Total Complaints
3 filings
SATURN S SERIES · model year
3 NHTSA complaints, 1 crash report for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2000SATURNS SERIES carries 3 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 1 crash, 0 fires, 2 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2000 S SERIES is electrical system:starter assembly with 1 filings, followed by electrical system:ignition:switch (1) and air bags:frontal (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.
NHTSA currently has 14 investigation files overlapping the 2000 S SERIES. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
3 filings
Crashes Reported
1 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:STARTER ASSEMBLY | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:SWITCH | 1 |
| AIR BAGS:FRONTAL | 1 |
AFTER BEING INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT AT 60 MPH, STRIKING A MEDAL POLE, THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY.*AK
Mileage: 85,000
JUST ALL OF A SUDDEN ONE DAY MY CARS IGNITION WOULD NOT TURN ON, I HAD TO FIGHT WITH IT FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES BEFORE IT WOULD START, HAVE NOT REPLACED THE PART YET. *NM
Mileage: 87,000
TRIED TO INSERT THE KEY INTO THE IGNITION TO START BUT THE STEERING COLUMN WAS LOCKED. COULD NOT JIGGLE THE STEERING WHEEL TO UNLOCK. MECHANIC SAID THE IGNITION CYLINDER WAS FAULTY, HOWEVER WHEN HE TRIED TO REMOVE IT TO REPLACE, IT WOULD NOT COME OUT. HAD TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE ASSEMBLY. FIRST REPLACEMENT ASSEMBLY ORDERED FROM SATURN WAS FAULTY SO HAD TO ORDER ANOTHER ONE. SATURN MECHANICS SAID THEY HAD SEEN "SEVERAL" OF THE SAME TYPE OF PROBLEM. I'M KEEPING THE ORIGINAL PARTS IN CASE THERE IS A RECALL. THE CAR ONLY HAS 44K MILES ON IT. *NLM
Mileage: 44,000
Electric Power Steering Failure
Electric Power Steering Failure
OUTSIDE DOOR HANDLES STICK UNLATCHED
TIMING CHAIN BREAKS, ENGINE STALL
TIMING CHAIN FAILURE-STALL
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.