2002 Saturn Vue consumer reviews

There is a strong reason Saturn is no longer a company. This was the absolute WORST buying decicion of my life. The engine just stopped working at 88,000 miles. It cost $4,500 to replace... 1. Dont do it. 2. Dont do it. 3. ... you guessed it, DON'T DO IT.

I bought my 2002 VUE used with 43k miles, and since then have counted on it for everything from long-distance road trips to brutal LA traffic. I have the 4-cyl, 5-spd manual, and am still on the original clutch with over 135k miles on the car. Only actual work I ever needed was replacing the timing belts and that was less than 5,000 miles ago. I still get approx. 26mpg, and with gas prices the way they are that's pretty darn good for any SUV! And what is sadly overlooked, this SUV has some of the best safety ratings you can get - even the 2011's out there can't top this baby. I have taken it on roads that really needed a 4wd, loaded it to the roof and used it like a pickup truck, and put 60k+ miles on it commuting in LA. I have taken long cross-country road trips, across the desert to Vegas with the brutal long hills to climb. I'm truly depressed that Saturn is gone, because it will be pretty close to impossible to find such all-around quality at a real world price again. For the folks who haven't been quite as happy with theirs, I notice that all are driving automatics. Maybe this is my personal prejudice, but I quit alternating between transmission types and went strictly back to manuals over 10 years ago - it just seemed that autos don't hold up as well or last as long, especially these days. Only drive them now in rental cars when I travel for work. While the interior isn't Lexus-style luxury, that isn't a negative in my eyes - if you want a cutesy car or a fancy look-at-me pretend SUV, buy a Caddy. For a great get-around, every day vehicle, that can also put up with a busy life, this has been everything and more than I expected.

We purchased a 2002 V6 AWD with 69k miles on it. No issues so far. The Vue has more room than others, for example, the Toyota Highlander. We also own a Highlander...if you are tall or have long legs you will be more comfortable on the Vue. Handling is not as great as the Highlander. But the price was not anywhere near it either. I would recommend the Vue to anyone.

this met my standards for the crossover i wanted. Ive had it for a year and its going great. It is also VERY comfortable inside. love it.

The CRV and the RAV4 are too small for the average sized adult, the Vue is roomier by far. It also has more horsepower and still gets great gas mileage. I've had a few problems with mine like the crankshaft position sensor (dealer repaired $150) and the steering squeaks in cold weather (needs to be greased every 3 years), other than that 140k trouble free miles to date. Get the V6 AWD Auto, you'll be happy you did, the 4-cylinder has lots of issues with the CVT transmission. All in all a great little SUV.

I've owned over 12 different suv's (large & small) over the past twenty years and this is by far the best. Nuff said! 2002 Vue 6-cylinder, AWD

I think some of the other reviewers here either got lemons or they just choose the wrong engine/transmission combination. I have a 2002 VUE AWD V6 with an auto transmission (not a CVT) and it runs great with loads of power when you need it. I currently have 86k miles on it and it runs great. Compared to the foreign made competition out there the Vue AWD V6 gets similar mpg and it has the ability to tow up to 3500# trailers! A very utilitarian SUV, and you don't have to replace timing belts every 60k-70k miles like some of the competitors. It's easy to drive, park, and it gets thru deep snow better than my 4x4 pickup! If you haven't test driven a Vue AWD V6 you owe it to yourself to do so before going with a CR-V or Rav-4 or other similar awd suv. But do beware of the CVT and 5-speed transmissions, they do have their share of problems. The automatic is your best bet and comes standard on the V6 models as far as I know. As for the 4-cylinders, they are a bit under powered. My only complaint with the VUE is it has a moderate amount of engine, tire, and road noise heard inside the vehicle, similar to the CR-V and other compact suv?s without the high price tag. But you do get use to it after a while.

The "auto" transmission offered in the four cylinder vue is extremely problematic. We paid for a replacement and it has been replaced three times under warranty in the past eight months. It has recently started acting up again and Saturn is dragging it's feet on doing anymore work under warranty. Stick to the v6 or shop a different brand for your SUV needs.

I bought my Vue about 16 months ago certified used. Since then we have had to replace the brakes, the tires, and now the $4,600 transmission. This Vue has 82,000 miles on it and we were told that it has one of the best transmissions. No one can believe how much this vehicle is costing us. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. We have had to put more money into it than you can imagine.