Forum Discussion

richospice's avatar
richospice
Explorer
Mar 28, 2015

Saturn tow vehicle

I tow a Saturn and I have had transmission problems with my Saturn. Last time burned out tranny while towing. I was advised to purchase tow dolly and tow Saturn back wheels on ground. I ran into a fellow who tows a Suzuki and he stops every 200 miles and starts up his car and runs it for 2 minutes. He has never had a problem. My question is could that be a solution for me to put my Saturn back 4 wheels down and get the tow dolly sold?
Actually have had 3 different tranny problems with my Saturn. Costs of fixing are high. Am thinking of traveling without a tow car.
  • tropical36's avatar
    tropical36
    Explorer
    May 01, 2015
    richospice wrote:
    I tow a Saturn and I have had transmission problems with my Saturn. Last time burned out tranny while towing. I was advised to purchase tow dolly and tow Saturn back wheels on ground. I ran into a fellow who tows a Suzuki and he stops every 200 miles and starts up his car and runs it for 2 minutes. He has never had a problem. My question is could that be a solution for me to put my Saturn back 4 wheels down and get the tow dolly sold?
    Actually have had 3 different tranny problems with my Saturn. Costs of fixing are high. Am thinking of traveling without a tow car.

    When all else fails, get a Wrangler 4x4 and be ready for any kind of terrain as well.
  • billyboy's avatar
    billyboy
    Explorer
    Apr 12, 2015
    We had a 1994 and towed it a lot of miles, then a year2000 saturn, and towed it a bunch of miles, and now a 2006 ion and maybe 40k miles, all with automatic tranny. The only years to not tow were 04 and 05 with the cvt tranny.
  • isa's avatar
    isa
    Explorer
    Apr 11, 2015
    I have a 2007 Saturn ION with a 4-speed automatic transmission that I have towed for the past 7yr. and some 40,000 miles.

    Someone has been given wrong information!
  • Ozlander's avatar
    Ozlander
    Explorer
    Mar 30, 2015
    gasser9 wrote:
    T Owners manual states run for 5 min every 7 hours whether towing or not.

    Every 7 hours, Boy that would get old after a day or two.
  • gasser9's avatar
    gasser9
    Explorer
    Mar 30, 2015
    T towed a 2004 Vue For 50,000 & was towed 4 down when I bought it. Owners manual states run for 5 min every 7 hours whether towing or not. DO NOT shift to park or reverse after running the engine in NUTERAL.
  • Community Alumni's avatar
    Community Alumni
    Mar 28, 2015
    I towed a Saturn Vue with an auto tranny for many miles without any problems. Before the Vue, I towed an Ion with a manual tranny without any problems either. When I bought the Ion I was made aware the Ions with an auto tranny could not be flat towed.
  • richospice's avatar
    richospice
    Explorer
    Mar 28, 2015
    Trip was last summer. Went over 10,000 foot pass into Jackson Wyoming. Needed servicing which cost $1700 then towed to San Diego and transmission burned out. Cost $3000. Will try next trip to Utah and not bring car. Will bring bikes and rent car if necessary. Duh!!! Old car and now rebuilt tranny which was all I could get.
    Am wondering what it would be like to not bring car and investigate alternatives on next trip.
  • rjstractor's avatar
    rjstractor
    Nomad
    Mar 28, 2015
    Those older Saturns are known for being able to be towed four down, so your transmission problems may not be related to towing. Having said that, that's a pretty old car and likely to have a lot of miles so mechanical problems are to be expected. What kind of transmission trouble have you had?
  • Triker33's avatar
    Triker33
    Explorer
    Mar 28, 2015
    It is not recommended to tow this vehicle over 65MPH.

    When towing for an extended period of time, start the vehicle as often as possible and allow it to run for five minutes to prevent battery drain.

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