The contact owns a 2003 Saturn Ion. While driving 55 mph during rainy conditions, the windshield wipers traveled beyond the normal radius. The contact noticed that the plastic linkage on the wiper motor had failed. The dealer has not inspected the vehicle. There is a defect investigation open (NHTSA action # PE07011) for the windshield wiper linkages. The current and failure mileages were 43,000.

- Miamisburg, OH, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Saturn Ion. The windshield wiper linkage failed while driving 50 mph in the rain. The windshield wiper came off the driver's side window shield and would not return to its normal position. The failure mileage was 42,990. The dealer informed the contact that they were repairing the linkage. The contact was aware that of investigation# PE 07011 on the same year, make and model vehicle for the duplicate failure. Also, the dealer informed the contact that the timing chain should be repaired, it was related to investigation #dp 05008. The current mileage was 43,000.

- New Lenox, IL, USA

I don't know what caused the failure, but it has never been abused, and the car has only 45747 miles as of the service date. We live in Michigan, and although the manufacturer may want to claim that snow caused this failure, we have not had any snowfall prior to this date (10-25-06). I noticed that the windshield wiper arm was folded outward from the windshield. I took it to the dealer, and their diagnosis was that the support bracket was broken. However, there is no way to obtain the simple bracket. The entire assembly including the wiper motor which still functioned correctly had to be replaced. The parts of the assembly are a unitized module where no single part can be purchased individually. The total cost of this assembly (GM part number 15221904 according to the invoice) was $149.12 while labor and fees made up an additional $100. Overall cost to fix was $250.91 with state taxes. I asked for the broken part, which is available for you to look at (I will take digital pictures if you so wish). Additionally, while most of the mechanism is constructed of metal, the high stress points (the brackets) are made of brittle plastic. While no harm came to me because of this failure, the potential for catastrophe does exist. If this mechanism were to fail while one was driving, their vision would be obstructed and an accident could easily occur. This is particularly true in my case, where the driver's side wiper was rendered virtually useless. This defect could easily be corrected. The brackets which are both made of brittle plastic could be replaced with a more reliable metal part. To save precious pennies, Saturn chose to construct this critical part of the car with an inferior material. The result is a design flaw potentially affecting the safety of thousands of unsuspecting Saturn owners. I ask that consideration be made for them while this complaint is reviewed.

- Owosso, MI, USA

Premature failure of the driver side windshield wiper linkage causing wiper to be inoperable.

- Freeland, MI, USA