6.2

fairly significant
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
12,500 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2006 Saturn Relay:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

problem #1

Jul 012006

Relay 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 12,500 miles
I was traveling on AZ state route 87 on a 6 percent downgrade. I had applied the brakes a total of 3 times for no more than 3 to 5 seconds at a time, this occurred over a 5 minute time frame. On the third application the brakes began to cavitate very badly. This caused the vehicle to sway and brakes faded out. The brakes made a rubbing sound for the next several days. When brakes are applied while turning they make a grinding sound/feel. The vehicle was taken into Saturn of arrowhead peoria, AZ on 07/06/06. They stated nothing was found wrong with brakes. They said it is common for brakes to fade on this vehicle going down hill. They stated we should downshift to compensate. They can not explain why brakes make sound while turning, they say brakes are fine. I personally believe problem is that brake rotors are to small for size of vehicle. That they heat up to quickly and fade out and rotors begin to warp. This is a design flaw that can be corrected by increasing rotor size and brake shoe size, there is plenty of room in wheel well.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

Add Complaint