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2003 SATURN VUE — EXTERIOR LIGHTING

fire · 931587 · 2012-08-01

Vehicle

Make
SATURN
Model
VUE
Year
2003
Manufacturer
General Motors, LLC
Component
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Miles at failure
135,000
Speed
65 mph

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
Yes
Crash
No
Police report
No
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

WHILE RETURNING ON A TRIP AND USING THE TURN SIGNAL NORMALLY, THERE WERE SEVERAL INCIDENTS IN WHICH THE TURN SIGNAL SOUNDED LIKE IT WAS WORKING AT ABOUT TWICE THE NORMAL RATE, HOWEVER THERE WAS NO INDICATION THAT THE TURN LIGHTS WERE COMING ON. ON ONE PARTICULAR INSTANCE, WHEN THIS HAPPENED, THE TURN SIGNAL GOT EXTREMELY WARM TO THE TOUCH AND SMOKE WAS OBSERVED COMING FROM THE SWITCH. THERE WERE SEVERAL SUBSEQUENT INCIDENTS DURING THIS TRIP AND ON SUBSEQUENT DAYS, BUT ONLY THE ONE IN WHICH THE SWITCH ACTUALLY SMOKED (WHICH IS WHY I INDICATED A FIRE ABOVE). WHEN I CALLED SATURN (GM DEALERSHIP) ABOUT THIS, THEY MENTIONED THAT A SIMILAR SWITCH WAS UNDER RECALL, BUT NOT THIS ONE. AFTER HAVING REPLACED THE TURN SIGNAL SWITCH, I HAD ASKED IF SATURN WANTED THE DEFECTIVE UNIT. SURPRISINGLY, SATURN DIDN'T SEEM TOO CONCERNED AND ASKED ME TO CONTACT THE DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIP, IN TURN, TOLD ME THAT ALL THEY COULD DETERMINE IS THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE SWITCH AND TO CONTACT SATURN CUSTOMER SERVICE. I AM QUITE CERTAIN THAT IF WE HADN'T CORRECTED THE ISSUE (WHICH IS DIFFICULT TO DESCRIBE) THAT A MORE DANGEROUS SITUATION COULD'VE BEEN CAUSED, AND THAT THIS SWITCH DESIGN IS FAULTY AND MAY POSE A SAFETY (THERMAL) CONCERN. I HAVE KEPT THE OLD SWITCH AND WILL GLADLY PROVIDE IT TO NHTSA IF REQUESTED TO DO SO. I DIDN'T FEEL IT SAFE TO KEEP USING THE OLD SWITCH, AND WHILE THE COST WAS RATHER MINIMAL TO HAVE IT REPLACED, I'M SURPRISED THAT SATURN DIDN'T OFFER TO REIMBURSE ME AND AS I ST

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
10468774
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown