2009 Saturn Outlook Problems, Complaints & Recalls
- Compared with other Outlook years
- Far fewer complaints than other years 3rd of 4 for complaints
- Safety recalls
- 7 recalls: check your VIN
- NHTSA crash rating
- Not rated
Owners have filed 192 complaints with NHTSA about the 2009 Saturn Outlook. That ranks 3rd out of 4 Outlook model years for complaints. The most reported problem area is exterior lighting (75 complaints, 39%), typically at around 39,000 miles. Complaints mention 5 crashes, 3 fires, 6 injuries. There are 7 safety recalls covering this model year. NHTSA has opened 3 defect investigations involving it.
- 192owner complaints
- 7safety recalls
- 3NHTSA investigations
- 5complaints mentioning a crash
Complaints are unverified owner reports and are not adjusted for sales volume.
Most common 2009 Saturn Outlook problems
Complaints grouped by the part of the car owners reported, with the median mileage when the problem happened.
| Problem area | Complaints | Share | Median miles | Owners mention most | Typical repair cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exterior Lighting problems | 75 | 39% | 39,000 | “wiring harness” (33%) | $890 |
| Electrical System | 44 | 23% | 45,000 | — | — |
| Steering | 42 | 22% | 76,500 | — | — |
| Power Train | 19 | 10% | 78,700 | — | — |
| Engine | 17 | 9% | 78,700 | — | — |
| Seat Belts | 8 | 4% | 100,000 | — | — |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 8 | 4% | 111,000 | — | — |
| Air Bags | 7 | 4% | 82,500 | — | — |
| Structure | 6 | 3% | 74,000 | — | — |
| Unknown or Other | 6 | 3% | 80,000 | — | — |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 4 | 2% | 57,500 | — | — |
| Equipment | 3 | 2% | 46,800 | — | — |
| Fuel/propulsion System | 3 | 2% | 106,000 | — | — |
| Suspension | 3 | 2% | 125,000 | — | — |
| Tires | 3 | 2% | 50,000 | — | — |
| Visibility | 3 | 2% | 46,800 | — | — |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 2 | 1% | 45,168 | — | — |
| Service Brakes | 2 | 1% | 50,638 | — | — |
| Wheels | 2 | 1% | 65,065 | — | — |
| Electronic Stability Control (esc) | 1 | 1% | 121,000 | — | — |
| Equipment Adaptive/mobility | 1 | 1% | 108,000 | — | — |
| Visibility/wiper | 1 | 1% | 68,000 | — | — |
One complaint can list several problem areas, so shares can add up to more than 100%.
Complaints by year received
2009 Saturn Outlook recalls (7)
Tap a recall to see the problem, the risk and the fix.
Structure:body:hatchback/liftgate
Problem: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2008-2012 Buick Enclave vehicles manufactured January 3, 2007, to February 29, 2012, 2009-2012 Chevrolet Traverse vehicles manufactured July 6, 2008, to March 9, 2012, 2007-2012 GMC Acadia vehicles manufactured September 15, 2006, to February 29, 2012, and 2007-2010 Saturn Outlook vehicles manufactured August 17, 2006, to March 18, 2010. The affected vehicles, equipped with the power liftgate option, have gas struts that hold the power liftgate up when open. These struts may prematurely wear and the open liftgate may suddenly fall.
Risk: If the open liftgate unexpectedly falls, it may strike a person, increasing their risk of injury.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the software for the power liftgate actuator motor control unit so that the motor will prevent the rapid closing of the lift gate, free of charge. The recall began on November 15, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782, and Saturn customer service at 1-800-553-6000. GM's number for this recall is 15240.
Seat belts
Problem: General Motors is recalling certain model year 2009-2014 Buick Enclave vehicles manufactured April 14, 2008, through May 14, 2014, Chevrolet Traverse vehicles manufactured June 6, 2008, through May 14, 2014, and GMC Acadia vehicles manufactured April 9, 2008, through May 14, 2014, and 2009-2010 Saturn Outlook vehicles manufactured April 14, 2008, through March 18, 2010. In the affected vehicles, the flexible steel cable that connects the seatbelt to the front outboard seating positions may fatigue and separate over time.
