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Saturn Outlook Transmission Problems
I continue to have problems with the transmission in my 2007 Saturn Outlook. I took it in for the software upgrade which seems to have done no good. When talking with the Service Manager again he stated, "I do not know what to tell you, I am getting complaints from everyone and there is no more fixes."
Does anyone else have this problem and what have you done to fix the problem?
Does anyone else have this problem and what have you done to fix the problem?
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We just got our '07 XR FWD about 10 days ago, and I may be calling the dealer about ours not shifting into 6th on the highway when the cruise control is on. If it shifts into 5th, which it does a lot, it won't shift back into 6th unless I tap the brake and then resume the cruise.
Other than this, I am really enjoying the vehicle.
Yes, I am still having the problem you write about even after the upgrade. Not good when driving the roads I do due to hills, curves ,etc. I did receive a phone call recently from my Saturn dealer saying to bring my Outlook in for anothe upgrade. Have you received a second upgrade?
Just want to let you know that I had a very close call while driving my Saturn Outlook on Father's Day. While traveling on the freeway I went to pass someone and the shifting lagged so much that I thought I was going to be hit from behind from an approaching vehicle. I have had it with this vehicle. I had an appointment scheduled today for what I thought was another upgrade (due to the phone call I received from my dealershhip) but when I got there I was told that there was nothing else they could do for me as I have the most current upgrade, number 0217. I called the President/General Manager of the dealership and all he would say is that he validated the fact that I have brought the car in for the correct upgrade and he would gladly drive the car to validate that it in fact runs like it should. He also stated that he spoke with the "engineer" and has been told that Saturn designed the delayed shifting in order to be able to control the gas mileage so it holds true to what they claim. This is yet another untruth about the vehicle as my gas mileage is terrible. I am now going to the Better Business Bureau to start the process of GM buying the car back. Not only does the vehicle not deliver but now being so doubted and snubbed by the dealership makes me ill. :lemon:
If you want to know more, please let me know. I would love to see a Class Action filed or a huge revolt as this car is not what they claim it is!
Tracy
-Warren
Are you located in California?
The arbitrator did drive me my car and of course the transmission basically worked okay. The unfortunate thing is that my car has never been "out of service". I guess I should have refused to drive it until GM came up with a fix. I could have done somethings better had I known more about the process.
The really frustrating fact is that GM knows there is a problem but can fall back on the following term. "It is the way the vehicle has been engineered."
I wish you the best in your hearing.
Tracy
The BBB informed me that the arbitrator is a Lawyer and the GM representative will be present via telephone, joy joy!
I did not know that other owners were having such problems until I started reading the Edmund's Forums. I was surprised that GM was trying to cover up the problems so blatantly. That's when I started keeping a logbook on my vehicle. In your state, do you have the option of filing for arbitration with the State Attorney's Office? Here in Florida, if I'm dissatisfied with the BBB's decision, I can file with the State Board of Consumer's Affairs. They will then forward the claim to the State Attorney's Office for arbitration. After that, if you're still dissatisfied, you can get an attorney and sue the manufacturer. If the Judge rules in your favor, the manufacturer has to pay all your attorney's fees. Good Huh?
Well it's late and I still have some work to do. Thanks for your support. J.
On Oct. 08/08, we had our Arbitration Hearing regarding our Saturn Outlook and their decision was in our favor. The GM Representative acted like a jerk. He tried to make it look as though we didn't know what we were talking about and if it's not in print in the GM manuel or shop work order he would not consider it as fact. I had everything in document and cronological order. I even had copies of GM's technical bulletins regarding the transmission, fender well splash guards, power steering pump and engine cylinder head problems. The arbitrator took the vehicle on a 20 mile test drive and found out herself about the vibration, transmission lag and excessive steering noise. The Arbitrator found 9 out of 12 items to be significant defects and has awarded us our down payment, costs for tax, tag, title, registration, service contract AND our 10 monthly payments back. All total: $12,000.00 How about those apples !!!!!!!!!! A GM Rep. called this afternoon to confirm our information to set the closing date for the repurchase which will be sometime next week. I'll post the final results.
I did find that on my 20 mile route to the golf course that if I control the speed instead of using cruise control I can up my MPG by about 2. Driving with the average MPG display I can really see the difference in gaining a little speed downhill and letting it bleed off uphill, vs the cruise having to maintain the constant speed especially uphill.
Recently took a 1300+ mile trip from Memphis to Gulf Coast and back. Reset MPG display leaving Memphis on 78 toward Birmingham. Disappointed in averaging less than 20 mpg on that hilly leg (using cruise). Not really bad for the complete hwy portion of the trip getting right around 21 MPG for the 1200 miles or so. I now think I could up that to around 23 MPG or more by keeping it from downshifting as much uphill and gaining speed for the next hill while going down. BUT that would defeat the ease of cruising with cruise, so I doubt I would do that for a complete trip. Love the 2008 Outlook XR so far :-)
Bill
Rich Wood
Thx.
Mike
I will not have the car for at least 5 days and have to get a loaner from but have to pay $5 a day (its not about the five dollars its about the principle!) and they said nothing could be done about the $5 because of some gov't homeland security blah blah blah.
We feel cheated by saturn. We still owe 3 years on the car. What will the next three years be like? We are very unhappy. We bought American for a reason, wrong idea.
DO NOT BUY SATURN.
Is there something legal we can do? Saturn cars are as expensive as the competitors, they should stand behind their products.
I tried to be patriotic, I feel like I am paying for something at macy's but should have bought it at walmart. I mean it is a car that costs over $30000. Its not chump change. Should it have a problem like that at under 25000 miles???
I was unsuccessful with my BBB claim. Reasons ...since the vehicle was not out of service for more than so many days and I kept driving it with the problem (what was I supposed to do?), that I didn't take it in enough times (only to hear, "There is nothing wrong with the vehicle, it is just how it runs in order to get the gas mileage GM claims it should get.) to fall under the lemon law and had gone over the number of miles allotted for a buy-back. I think I had 18,000 by the time I went before the BBB. It also didn't help that the BBB "judge" when test driving took us on a tour of the Oakland Hills where he used to live and not on roads where the issue is more prevelant. In the midst of this issue I did have a technician who rode with me and then drove my vehicle and said that there was definetly a problem but then was not allowed to talke to me about it anymore or give me documentation. As far as taking copies of this blog. I did do that only to be told that I could of created this information myself and there was no way to verify the "truth" of everyone if it were a real blog. I am now stuck with a vehicle that has dropped so much in worth that I cannot get a good deal on a trade-in or private party sell. I am not sure if you have blue-booked yours and seen the dramatic drop in worth but it is significant. I thought I was doing a good thing by buying a Saturn/GM vehicle but regret my decision to this day. I hope you have better luck.
Saturn Customer Relations Center (for Saturn owners):
1-800-553-6000
Depending on the severity of the problems and how persistent you are, they may do something for you. I have to warn you though, it's a very frustrating process. They will open a case, refer it to a "regional manager" who will call you to discuss it. After you tell them you want a re-purchase, they will call the dealer who services the vehicle to confirm the issues, and then they will escalate it to someone else (they won't give a name, title, or phone number for this person--I suspect that they just put the case on hold for 24 hours and then call you back and tell you no). After 24 hours, they call you back and tell you that they will offer you an extended warrantee on the car, but nothing else. We were persistent and got them to cut a check for 1 month's worth of payments (since that is how many working days the car has been in the shop for the same problem). Our problems escalated after 15k miles and over 1 year, so the local lemon laws didn't apply....best of luck...