The General Motors recall train has boarded quite a few passengers since leaving the station in late February of this year. For one passenger, the 2002-2004 Saturn Vue (V-U-E, if you’re Keith Sweat), it took some deliberation by the conductors and fare inspectors before allowing the compact crossover aboard.
Autoblog reports General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration held three meetings with each other from mid-June through late July regarding 152 reports of the Vue’s ignition key being easily removable despite the switch not being turned to the “off” position. The reports were first discovered in April by the automaker.
In addition to the meetings, GM’s own Open Issue Review panel looked over the data near the end of July, with the go-ahead for recall given by the Safety Field Action Decision Authority July 31, as noted in a memo sent to the NHTSA the day prior to the issuance of the recall.
On August 8, 215,243 2002-2004 Vues around the globe — 202,155 in the United States — were brought aboard the recall train as part of six recalls issued that day, affecting a total of 312,280 units worldwide.
They should have named it something stupid like or V-U-E or V-UE, evidently it works.
I really can’t stand the regular Vue, but when I see a Red Line version I take notice! (Red Line or R-Line?)
Did Keith Sweat always spell things out, or something? He was a little before my time, I think.
Here’s the rundown:
Once upon a time, I worked a media monitoring service company that has long since bid farewell in a blaze of Chapter 7 glory. The company worked on everything from news mentions to bus shelter adverts for their clients, PR departments and ad agencies who, in turn, helped their employers one-up each other in the marketing game.
My job in that company was to transcribe TV and radio adverts. Things were interesting, to say the least.
Just before the bottom fell out of the U.S. auto industry, unofficially kicking off the Great Recession in so doing, GM had a series of radio ads during the summer of 2008 touting how — because my memory is fuzzy — “wonderful” the automaker’s range was. The adverts would be read by radio hosts like Bill O’Reilly, Don Imus and the aforementioned Keith Sweat.
Mr. Sweat has a show focused on Quiet storm music called The Sweat Hotel, a show that has aired since 2007. In turn, he reads some copy for his sponsors on occasion, including GM.
Thus, when he was given the ad copy for the 2008 Saturn Vue, whose name was likely written in all caps, he read it as such:
“Yo, this is your boy, Keith Sweat, here to talk about the 2008 Saturn V-U-E.”
He also mentioned that it got 174 horsepower, adding that it wasn’t bad, “for a crossover.”
I know it was ad copy, but what was he expecting? A Viper V10? A Bentley W12?
Anyway, that advert hasn’t completely left my mind; thus, the out-of-left-field, obscure reference. ;)
Thanks for the explanation!
Really in 08, 174HP 2.2L (this being the new generation Vue now) wasn’t impressive, and the base engine!
And now I remember what the “wonderful” bit was about!
Since that advert hasn’t left my head — which makes finding it anywhere online maddening — I thought I would try again. My search this time led me to Saturn’s archived website, and a press release from late July 2008:
“General Motors Delivers 17 ’08 Models That Get 30 Mpg Or Better On The Highway.”
That’s what that campaign was about! In fact, since I also remembered John Tesh reading these adverts on his show — again, through work — I decided to try and find his ad.
I found this, instead:
http://www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/001668.html
It’s a year earlier than from what I recall, but then again, I didn’t starting working for the company until late 2007. Anyway, it explains everything.
I had the earlier 2.4 Opel engine with 5-speed stick (I think it was 2.4). Only rated about 145hp but was remarkably quick before they started weighting it down in the later versions. Also managed to average 31mpg driving the length of I-81 from Pennsylvania to Tennessee–which includes crossing over the Appalachians. Still a remarkable rig that gets surprising buy offers to my father-in-law, who now drives it. People simply can’t believe how responsive that powertrain really is.
I actually shopped the Vue in 1998 They had a hybrid system that improved highway milage which is the majority of my driving. I remember it was pretty much like every other SUV and I ended up buying the new Silverado.
“I actually shopped the Vue in 1998 […]”
The Vue didn’t debut until model year 2002.
You’re right, I blame old age. It must of been after a spurt of problems with the truck that caused me to go shopping. Still I wasn’t impressed enough to actually buy one, or anything else for awhile.
Since it didn’t exist in ’98, that’s patently impossible. The Vue came out in ’02 and I bought a first-year edition. It got a lot of attention, too.
I owned an ’02 Vue until ’08 and never experienced an issue of the sort described. Now, I’m not saying that it wasn’t possible, only that I never encountered it–perhaps due to the fact that I never hang a heavy keyring off of the ignition. For one thing, I found a long time ago that having the pendant keys tapping against my leg as they swing from the ring is very annoying and distracting. As such, I only keep four keys on that specific ring and they’re all short; the keys to my other car (truck) have their own ring that stays on my belt when I’m not driving it.
As has been reported before; the problem seems most evident when the driver uses a large, heavy keyring filled with anywhere from 15 to 25 keys or even more. You’re now forcing that locking mechanism to support far more weight that it was ever intended to support.
In other words, a little not-so-common sense goes a long way towards avoiding such problems.
The now discontinued Saturn Vue lives on as a rebadged Chevy Captiva and is sold only as a fleet vehicle in the US.
I recently was given one along with a huge keyring containing the ID tag, two keys, two fobs. A big, heavy, ungainly mess.
It should come as no surprise then that I had an unintended ignition shut-off while underway. Luckily, I knew of the GM ignition problem, shifted to neutral, restarted the vehicle, and managed not to hit anything though steering and braking capabilities were seriously impaired for eight seconds of engine-less driving.
I then took a hacksaw to the heavy, ungainly key ring and drove the Captiva using only one fob/key, as advised by GM legal when operating a Vue.
After advising the rental agents, rental location management, and writing an email to corporate, I was told in a return email that the rental company in question will no longer rent Captivas with more than one key-fob.
Just beware, fellow readers, when renting a Captiva. It’s pure Vue under the badges, ignition switch included.
I wouldn’t say “pure Vue”, but rather Pure Opel, which WASN’T the Vue; the 4cyl Vue ran Opel running gear but carried a polystyrene body.
Thanks for letting us know about this. We have a 2003 VUE that has this issue. We always thought of being able to pull the ignition key out at any time as more of a quirk, instead of a safety issue. It hasn’t caused us any specific problems but might as well fix it. The key is fairly loose; it takes almost no effort to pull it out, although it does not come out in normal driving. I don’t remember having any heavy key chains at any time. Also I seem to think that the engine continues to run after the key is removed, but I’ll have to test that out later.
We have an 05 VUE that does this. Would it not be included in the recall also?
I have a family member who owned an 06 since new, and it never had an issue with a loose ignition, and he has the nastiest wad of care cards and doodads hanging from his keychain. On the other, I know someone who has an early 2000’s Pontiac Grand Prix (with the 3800, yum) that he can pull the key out at any time and keep driving, usually to entertain passengers.