1991 Saturn SC

Routine

Owners filed 5 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the seat belts. It has been recalled 1 time.

What fails

Component	Reports	Crashes	Injuries
Seat Belts	2	0	0
Steering	1	1	3
Seat Belts › Front › Retractor	1	0	0
Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine › Gasoline	1	0	0

1 safety recall

Part 573 reports

Electrical System › Alternator/Generator/Regulator93V132000

Filed Aug 10, 1993352,833 vehiclesGeneral Motors Corp.

Defect. THE GENERATOR ELECTRICAL WIRING IS NOT PROTECTED AGAINST EXCESSIVE CURRENT FLOW WHICH MAY BE CAUSED BY AN ELECTRICAL SHORT CIRCUIT IN THE GENERATOR.

Risk. SHOULD AN ELECTRICAL SHORT CIRCUIT OCCUR IN THEGENERATOR, THE GENERATOR WIRING HARNESS WOULD EXPERIENCE EXCESSIVE CURRENT FLOW.UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, ENOUGH HEAT COULD BE GENERATED TO IGNITE SURROUNDINGMATERIALS. IF THIS OCCURS, AN UNDERHOOD FIRE COULD RESULT WITH OR WITHOUT THEENGINE RUNNING AND WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING.

Remedy. THE GENERATOR WIRING HARNESS WILL BE REPLACED WITH ONE THAT WILL OPEN AS A FUSE WOULD UNDER CERTAIN EXCESSIVE CURRENT FLOW CONDITIONS.

What owners reported

Newest filings

Seat Belts

Filed Jul 10, 2001FL

AUTOMATIC SEATBELTS FAILS TO OPERATE. *AK

Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine › Gasoline

Filed Nov 29, 1998FL

MY WIFE WAS DRIVING THE CAR WHEN SMOKE BEGAN TO EMIT AND THE GENERATOR LIGHT WAS ON. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO OUR HOUSE. UPON EXAMINING THE VEHICLE, THE ENGINE BLOCK WAS CRACKED WHERE THE GENERATOR IS SCREWED TO THE ENGINE BLOCK. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO SATURN OF DADELAND ON 05/29/1998. THEY REPLACED CRACKED ENGINE BLOCK, ALL CRANKSHAFT BEARINGS, TIMING CHAIN & GUIDES, PISTON RINGS, VALVE STEM SEALS, & LAPPED ALL VALVES, INSTALLED NEW GENERATOR & BOLTS. TOTAL COST: $3196.67

Seat Belts › Front › Retractor

Filed Sep 9, 1997MN

WHEN OPENING THE DOOR TO GET INTO THE VEHICLE THE SEAT BELT RETRACTOR DOESN'T MOVE. ONCE GETTING IN AND CLOSING THE DOOR, THE SEAT BELT RETRACTOR STILL WILL NOT MOVE. AK CONSUMER ALSO STATED THAT THE ENGINE HAD TO BE REBUILT.*JB

SteeringCrash3 injured

Filed Sep 24, 1996FL

STEERING FAILED, CAUSING ACCIDENT.

Seat Belts

Filed Nov 20, 1995IN

BOTH FRONT PASSIVE RESTRAINTS FAIL TO OPERATE, W/OWNER NOTIFYING SATURN MANUFACTURER. PLEASE DESCRIBE DETAILS. TT

5 of 5 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 1994

Year	Complaints	Recalls	Fires	Deaths	Assessment
2002	38	0	2	0	Routine
2001	21	2	1	0	Routine
2000	7	7	0	0	Routine
1999	24	1	1	0	Routine
1998	13	0	0	0	Routine
1997	33	3	1	1	Fatalities reported
1996	26	0	0	0	Routine
1995	39	2	0	0	Routine
1994	51	1	1	1	Fatalities reported
1993	23	1	0	0	Routine
1992	16	2	1	0	Routine
1991 — this page	5	1	0	0	Routine

Compare every SC year →

Other Saturn models

All Saturn models →

Ion 4,343 Vue 2,351 SL 2,218 LS 1,458 Aura 1,439 Outlook 1,352 Sky 516 SC1 413 Saturn 211 SW 209

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Recall repairs are free for as long as the recall stands. Check whether a specific car still has open work at NHTSA's VIN lookup.

Most recent recall on file: Aug 10, 1993. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.