I know how you feel, i would be pissed off too if the car wasnt a write-off, but im sorry i;m not with you on this one, GM nor the dealership are the ones to blame.
You bought a salvaged title car, you got it for a good price, its lowered for a reason...

i hope you learned your lesson. two cars never buy

1. salvaged title cars
2. cars that were rental cars before

you read my mind in everyway, John you're the greatest.



EDIT: even though i hate your username, but welcome to GMF!!

given his name i dont think hes going to be back

yea i was thinking the same, he prolly thought GM itself owns this forum :samz

I think I must have miscommunicated the problem or GM advocates folks just don't want to acknowledge it?

I'll try to answer all the questions first, and then post exactly, what my basis IS for knowing that GM considers Saturn owners as lower class GM owners versus say Chevy.

- I bought the Saturn since it is the best car we could afford and we needed a car to continue working at all. I knew the ENTIRE history of the car'* 38K miles and for the $6K drive out, it was better than anything else we saw.
- I had had good luck with our previous "branded title" rental car, GM which was a Chevy Malibu and had no problem getting it fixed under warranty nor GM recall.

As for the REAL issue here... if my branded titled, salvage Saturn was a Cobalt, it would still be fixed free of charge. GM decided to issue a RECALL on all OTHER models which used the same defective part as my Saturn but decided to ONLY issue a service bulletin/part warrenty extension for us Saturn owners. I could have towed in a salvage title Cobalt to the GM dealer ship and they would have fixed it free of charge... but for Saturn owners with that same type title, we got the shaft from GM.

Oh yeah... and no way GM owns any forum which would allow folks like me to point out their prejudices without immediately deleting my post... so no, I didn't think GM owned this forum. LOL.

I think I understand better now..

You are saying that GM didn't issue a recall on the Saturn, although the same part broke. Meanwhile the Malibu did have a recall and it also has a salvage title. Therefore the title branding has no bearing on the issue at all. It comes down to one being recalled and the other not being recalled.

It'* this same way with W body 3800'* vs H/G body 3800'*. All the W'* were recalled for fires. The services included new front valve cover gasket, removing the plug wire holder (both identical on all bodies). This made me wonder as well. However I work on all these cars regularly and I noticed a difference. The W bodies have an exhaust shield across the entire front manifold and the others do not. If oil collects there, it coagulates etc and catches fire. The other cars don't have this issue as much because they have no heat shield.

Makes me wonder if there is something slightly different about the Saturn where a full recall was not necessarly.

I assure you we are independent of GM. And my gut feeling and looking at it from a legal perspective formed my opinion. "WTFGM" isn't a great way to start a relationship in a Forum that like'* the Brand, so you got a kneejerk reply.

Yes GM'* policy of how they determine a recall, and what they keep a TSB drives me nuts too. The fog lamp issue and the steering shaft are still TSB status, yet a clunking IM shaft is indeed a serious safety hazard and many of us are on or need a second replacement. For those without Premium Extended Warranty, good luck.

Why GM decide'* to fix one brand on a salvage title yet not another? (They have no legal responsibility in either case) and (If that'* the "Corporate Policy" between Brands) It is often hard to know if it'* the Service Manager, Dealer Policy, or Corporate Policy when you hit a Service brick wall.

On a positive note we are a large GM Forum, we have a member assigned by GM Media to oversee problems, and I would give Caron a chance to review this and help you out if possible. Her Dept only fields complaints, but that'* a start and avenue you haven't had yet. :


Caron, GM Customer Service
socialmedia@gm.com

Uh... sorry, but no.

I'll restate it again one more time... LOL...
For the exact same Defective GM Power Steering Motor AND the exact same problem: GM issued a RECALL for all NON-Saturn models with that motor and problem, BUT only issued a service bulletin/part warranty extension for Saturn Owners.

SO, if I owned a Cobalt with a salvage title, the Defective GM Power Steering Motor gets fixed for free no problem; BUT, if I own a Saturn with a salvage title, I get kicked to the curb by GM since they apparently consider Saturn owners lower class than Chevy owners, who are not worthy of having their potentially life threatening, admitted GM Manufacturer defects, fixed on those cars.
Shame on GM....

I have emailed the GM customer service rep, named Caron, who responded to my post and we will see what happens next. I have already made plans to get the potentially life threatening defective GM part replaced at my cost tomorrow, but am still hoping for GM to see the light and begin to treat ALL their customers, even us poor ones, as well as they treat everyone else. I've got my fingers crossed......

Its hard to get Corporate of any product to reaccept liability, and by working on it from a warranty/tsb/recall situation does just that. It accepts the fact the car is indeed roadworthy again. Something you took upon yourself.

And I believe that'* more an issue than the brand. Although maybe the brand weighs in some here, I really can't understand choosing favor from one dead brand over another dead one. Hopefully Caron'* Dept can help prompt something in your favor.

I don't want anyone to accept any liability. Jeez, with the recall on other GM products, they already did that. All I want is for them to replace the cheap defective stuff which they already acknowledged on other product to do so for us too?

I'd imagine that there are thousands of others like me who also had the same problem and paid for it????

GM is just being cheap/dumb/short term in what they are doing to Saturn owners.... maybe they need to hire me?