Saturn Goes Extra Mile to Fix Seat Backs
Saturn, the newest car division of General Motors, announced its first recall Wednesday and seemed determined to make the occasion a cheerful one.
The Spring Hill, Tenn.-based company said it was notifying owners of 1,210 Saturns--roughly 15% of the cars it has built--of a possible problem with the front seat recliner mechanisms.
The seat backs might slip a few notches on their own, “so of course you’ll want to get this repaired right away,” Saturn said in letters that it sent by overnight mail this week to affected owners.
To make sure there is no confusion, Saturn is notifying all the other buyers of its cars by overnight mail that their vehicles aren’t affected by the recall.
And to be extra forthright, Saturn representatives telephoned reporters in Los Angeles, Detroit and other cities to alert them to the recall, in addition to issuing the usual news release.
Dealers, meanwhile, were gearing up to visit owners of the affected cars and offer to fix the problem at the owners’ homes, at work or wherever they like.
The response of Saturn, which has had production start-up problems but received generally high marks for its cars, recalls the full-court press by Toyota’s luxury Lexus division when it faced a similar early recall.
“Saturn has an opportunity to really turn this into a positive thing,” said Chris Cedergren, analyst at J. D. Power & Associates in Agoura Hills. “When they go to such lengths, a lot of buyers will actually be somewhat flattered at all the attention they’re getting for a $10,000 car.”
Saturn officials said they knew of no accidents or injuries resulting from the problem. Mike Smith, general manager of Saturn of Santa Ana, said none of his customers has even complained of the problem. He learned of it when Saturn officials divulged the repair program, he said.
“Don’t call it a recall,” he added. “We’re enhancing the seat mechanisms.”
Smith said about 49 of the roughly 160 Saturns he has sold were identified as having the potential for developing the problem. His service people are studying maps to see where the 49 owners live.
The dealership will then offer to bring an air compressor and the other necessary equipment to their homes or job sites and do the work there, lend the owners a car while repairs are done at the dealership or make whatever arrangements the customer chooses, Smith said.
Cedergren said this type of response to car problems will become more common as the swollen ranks of domestic auto producers try to outdo each other in pleasing customers.
