Recall - Instrument Cluster Inspection/Replacement: Overview
INSTRUMENT CLUSTER ASSEMBLY INSPECTION AND/OR REPLACEMENT# 97-O-66 - (Aug 9, 2004)
Table 1: Required Parts
INSTRUMENT CLUSTER ASSEMBLY INSPECTION AND/OR REPLACEMENT
1998 SATURN SC2, SL2, and SW2 MODELS EXPORTED TO CANADA
ALL SATURN RETAINERS
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 customer 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 customer 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 customer and to repair their vehicle as soon as possible. As you will see in reading the copy of the divisional letter (shown in this bulletin), that is being sent to customers, the customers are being instructed to contact the appropriate Customer Assistance Center if their dealer 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, they are instructed on how to contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Defect Involved
Saturn has decided that certain 1998 Saturn export vehicles fail to conform to the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) # 101, "Location and Identification of Controls and Displays." Some of these vehicles may have been produced with an incorrect instrument cluster assembly in which the odometer electronically displays miles instead of kilometers. The speedometers in these clusters correctly display kilometers per hour. To correct this condition, Retailers will inspect and, if necessary, replace the instrument cluster assembly.
Vehicles Involved
Certain 1998 Saturn SC2, SL2, and SW2 model vehicles exported to Canada, within the following VIN range will require this campaign (except for the VINs listed under "Vehicles Not Involved")
WZ151286 through WZ181123
Vehicles Not Involved
The following vehicles are within the VIN range, but are not involved:
WZ151715, WZ152752, WZ153988, WZ154754
It is important to note that campaign claims will only he paid on involved vehicles.
Owner Notification
Owners of 1998 Saturn models involved will be notified of this campaign by Saturn (Refer to the owner letter shown in this bulletin.)
Facility VIN Listing
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 97066.
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 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."
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 involved 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 procedures 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. This bulletin is notice to you that the new motor vehicles included in this campaign may not comply with the standard previously identified. Under 49 U.S.C. section 30112 of the Highway Safety Act as amended, it is illegal for a retailer to sell a new motor vehicle which the retailer knows does not comply with an applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. As a consequence, if you sell any of these motor vehicles without first performing the campaign correction, your retail facility may be subject to a civil penalty up to $ 1,100 for each such sale.
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, campaign responsibility may be transferred by 1) submitting a Campaign Vehicle Action Report to your Customer Assistance Manager (CAM) at the Saturn Customer Assistance Center, 2) submitting 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-I-15, or additional copies can be ordered from Saturn Publications. 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 instrument cluster assemblies, as required based on Retailer parts inventory levels, to perform this campaign will be automatically sent to you from Saturn Service Parts Operations (SSPO). These initial shipments are to aid the Retailer in campaign preparation and ensure minimal customer inconvenience.
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 below without contacting your PSA.
Disposition of Replaced Parts
Retailers are to fill out a Failed Parts Return Tag and return all discrepant parts to the GM Parts Distribution Center.
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. If you have any questions, please coordinate with the Saturn Customer Assistance Center to help ensure customer satisfaction.
Campaign Completion Label
Upon completion of the campaign, a Campaign Completion label should be affixed on a clean, dry surface of the radiator core support in an area clearly visible when the hood is raised. Each label provides a space to print in ink (or type) the campaign number (97066) and the five (5) digit facility code of the Retailer performing the campaign service.
As a reminder additional labels may be ordered from Saturn publications.
Credit
97-0-66 GOODWILL WORKSHEET
As stated in the "Credit" section of this bulletin, Retailers are empowered to use good judgement regarding loaner/rental cars or other goodwill expenses that might become necessary for customer satisfaction.
Complete this worksheet and attach it to the hard copy of the Customer Service Order (CSO) to document all campaign goodwill claims submitted to Saturn. You will not need to contact the Saturn Assistance Center for authorization of goodwill expenditures associated with this campaign.