any specific vehicle's open recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.