1995 Saturn SW: problems, recalls and reliability

“I received notice regarding the seat back of my 1995 saturn wagon. My car does exhibit what was described - when I lean back on the seat it reclines backwards. I scheduled the repair to be done at the local saturn dealership in hurricane, wv. I was surprised when I took it in that they said my car was finished in 20 minutes. When I got in and leaned back to put my seat belt on, the seat fell back into a reclining position. When I asked what had they done, I was informed that my car was built one month prior to time period they covered and no work was done to my car. *nlm”Owner report · Seats · Mar 2003

“The defroster works sometimes -- only if I put on the ac at the same time -- and then intermittently it stops working and the front window shield as well as the side ones fog up to a dangerous level while we are driving. A saturn mechanic told me that he has 4 cars and what I have just described only happens on his saturn. We have tried variying the tempurature, opening the windows etc. Mostly I want to know what to do because I don't want to have an accident due to this obvious flaw.”Owner report · Visibility · Jan 2003

“The cylinder heads of some saturn cars crack and the oil mixes with the coolant. The saturn manufacturer will not fix the cracked cylinder head on my sw1 because it is out of warrenty. My car only has 69,000 miles on it. A cyliner head should not crack - escpecially with only 69,000 miles. They know about this issue, even wrote two technical bulletons on it. I think saturn should have notified constomers and they should fix my car free of charge.”Owner report · Power Train · Jan 2003

“I was stopped on an interstate, and rear ended by a chevrolet sedan. It slammed my car into a minivan in front of me. The front and back of my car accordianed, and my car was a total loss. Neither front air bag deployed, and the front passenger seat flipped back and pinned the back passenger in the seat behind. No one was injured, but I feel that an accident which completely squished my car (also causing structural damage to the frame, only the driver's side door would open after the accident) should have had the airbags deploy, and the front seat should not have flipped back.*ak”Owner report · Seats · Aug 2002

“While driving the consumers brakes failed, the pedal bottomed out about one inch above the floor, took vehicle to dealer but they couln't find any problems. Nlm”Owner report · Service Brakes, Hydraulic · Jun 2000

“Consumer was driving on the interstate when another vehicle hit the passenger's side, and her airbag didn't deploy. *ak *ml”Owner report · Air Bags · Jan 2000

“Saturn area service manager says that the original brake pads were too hard, they've changed them to a softer pad. The first time changed at 13,740 miles, second time at 30,000 and now at 37,000. Consumer is out of warranty, but that's not the problem. Saturn says it's design and consumer feels he should not pay for manufacturer's design problems. Softer pads do not wear as fast but still wear out. *ak”Owner report · Service Brakes, Hydraulic · Jun 1997