The Saturn’s Failing Plastic Window Parts

The driver's side window on my Saturn SL2 sedan stopped working one day while I was out and about. When I got home, I took off the inside skin of the door to see what was wrong. The regulator arm was just hanging in space near the track at the bottom of the glass. I found the plastic piece that the regulator arm uses to lift the window -- it was in two pieces at the bottom of the door. I called the Saturn parts department to see if they had the plastic part in stock.

I was told the part wasn't sold separately and that the complete regulator was priced at $115. I needed the window to function so I went to the dealership and picked up the complete regulator. I mentioned to the guy at the parts counter that Saturn should offer the plastic part for sale. He agreed and told me a lot of people ask about getting just that part. I was able to install the regulator fairly quickly, since the plastic outer door panel is easily removed by unscrewing about seven plastic screws from the inside side of the door. This allows easy access to both sides of the inner workings of the door.

Later, when the passenger side window failed for the same reason, I took that door apart and removed the regulator so I could take it with me to compare it to the new one I was going to buy. When I was picking up the new regulator, I mentioned to a new guy at the parts counter that they should offer the plastic piece alone. He said they do.

Apparently, it has become a standard part due to the high number of failures and resulting requests. It was in stock at $7. What a deal. The ball joint on the end of the regulator arm is permanently attached to the arm, so I snapped the plastic piece on the ball with a large set of channel locks. I bought two of the plastic parts while I was there, so I was ready when the third one failed a year later. Shortly after that, a plastic part in the sun roof failed. Since a replacement sun roof is $1,700 -- and of course the broken part was not available a la carte -- it was time for a new vehicle.

This entry was submitted by John Zambito and edited by Jennifer Campbell.

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