The 2002 Saturn Vue has 4 recalls, the most serious being an ignition switch defect that allows the key to be pulled out before the ignition is in the "Off" position, which can leave the vehicle in gear and rolling freely.
When the key comes out while the transmission is still in Drive or another forward or reverse position, the vehicle can roll away without warning, and the steering column may lock, removing the driver's ability to steer. On automatic transmission models, the car may roll if it was not fully shifted into Park before the key was removed. A separate lighting concern involves the daytime running lamp resistor, which can develop cracks that let in water and road salt, corroding the component until the daytime running lamps stop working entirely. Without those lights active, the vehicle is harder for other drivers and pedestrians to spot during daylight, raising the risk of a collision. There is also a seatbelt labeling issue: the front seatbelt assemblies are missing a statement required by Canadian safety regulations for certain load-limiting retractors. While this is a compliance matter rather than a known physical failure, the missing label means occupants lack complete information about how the retractors are designed to perform in a crash.
