Consumer Complaint Detail

SATURN / SL / 1999

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 0000082148 Incident Date: Jan, 01 1970
Consumer's City: LAS VEGAS Consumer's State: NV
Vehicle Transmission Type: Manufacturers Name: General Motors, LLC
Model Name: SL Model Year: 1999
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Exterior lighting:turn signal:switch
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 1G8ZH5286XZ Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Apr, 08 1999 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Jun, 30 1998
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: No
Number of Cylinders: 0 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: I own and operate two 1999 saturn models ls1 vehicles at aaa driving school. they are used for teaching behind-the- heel driving instruction. both instructors, several students and myself have experienced difficulty with the turn signal/headlight switch combination, especially at night with the headlights operating. the headlight on/off switch is located on the end of the turn signal arm. to turn it on the operator must turn it counter clockwise through two positions. this headlight switch has very little tension, requiring nothing more than a light "flick" counterclockwise to turn on. the turn signal however, is another story. it requires approximately 2-4 lbs. of pressure to engage. the arm of the turn signal is also very short in comparison to other vehicles with the same size steering wheel. approximately 1 1/2 inches shorter than other turn signal arms in comparable vehicles. this "shortness" requires the operator to remove the left hand from the wheel, grasp and pull down or push up. (unless they have longer than normal fingers) at night, when the headlight switch is in the "on" position and the operator/driver removes hand from wheel to engage the left turn signal, they inadvertantly turn off the headlights. this is very unsafe. also requiring an operator/driver to remove one hand from the steering wheel to engage/disengage the turn signal which is done when changing lanes is also very dangerous. the pounds of pressure required is excessive in both engage/disengage functions of the turn signal relative to the amount of pressure required to turn the headlight switch on or off. complaints to the saturn dealer and factory have been unanswered. in las vegas, with its brightly lit streets it is quite common to see a saturn being driven without headlights or tail lights on. so, i am not the only one experiencing the problem. *ak