Saturn VUE Probed for Safety

Hot off the press. Check it out, unfortunate Saturn owners!


http://money.cnn.com/2004/07/27/pf/autos/saturn_investigation/index.htm?cnn=yes

 

uh, yea unfortunatelly true..if you plan on driving at 40-50mph and
attempting to jackknife your SUV by violently making a rapid u-turn at that
speed. I dont know of any SUV that has passed this new test. So far, up
until this new test, the VUE has passed every NTSHA test. The bad part is
that during this test they have sucessfully been able to recreate a
situation under non-real life (testing) situations which can cause the rear
wheel to collapse under such extreme duress. Out of the thousands of VUEs
sold in the past few years, only one case has been reported, which led to
this extreme new manner of testing. Read the article in the NY Times and you
will see. Personally, I would rather have the rear wheel collapse than have
my SUV completely roll over as most SUVs do under even lesser testing.

marx404

 

Sorry if I sound like an ass, but this seems to me little more than "I'm
not responsible for my actions" dren. If you want a vehicle that drives
like a Pinto, with the rollover rate of a Pinto, then damnit, buy a
Pinto, not an SUV.

"...one consumer complaint that the left wheel collapsed in a 2003 model
VUE when it left the roadway, resulting in a rollover accident in April
2004."

So one person runs their Vue OFF THE FRIGGIN ROAD and the bitches when
it sustains damage and/or rolls? A high school kid I know was being
stupid a couple of blocks from my house and tried to pass a car that was
passing a car (three abreast) on a two-lane road. He rolled his Dodge
Neon through a telephone pole when it "left the roadway" ... is this
somehow the Neon's fault?

What you say Mark, is right on. A higher center of gravity that comes
with having an SUV means that you simply CAN'T throw the wheel to one
side at highway speeds and expect it to handle like a corvette - which
depending on tire and road conditions may in fact may also result in a
dented roof.

I think what angers me most tho, is that there seems to be this
trepidation about assigning blame to a driver for failing to, well,
drive. The first rule in autocrossing is safety. The second rule is,
"before you blame (mod) the car, become a better driver." Why are we so
quick to blame the vehicle instead of "probing the safety" of the
operator? Barreling down the road in a 3/4 ton steel projectile is a
privilege which needs to be taken far more seriously, not a right.

-rj
98SL2

 

The NHTSA does not rate vehicles "Pass" or "Fail" in the dynamic
stability test. It merely reports whether a vehicle tipped or did not
tip.

Did not tip:

Buick Ranier
Chevy Trailblazer/GMC Envoy/Olds Bravada
Dodge Durango
Ford Explorer 4X4 /Merc Mountaineer
Honda Pilot
Isuzu Ascender
Jeep Liberty
Toyota 4-Runner
Volvo XC90


Tipped:

Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon
Ford Explorer 4X2 /Merc Mountaineer

In some cases multiple versions of the above vehicles were tested.


So far, up

The real-world report of the collapsed suspension had nothing to do
with this test being conducted. The new test was developed to be part
of routine safety testing in response to the increasing number of
rollover deaths which now account for one third of all vehicle
occupant fatalities. The fact that over 80% of the SUVs tested
"passed" shows that the test is not extreme. More to the point, none
of the other SUVs suffered a suspension collapse. The fact that both
Vues broke in the same way certainly indicates a poor design if not a
recall-worthy defect.

Read it. Here it is:
http://tinyurl.com/6yp3d

See also:
http://tinyurl.com/6wa3t

As previously stated, most SUVs do not roll over even in this test
(NHTSA dynamic rollover test.) Although the NHTSA has not yet
revealed whether the Vue tipped, the presumption is that the folding
under of the suspension is likely to increase the chance of a
rollover.

 

Actually the Vue's rollover rating is no better than the
majority of other SUVs. The only current 4x4 SUV that has a
worse rating is the Ford Explorer Sport Track (the silly
SUV/Pickup truck thing).

Ed

 

Looks like GM has decided on to recall over 200,000 VUEs

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,128195,00.html

-rj
98SL2

 

shhhhhhhh!
keep this quiet

 

http://money.cnn.com/2004/07/27/pf/autos/saturn_investigation/index.htm?cnn=
yes

No, they would be unfortunate if GM fought the NHTSA, rather than admitting
the problem and fixing it for free. Recalls are good, not bad. There are
always issues that don't turn up in vehicles during pre-production. An
excessive number of recalls wouldn't be a good sign, but I don't think this
is the case with the Vue. Ford showed the futility of fighting
safety-related recalls.

 

Do you mean Ford or Firestone?

Ed