NHTSA Complaint #10098714 — 1996 SATURN SC1

AFTER ABOUT 70,000 MI I NOTICED TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT GO INTO REVERSE AFTER IT HEATED UP (ABOUT 50+ MI ON FWY). A TRANSMISSION SHOP TOLD ME THAT SATURNS HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE "VALVE BODY". I HAD IT REPLACED AND IT COST ABOUT $350. ABOUT 20,000 MI LATER I STARTED HAVING THE SAME TROUBLE AGAIN. IT WASN'T THAT BAD AT FIRST SO I DID NOT HAVE IT LOOKED AT UNTIL RECENTLY (MI AT 150,000) I TOOK IT TO THE SATURN DEALERSHIP IN PALMDALE, CA. IN TALKING WITH THE SERVICE REP I WAS TOLD THAT SATURN HAD ORIGINALLY TOLD REPAIR TECHNICIANS TO REPLACE THE UPPER PORTION OF THE VALVE BODY AND THEN THEY FOUND OUT THAT WAS NOT FIXING THE PROBLEM SO NOW THEY ARE RECOMMENDING TO REPLACE THE COMPLETE VALVE BODY, WHICH I HAD DONE AT A COST OF ABOUT $1,100. SATURN KNEW ABOUT THIS PROBLEM, I KNOW PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. WHAT IF I WAS MAKING A THREE POINT TURN AND COULD NOT GET IT INTO REVERSE TO GET OUT OF THE WAY OF ONCOMING TRAFFIC (I CAN THINK OF SEVERAL OTHER SAFETY RELATED EXAMPLES). MY QUESTION IS THIS, WHY HAS THIS PROBLEM NOT HAD A SAFETY RELATED RECALL? IS THERE SOME WAY I COULD GET REIMBURSED FOR THE APPROXIMATELY $1500 I HAVE HAD TO SPEND ON REPAIRS? THE OLD PART IS NOT AVAILABLE. *JB