Risk: If the steel cable becomes fatigued and separates, the seatbelt may not properly restrain the seat occupant increasing the risk of an injury in a crash.
Fix: General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, repair and replace the lap pretensioner, free of charge. Parts are not currently available. An interim notice will be mailed to owners in July 2014. A second notice will be mailed to owners once parts become available. The recall for the 2009-2010 model years began on July 11, 2014. The interim letter for the 2011-2014 model years were distributed on July 11, 2014. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet), 1-800-521-7300 (Buick), 1-800-462-8782 (GMC), 1-800-553-6000 (Saturn). General Motors recall number for this campaign is 14187.
Air bags:side/window
Problem: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2008-2013 Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia and 2009-2013 Chevrolet Traverse and 2008-2010 Saturn Outlook vehicles. In the affected vehicles, increased resistance in the driver and passenger seat mounted side impact air bag (SIAB) wiring harnesses may result in the SIAB and seat belt pretensioners not deploying in the event of a crash.
Risk: Failure of the side impact air bags and seat belt pretensioners to deploy in a crash increase the risk of injury to the driver and front seat occupant.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the affected harness connections with soldered connections, free of charge. The recall began on June 16, 2014. Buick owners may contact the owner center at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet owners at 1-866-694-6546, Saturn at 1-800-553-6000, and GMC owners at 1-866-996-9463. GM's number for this recall is 14030. Note: Vehicles repaired as part of Customer Satisfaction Campaign 10085 and special coverage 10335 have already had the subject condition repaired and therefore are not included in the safety recall.
Seat belts
Problem: General motors is recalling certain model year 2009-2010 chevrolet traverse, buick enclave, gmc acadia, and saturn outlook vehicles. The second row seat side trim shield restricts the upward rotation of the safety belt buckle when the seat back is returned to a seating position after being folded flat. If the buckle contacts the seat frame, additional effort is required to return the seat to a seating position. If sufficient force is applied, the buckle cover could be pushed down the strap, exposing and partially depressing the red release button.
Risk: The safety belt may not restrain the occupant as intended during a crash, increasing the risk of injury to the seat occupant.
Fix: Dealers will modify the second row seat side trim shields. If a safety belt buckle is damaged, dealers will replace it free of charge. The safety recall began on august 18, 2010. Owners may contact chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438, buick at 1-866-608-8080, gmc at 1-866-996-9463, and saturn at 1-800-972-8876, or at the owner center at www.gmownercenter.com.
Electrical system
Problem: Gm is recalling certain model year 2006-2009 buick, lucerne; cadillac dts; hummer h2; model year 2008-2009 buick enclave; cadillac cts; model year 2007-2009 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, escalade ext; chevrolet avalanche, silverado, suburban, tahoe; gmc acadia, sierra, yukon, yukon xl; saturn outlook; and model year 2009 chevrolet traverse vehicles equipped with a heated washer fluid system (hwfs). A recall was implemented in 2008 to add a fuse to the control circuit harness to address the potential consequences of a printed circuit board (pcb) electrical short. However, there have been new reports of thermal incidents on hwfs modules after this improvement was installed. These incidents resulted from a new failure mode attributed to the device's thermal protection feature. The significance varies from minor distortion to considerable melting of the plastic around the hwfs fluid chamber.
Risk: It is possible for the heated washer module to ignite and a fire may occur.
Fix: Dealers will permanently disable and remove the heated washer fluid module. An updated page for the owner manual will be provided and inserted in the owner manual to document that the feature has been permanently disabled and removed from the vehicle. The safety recall began on june 11, 2010. Owners may contact buick at 1-866-608-8080, cadillac at 1-866-982-2339, chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438, saturn at 1-800-972-8876, gmc at 1-866-996-9463 and hummer at 1-800-732-5493 or at the owner center at www.gmownercenter.com.
