Recall - Brake Pipe Inspection/Replacement: Overview

NO.: 00-C-05

NON-COMPLIANCE

DATE: August, 1999

GROUP: CHBK

SUBJECT:
INSPECTION AND REPLACEMENT OF BRAKE PIPES (IF NECESSARY)

YEAR and MODEL:
2000 SATURN S-SERIES 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 copy of the owner letter shown, 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 certain 2000 model year S-Series vehicles may fail to conform to the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 135, "Passenger Car Brake Systems." These vehicles were produced with brake pipe attachment nuts that may not be tightened to specification. If the brake pipe nuts are not properly tightened, brake fluid leakage could occur. Continuing to operate the vehicle with brake fluid leaking may result in illumination of the red "BRAKE" warning light on the instrument panel, and/or an increase in brake pedal travel. If this condition were to occur in a situation where stopping distances were minimal, a vehicle crash could occur.

VEHICLES INVOLVED

Only selected 2000 model year S-Series Saturn vehicles within the VIN range YZ100005 - YZ110402 will require this campaign. A VIN listing of the involved vehicles is shown in this bulletin for your reference.

You must verify campaign involvement through your A5400 system, or with the listing shown in this bulletin. 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. (Refer to the owner letter shown 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 shown.

This listing contains:

^ Complete vehicle identification number (VIN); and

^ VINs of vehicles which, according to Saturn records, are in route to your Retailer or already in retail stock.

The Facility VIN Listing 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 00C05.

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."

RETAILER RESPONSIBILITY

All unsold 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 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 is shown for your reference, copies can be ordered from Saturn Publications (1-800-828-2112, prompt 3, Item # 50397050). 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 brake pipe assemblies required to perform this campaign has been 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 additional parts be required, please contact your Parts Support Analyst (PSA) and we will expedite the shipment. Please do not enter any orders for any part numbers listed without contacting your PSA.

3. Required Parts.

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.

CAMPAIGN COMPLETION LABEL

Upon completion of the campaign, a Campaign Completion Label and a Clear Protective Cover 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 (00C05) 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 (1-800-828-2112, prompt 3, Item # S03 00013A for the Campaign Completion Label, and Item # S03 00013B for the Clear Protective Cover).