1997 Saturn Sl

2 OCCURRENCES OF FRONT BUMPER CATCHING ON GROUND OBJECTS AND CRACKING GRILL AND WHEEL WELLS. I OWN A 1996 SL2 AND A 1997 SL2. BOTH MY WIFE AND I HAVE SUFFERED THIS SAME OCCURANCE. (WE ARE BOTH NEAR 50 YEARS OLD AND HAVE NO PREVIOUS INSTANCES OF SUCH OCCURANCES. THIS HAS NOW HAPPENED TWICE; ONCE TO HER, ONCE TO ME. THE AIR DAM IS HINGED AND FLEXES BUT DOESN'T BREAK. THE BUMPER HOWEVER, IS LOW SET, HAS A BOTTOM EDGE THAT IS ABRUPT, AND CATCHES EASILY ON LOW-LYING OR LOW-SETTING GROUND OBJECTS. IT CATCHES ON THINGS INSTEAD OF BEING ABLE TO 'ROLL OVER' OR 'FLEX OVER'. THE RESULTING 'PULL' PULLS THE BUMPER AWAY (IN A FORWARD DIRECTION) FROM THE CAR, BREAKING THE LOWER GRILL AND INNER WHEEL WELLS. THE FIRST TIME THE DAMAGE WASN'T NOTICED UNTIL A DAY LATER; AND MANY MILES HAD BEEN DRIVEN. I BELIEVE THE CONDITION OF THE FRONT BUMPER ASSEMBLY BEING LOOSE, HANGING, AND DROOPING AS IT DID, PROVIDED A DEFINITE SAFETY PROBLEM (THE COMPONENTS COULD HAVE IMPAIRED STEERING AND/OR BRAKING. THE SECOND OCCURENCE HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED YET. THE COST TO REPAIR WAS SIGNIFICANT. *AK

I RECENTLY HAD A FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCE IN MY SATURN, ONLY TO BE HUMILIATED BY THE SERVICE MANAGER AND OWNER OF THE TORRANCE DEALERSHIP. SUNDAY NIGHT- I LEFT MY FRIENDS HOUSE TO GO HOME. UP UNTIL NOW MY SATURN ALWAYS RAN PERFECTLY AND I TOOK IT IN TO THE SATURN DEALERSHIP FOR REGULARLY SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE. AS SOON AS I STARTED DRIVING THE CAR DOWN THE STREET I HEARD A LOUD METAL BANG UNDER MY CAR. IT WAS INCREDIBLY FRIGHTENING - I THOUGHT I RAN OVER A BOMB. THEN I WANTED TO PULL OVER SO I CONTINUED TO DRIVE TO PULL OVER TO THE SIDE. THE CLUTCH WENT INTO FIRST AND THEN SECOND, THEN THE CAR STARTED TO DRIFT, I PUT IT BACK IN FIRST ONLY TO FIND IT STARTED PULLING BACKWARDS ALL ON ITS OWN. I WAS SCARRED OUT OF MY MIND AT THIS POINT. I COULD HAVE HIT OR KILLED SOMEONE -- THANK GOD IT WASN'T ON A FREEWAY - THIS WAS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN. I IMMEDIATELY STOPPED THE CAR AND CALLED AAA TO HAVE IT TOWED TO THE SATURN OF TORRANCE DEALER. MY REGULAR SERVICE DEALER AS WELL AS THE DEALER I PURCHASED THE CAR FROM. NEXT MORNING, BORA CUMMINGS, THE SERVICE REP CALLED ME AT 7:30 AM TO TELL ME THAT IT WAS PROBABLY A CLUTCH OR GEAR PROBLEM AND THAT IT WAS "STILL COVERED UNDER WARRANTY" (THE CAR IS LESS THAN 3 YRS OLD AND ONLY HAS 27,690 MI ON IT) SHE THEN CALLED ME BACK 1 HOUR LATER AND TOLD ME THAT HER MANAGER SAID, "IT WOULD PROBABLY NOT BE COVERED AS THIS IS NORMAL WEAR, BUT THEY WOULD CALL ME AT 4 PM AND LET ME KNOW - SHE ALSO SAID THAT SHE DIDN'T THINK THE CAR COULD BE FIXED TODAY ANYWAY AS IT TAKES QUITE A NUMBER OF HOURS TO DO THIS. THEY NEVER CALLED. BY 5 PM I WAS WORRIED. I WAS AT LEAST GOING TO NEED A RENTAL FOR THE NEXT DAYS WORK IF THE CAR WASN'T GOING TO BE DONE. BORA TOLD ME SHE RESERVED A RENTAL CAR AND TO COME AND GET IT. WHEN I GOT TO THE STATION -- 5:45 PM I WAS TOLD, LO AND BEHOLD THAT MY CAR WAS ALMOST READY AND IF I COULD COME BACK IN HALF AND HOUR I COULD HAVE IT. I ASKED IF THEY KNEW WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS YET. NO SAFETY DEFECT LISTED IN SUMMARY