Owners have filed 303 complaints on the Saturn LS, covering 2000–2000. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (111 reports). Worst years by volume: 2000; cleanest: 2000. 8 reports describe a crash, 5 a fire. On average the car was 5.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Saturn LS
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 303 LS complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 111 Read
We had recently bought a saturn from henderson saturn with the understanding that we were covered for 24,000 miles or 2 years of any mechanical defects. The car caught on fire yesterday and was towed to saturn. We were called this morning and told that we have to foot the bill to tear down the car because the head is…
The vehicle experiences wind noise. Nlm
No summary listed for abov evehicle
Electrical System 35 Read
Driving home I smelled an electrical burning smell. I then noticed smoke coming from the steering column. With the car off the smoke continued and the high beams were on. I drove to saturn and they found an internal short in the head lamp switch (p/n 22679804). At no time did any fuse blow to protect the circuit. I…
The contact owns a 2000 saturn ls. The contact stated that the rear tail lights failed to illuminate. The contact mentioned that there was an electrical malfunction that burned the sockets and wires causing the bulbs to short. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician replaced the rear tail…
My key was getting stuck in the ignition during initial start and stopping of the vehicle. The key would be hot to touch once you took the key out of the ignition when you shut off your car
Exterior Lighting 32 Read
The contact owns a 2000 saturn ls1. The contact stated that while sitting at a traffic stop, another vehicle rear-ended the contact's vehicle. The contact stated that the break lights failed to alert the other driver that she was braking. There was no damage to vehicle and the police were not contacted. The vehicle…
The contact owns a 2000 saturn ls. While driving at approximately 65 mph, there was smoke coming from the steering wheel into the vehicle and the high beams activated without being prompted. The high beams failed to turn off causing the contact to detach the headlights. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The…
Brake lights intermittent, bulbs vibrate in light assembly causing them to stop working. Contacted local saturn dealer and was told they've seen the same thing several times before. Dt
Steering 28 Read
2000 l2w model. Consumer states hears a roaring noise while driving more so at around 30 - 35 mph. Also there is front end vibration. Dealer found tires were chopped. Dealer replaced lower control arm bushings and performed complete four wheel alignment
1) car shaking problem: dealer replaced lower control arms (right and left) as well as powe steering pump to remedy problem. Car continues to shake at most speeds. Contacted the manuafcturer, who replied there is nothing else they can do. 2) speedometer: reported problem 4 times to dealership, and dealer claims they…
While driving 55 mph or more vehicle would vibrate. Vehicle taken to dealer, consumer was informed that the rear control arm bushing needed to be replaced. *ak consumer states while driving highway speeds, vehicle vibrates, dealer inspected and found all four tires were out of balance, twice at 17748 and 24575 miles.…
Service Brakes 13 Read
When the vehicle was placed in reverse the brake pedal went to the floor and the vehicle continue to move although the driver kept pushing the brake pedal. As a result of the brake failure the consumer vehicle hit a parked vehicle which caused damage. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but they could not determine…
When applying the brakes at various speeds the pedal and steering vibrate alot. Steering jerks 2 or 3 inches at times making it difficult to control the vehicle
Premature wear of front brake rotors. Dealer has inspected vehicle
Suspension 13 Read
Front-end vibration at highway speeds. Re-balancing and replacing tires has had no effect on the problem
Vibration at highway speeds 60-70 mph mostly transmitted through steering wheel
Misallignment caused tires to cup and frontend to shimmy. Both got increasingly worse. Was reported to saturn. Was told by a salesman there that he had the same problem with his car(same year and model). Was told by him that saturn was looking into the problem. Found out later from service center that it was not…
Power Train 13 Read
While driving on moderately hilly highway, the cruise control caused the engine to go to full throttle accompanied by a transmission downshift resulting in rapid and potentially dangerous acceleration. This has occurred three times
Have had the slave cylinder go out twice. Seat belt no bucles twice
Transmission began leaking oil 1800 miles
Tires 12 Read
Right front and one rear firestone affinity tires experienced a blowout, causing damage to the right front rim, the consumer is requesting reimbursement
All the original firestone tires were replaced due to thread separation
Since purchasing this vehicle in nov. 1999 I have put approx. 24k miles on it, the dealer has changed the tires on the car three times. One time every approx 8000 miles, the reason the tires get changed is that after the tires get hot from driving they begin to thump, this does not happen when the tires are new but…
LS years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Air Bags | 8 | 5 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 80 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.8 |
| Worst single series | 16 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.8 years |
A model average of 3.8 hides a worst series at 16. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the LS?
By complaint volume, 2000 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which LS years are the cleanest?
2000 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Saturn LS have?
303 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2000–2000. Of those, 8 describe a crash and 5 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.