Power train:automatic transmission:lever and linkage:column shift
Problem: General motors is recalling 276,729 my 2009 buick enclave, chevrolet cobalt, hhr, malibu, traverse, gmc acadia, pontiac g5, g6 and saturn aura and outlook passenger vehicles. These vehicles fail to comply with federal motor vehicles safety standard 102, "transmission shift position sequence, starter interlock, and transmission braking effect", and fmvss 114, "theft protection and rollaway prevention". On some of these vehicles, the transmission shift cable adjustment clip may not be fully engaged. If the clip is not fully engaged, the shift lever and the actual position of the transmission gear may not match. With this condition, the drive could move the shifter to "park" and remove the ignition key, but the transmission gear may not be in "park".
Risk: The driver may not be able to restart the vehicle and the vehicle could roll away after the driver has exited the vehicle, resulting in a possible crash without prior warning.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and ensure that the shift cable adjustment clip is fully engaged. In the event that the clip does not engage, the shift cable will be replaced free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on or before march 24, 2009. Owners may contact buick at 1-866-608-8080, chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438, gmc at 1-866-996-9463, pontiac at 1-800-620-7668 and saturn at 1-800-972-8876 or at www.gmownercenter.com.
Seat belts: rear/other:buckle assembly
Problem: Gm is recalling 16,667 my 2009 buick enclave, chevrolet traverse, gmc acadia, and saturn outlook vehicles for failing to conform with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 209, 'seat belt assemblies.' these vehicles may have been built with a safety belt buckle in the second or third row that is missing a rivet.
Risk: In a vehicle crash, if the rivet is missing, the buckle may separate from the mounting strap, increasing the risk of injury to the passenger.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the safety belt buckles in the second and third rows, and replace them if necessary. The recall began on november 26, 2008. Owners may contact buick at 1-866-608-8080; chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438; gmc at 1-866-996-9463; saturn at 1-800-972-8876; or through their website at <a href=http://www.gmownercenter.com>http://www.gmownercenter.com</a> .
To see whether a specific car still has an open recall, enter its VIN on NHTSA's official recall lookup. You can also decode a VIN here.
NHTSA defect investigations
- Outboard Front Seat Belt Anchor Cable Failure (EA20002) — opened Aug 31, 2020, closed Aug 30, 2024, led to recall 21V245.
- Seat Belt Anchor Cable Failure (RQ19003) — opened May 28, 2019, closed Aug 31, 2020.
- Loss of Headlamp Illumination (DP12003) — opened Jun 4, 2012, closed Jul 24, 2014.
Recent owner reports
Short excerpts of the latest complaints filed with NHTSA, with personal details removed. Full reports can be searched on NHTSA.gov.
The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Outlook. The contact stated that stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made an abnormal sound and stalled. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The vehicle failed to restart and was…
I was driving and my car started to lurch and went into reduced power mode. I quickly pulled over and turned off the engine. It was towed into the shop, and we found that the timing chain had broken. We had just had our engine mounts replaced and the oil changed. The vehicle has been well…
UNKNOWN We have only had this vehicle for approximately 4 months and have had soon many issues but the electrical system has been a problem non stop
I bought this 2009 Saturn Outlook yesterday from a used dealership they said there was nothing wrong with the car well I live over 100 miles away from where I bough it and about halfway home itâs it was dark outside I was driving on the highway going up a hill the motor was acting like it wanted…
I was driving down the highway and all of a sudden my car slowed down really slow i pulled over and turned it off. When i tried to turn it back on it wouldn't crank.
Other Saturn Outlook years
← 2008 Outlook · 2010 Outlook →
| Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 Outlook | 16 | 4 |
| 2009 | 192 | 7 |
| 2008 Outlook | 633 | 5 |
| 2007 Outlook | 511 | 5 |
See all Saturn Outlook problems by year, every Saturn model, or the VIN decoder.
Similar Saturn models
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Frequently asked questions
What are the most common problems with the 2009 Saturn Outlook?
Owners most often report exterior lighting, electrical system, steering problems. The top one, exterior lighting, accounts for 75 complaints.
Was there a recall on the 2009 Saturn Outlook?
Yes, 7 safety recalls. Enter your VIN at NHTSA.gov to check whether the repairs were done on your car.
Was the 2009 Saturn Outlook a good year?
Complaint data can't fully answer that, because counts aren't adjusted for sales. Compared with other Outlook model years, the 2009 has far fewer complaints than most years. Always get a pre-purchase inspection and check the VIN for open recalls.