2004 Saturn VUE Power Train Problems
Owners have filed 93 complaints with NHTSA about power train problems on the 2004 Saturn VUE, 34% of all complaints for this model year. Half of the reports with a mileage happened before 85,000 miles. The words owners use most often: “vti transmission” (8% of reports).
- 93power train complaints
- 85,000median miles at failure
- 5mention a crash
- 5mention an injury
- 0related recalls
- $7,350typical repair cost reported by owners
- 31%of reports with a speed happened at 50+ mph
What owners describe
Phrases that appear unusually often in these complaints compared with complaints about other cars.
- Vti transmission: mentioned in 7 of 93 complaints (8%)
- Torque converter: mentioned in 6 of 93 complaints (6%)
How much does it cost to fix?
Owners who wrote down what they paid or were quoted put the typical power train repair on the 2004 Saturn VUE at $7,350, and half of them between $4,550 and $8,900.
Based on 12 NHTSA complaints about this problem alone that state a repair bill or quote (2006–2013), converted to 2026 dollars with the U.S. consumer price index. These are owners' own figures, not a quote: they include dealer quotes, and owners who file complaints often faced larger repairs, so they can run higher than typical shop prices. Prices vary by shop, region and warranty coverage. How we calculate this.
At what mileage do power train problems happen?
Based on 82 complaints that reported the odometer reading.
How serious are the reports?
Of 93 complaints, 5 mention a crash, 5 an injury.
Saturn VUE power train complaints by model year
When owners reported it
Related recalls (0)
No safety recall lists power train for the 2004 Saturn VUE. A pattern of complaints does not always lead to a recall.
What owners report
Short excerpts of recent complaints, with personal details removed. Full reports are on NHTSA.gov.
Transmission has Lube issues for Honda and TRANSGO HONDALK fixes that but requires several hours labor pulling transmission. Transmission and torque converter overheat causing failure. Mine overheated and stalled crossing traffic, wouldn't go into gear. Caused accident.
While driving transmission will jump out of gear,need to shift gear selector into neutral,then back into drive,sometimes more than once.we have avoided several serious incidents since this problematic issue started.vehicle was checked out several times at saturn of modesto.ca.now out of…
Moving along in street traffic, stopped at a light, then went to go forward, transmission only went forward in low gear. Towed to repair garage but they want $500 just to look at it.
Frequently asked questions
Do all 2004 Saturn VUEs have power train problems?
No. NHTSA has 93 owner complaints about power train for the 2004 Saturn VUE (34% of the 276 complaints for this model year). Complaint data shows that the problem is reported, not how many of all cars sold are affected.
Was there a recall on the 2004 Saturn VUE power train?
No recall currently lists power train for this vehicle.
At what mileage do power train problems start?
The median reported mileage is 85,000 miles: half of the reports with a mileage came before that.
How much does it cost to fix power train problems on the 2004 Saturn VUE?
Owners report a typical cost of $7,350 (half paid between $4,550 and $8,900), from 12 complaints that state a repair bill or quote, in 2026 dollars.
What do owners say about power train problems on the 2004 Saturn VUE?
The most frequent phrase is “vti transmission”, in 7 of 93 complaints, followed by “torque converter” (6).
Other 2004 Saturn VUE problems
See all 2004 Saturn VUE problems or power train problems across all VUE years.