A new member with '04 Vue AWD questions.

bower100 · 10-24-2004, 07:46 AM

Want to talk general Vue stuff with others but right now I need to find out some things about mine. Bought it two weeks ago new but it had 112 miles on it . Seemed excessive but the dealer said those "test drive" miles are normal. A little fishy, but we took it. Anyway, now some things are coming to light that concern me:
* A drink spill stain under the front passenger side floor mat. Did'nt see it till now... never thought to look under the mat when we did the pre-purchase inspection of the car. The service guy said it probably came from the factory that way.Now I'm thinking the thing was driven by the sales staff some.... not just test drives.
* Brake pulsating, like a warped rotor.( Pretty mild.) Again, did'nt notice it till 10-15 miles myself. But, it's definitly there, none the less. There's a RIGHT way to break in brakes and probably some "hammer-head" got on these too soon.
* Possible sunroof leak? Hav'nt had any real rains yet, just a overnight drizzle but I thought I saw a drip spot that early, dark morning on the passenger seat. Kind of forgot about it, but I finally got on the freeway with it tonight and there's some wind noise, normal ?, from the closed sunroof. Never had a sunroof til now. Do they make noise even when there closed? It's pretty faint, but it goes away when I close the sliding panel below the sunroof.
Sure aprecciate any comments. Thanks guys, dave.

Revolver · 10-24-2004, 02:39 PM

I would call the dealership and have them take care of all of them. If they try to pull something tell them it is BS. We had dried wax spots all over the plastic on my wifes ION when we got it. They tried to blame it on paint. Stupid people...I told them they would have to sign a explaination on how it broke the laws of physics and got on all sides of the car. Just force them to re-detail the car.

bower100 · 10-25-2004, 01:15 AM

Today I flooded the Vue's roof with a garden hose for quite a while.... no drips inside at the sunroof. I guess it does'nt leak. But how about the wind noise? Normal?

Dave.

CaTiRo · 10-26-2004, 02:15 AM

i don't have a sunroof on my vue, but on both my honda i do and when they are closed i don't hear wind noise. and the miles could be from test driving. when i went to test drive the vue they let me take it home for the weekend. when i went back to the dealership i notice i had put a little over 200 miles on it. and the thing was i put almost all of those miles on there. i did buy the vue, but i wonder if i didn't and because of the miles would they have had to sold it as a demo or something. anyway, didn't you dealer give you a cleaning kit when you purchase your vue? it has some fabric cleaner solution that works for the carpet as well.

SoloSaturn · 10-26-2004, 03:53 AM

I get pretty bad wind noise on my VUE from the right passenger door. Not sure sure it is.

my99sl1 · 10-26-2004, 03:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoloSaturn

I get pretty bad wind noise on my VUE from the right passenger door. Not sure sure it is.

i had that noise on my 99 SL1 and it was jus the door was loose so i tighten the bolts.

bower100 · 10-27-2004, 01:05 AM

So, ...

No sunroof leak and I guess the extra wind noise from it is normal. It's not objectionable. Plus, I installed the factory roof racks and the front bar is right behind the sunroof. Mayby it causes some turbulance.

Also, on those factory roof racks. Sheeesh, there kind of wimpy. Plastic end brackets on extruded aluminum crossbars of a very light guage. Each plastic end bracket is fastened to the roof with one 6mm bolt. Truely more for looks than function, IMO. I'm just used to my old Chevy Astro van's rack. You could stand on it.

Put a Drawtite class III trailer hitch on also.( 2" square reciever). Instructions said it was the same hitch for the Chevy Equinox. Anyway, it attaches with eight bolts, ... four 1/2" , four 10mm. A nice strong looking hitch and although the Saturn frame is lightweight, it ought to hold up for my needs. By the way, FYI... Saturn rates their factory trailer hitch a class III, ( #3500 tow capacity), but the reciever is only a 1 1/4" square. That is not a class III rated size reciever. If you require a class III, buy the Drawtite aftermarket or equal.

Bad/hard part of putting on the hitch : Could'nt do it the way the instructions said. The little wire tool supplied to "fish" the two bolts into the hollow steel bumper frame tube would not do it's job. The bolts path through the hollow tube was obstructed by part of the styrofoam filler block behind the gray plastic bumper "skin". Had to entirely remove the bumper "skin", ( 12-16 plastic re-usable rivets and 4 6mm bolts.) Take off the styrofoam bumper filler, ( two rivets). At that point fishing in the bolts would have been possible, but it was just easier take the steel bumper tube off too, ( eight more bolts), and then put all the hitch bolts in place by hand.

Good/easy part of job, .... for hooking up the trailer lights, Saturn left a "service loop" in the wiring harness to easily tap into. It's located in car jack storage compartment.

MAN, I LIKE THAT RED CHILI PEPPER COLOR !

dave.

I Buy, Her Drives 04 VUE · 10-31-2004, 06:21 AM

I have noticed the same wind noise on my wifes VUE. (Nothing compared to the wind noise from my 93 SL2.) I don't see any water leaks, it really is not that severe, I was going to see if the dealer can find something. (I have faith that the receipt will say "NPF") Anyone having sucess with the dealer solving this problem, Please post their fix

mbutkus · 11-22-2004, 03:54 AM

Sun roof make noise when open... the tiny deflector doesn't help much.

The hitch.. should have check my site out.
http://www.butkus.org/saturn/saturn_vue.htm
No need to remove bumper.

Roof rack.. they make a racket in the wind. .. I don't keep them on.
Real weak looking for a SUV.

gornoman · 01-12-2005, 04:52 PM

We purchased and installed the Saturn Sunroof Air Deflector and it made a tremendous difference in our Vue. The vehicle is much quieter when the roof is open, and a little quieter when the roof is closed. The buffeting is gone also.

gorno