Recall - Horn Defective: Overview
NO.: 98-C-01SAFETY
DATE: November 1998
GROUP: ELPD
SUBJECT:
HORN REPLACEMENT
YEAR and MODEL:
1996 and 1997 SATURN VEHICLES (ALL MODELS)
TO: ALL SATURN RETAILERS and AUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERS
The Highway Safety Act, as amended, provides that each vehicle which is subject to a recall campaign of this type must be adequately repaired within a reasonable time after the owner has tendered it for repair. A failure to repair within sixty (60) days after tender of a vehicle is prima facie evidence of failure to repair within a reasonable time.
If the condition is not adequately repaired within a reasonable time, the owner may be entitled to an identical or reasonably equivalent vehicle at no charge or to a refund of the purchase price less a reasonable allowance for depreciation.
To avoid having to provide these burdensome remedies, every effort must be made to promptly schedule an appointment with each owner and to repair their vehicle as soon as possible. As you will see in reading the attached copy of the owner letter, the owners are being instructed to contact the Saturn Customer Assistance Center if their Retailer does not remedy the condition within five (5) days of the mutually agreed upon service date. If the condition is not remedied within a reasonable time, owners are instructed on how to contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
DEFECT INVOLVED
Saturn has decided that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in certain 1996 and 1997 model year Saturn vehicles. These vehicles were either produced or serviced with a horn assembly which may fail. As a result, the vehicle horn may either become inoperable or activate without pressing the horn button. Under certain conditions, heat could build up in the horn assembly and an underhood fire could result without prior warning. To correct this condition, Saturn will replace the horn assembly.
VEHICLES INVOLVED
Selected 1997 Saturn vehicles in the following VIN range will require this campaign:
VZ235788 through VZ314O99
In addition, certain 1996 and 1997 vehicles outside the VIN range indicated are also involved. A VIN listing of these vehicles is included in this bulletin.
You must verify campaign involvement through your AS4OO system. It is important to note that campaign claims will only be paid on involved vehicles.
OWNER NOTIFICATION
Owners of all involved vehicles will be notified of this campaign by Saturn. Saturn will also notify owners of vehicles which are within the VIN range, but not involved in this action, that their vehicles are not involved. This will alleviate any concerns these customers may have regarding this issue. (Refer to the Involved and Non-Involved owner letters included in this bulletin.)
FACILITY VIN LISTING
A list of vehicles assigned to you (Facility VIN Listing), which our records indicate were sold by or shipped to you, (or are located in close proximity to your facility) is enclosed.
This listing contains:
^ Owner's name with address and telephone number;
^ Complete Vehicle Identification Number (VIN); and
^ VINs of vehicles, which according to Saturn records are in retail stock.
The Facility VIN Listing (with owner information) is furnished to involved Retailers with the Product Campaign Bulletin. Although these vehicles are assigned to your facility, it is important to note that owners may elect to have their vehicle serviced at the Saturn Retail Facility of their choice.
Those Retailers not involved initially in this campaign will receive a message at the top of a blank Facility VIN Listing that states: NO VEHICLES ASSIGNED AT THIS TIME FOR CAMPAIGN 98C01.
These listings may contain owner names and addresses obtained from State Motor Vehicle Registration Records. The use of such motor vehicle registration data for any other purpose is a violation of the law in several states. Accordingly, you are urged to limit the use of this listing to the follow up necessary to complete this campaign. Those records updated with California DMV registration information will have the following message printed adjacent to the appropriate VIN: "OWNER INFORMATION UPDATED BY CALIFORNIA DMV; PUBLICATION PROHIBITED."
NON-INVOLVED VIN LISTING
This bulletin does not contain a non-involved vehicle listing, therefore, it is imperative that you verify campaign involvement through the AS4OO system. Please refer to "VEHICLES INVOLVED" above.
REMOTE OWNER STRATEGY
In order to minimize customer inconvenience and ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction, owners who live in a remote location from an open Saturn Retail Facility may be contacted by Saturn to arrange to have their vehicles serviced in a manner convenient to them. Therefore, you may notice that not all vehicles which were sold by you are on your Facility VIN Listing.
RETAILER RESPONSIBILITY
All unsold new vehicles in Retailers' possession and subject to this campaign must be held at the retail facility and repaired per the service procedure of this campaign bulletin before owners take possession of these vehicles.
Retailers are to service all vehicles subject to this campaign at no charge to owners, regardless of mileage, age of vehicle, or ownership, from this time forward.
Owners of vehicles recently sold from your new vehicle inventory are to be contacted by the Retailer and arrangements made to make the required correction according to the procedure contained in this bulletin.
In summary, whenever a vehicle subject to this campaign enters your vehicle inventory, or is in your retail facility for service in the future, please take the steps necessary to be sure the campaign correction has been made before selling or releasing the vehicle.
TRANSFER OF CAMPAIGN RESPONSIBILITY
Saturn vehicles that have been sold by you, which may be closer in proximity to another Saturn Retailer, may still appear on your Facility VIN Listing. If either you or the vehicle owner determines that it is more desirable for a vehicle on your Facility VIN Listing to be serviced by another Saturn Retailer, or if the customer's address has recently changed, campaign responsibility may be transferred by completing the following:
^ Submit a Campaign Vehicle Action Report to your Customer Assistance Manager (CAM) at the Saturn Customer Assistance Center.
OR
^ Submit an update in owner information to the Saturn Owner of Record system, via SERVICELINE XL, for Saturn Customer Assistance Center review and approval.
A copy of the Campaign Vehicle Action Report can be found in Service Information Bulletin 96-1-15, or additional copies can be ordered from Saturn Publications (1-800-828-2112, prompt 3, Item # S0397050). All changes to campaign responsibility will be reflected in your next Unfixed VIN Report.
All other changes in vehicle status (e.g., scrapped, stolen, etc.) are to be made in accordance with section 4.4.3 of the Retailer Service Reference Guide, "Notifying Saturn of Vehicle Status Change."
PARTS INFORMATION
1. A pre-shipment of required parts necessary to perform this campaign has been automatically shipped to you from Saturn Service Parts Operations (SSPO). These initial shipments are to aid the Retailer in campaign preparation and ensure minimal customer inconvenience. Further shipments will automatically be sent at a later date to fulfill your forecasted needs.
2. Should you require additional parts, please contact your Parts Support Analyst (PSA) immediately and we will expedite the shipment. Please do not enter any orders for any part numbers listed without contacting your PSA.
3. Required Parts:
Quantity Required
Part Number Description Per Vehicle
21024438 Horn Asm 1
4. The following incidental part is not likely to be required, however, SSPO will send two Horn Connector Kits to each Retail facility.
Quantity Required
Part Number Description Per Vehicle
21023592 Horn Connector Kit 1 as needed
DISPOSITION OF REPLACED PARTS
Retailers will scrap all replaced parts in a manner that ensures that they cannot be reused, remanufactured, or otherwise entered into the stream of commerce in the future.
SUGGESTIONS FOR ENSURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
As you know, Saturn's success hinges upon our ability to execute superior customer support throughout the ownership experience, especially when important corrective actions such as this are required.
It is imperative that every effort is made to accommodate the affected owners. Additionally, priority should be given to customer vehicles over retail inventory vehicles. If you have any questions, please coordinate with the Saturn Customer Assistance Center to help ensure customer satisfaction.