NHTSA Complaint #10396809 — 2005 PONTIAC VIBE

IN NOVEMBER 2008 MY PONTIAC VIBE (AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION) STARTED TO SHIFT HARSHLY (LITERALLY SLAMMING INTO GEAR), THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND MY MECHANIC PULLED THE CODE P2716 INDICATING A SOLENOID/TRANSMISSION PROBLEM. THE CAR WAS OFF WARRANTY, BUT BEFORE I HAD ANY WORK DONE I CALLED BOTH THE LOCAL PONTIAC DEALER AND GM (11/4/2008-DOCUMENTED). EACH SAID THE SAME THING. THERE WAS NO KNOWN PROBLEM AND NO RECALL. SO I TOOK THE CAR TO A TRANSMISSION SPECIALIST AND PAID OVER $3200 FOR A NEW TRANSMISSION. THE CAR STILL SHIFTED HARSHLY AND THE TRANSMISSION SPECIALIST DID SOME RESEARCH AND FOUND A TOYOTA TECH BULLETIN FROM 2006 THAT DESCRIBED THE EXACT PROBLEM IN THE TOYOTA MATRIX (SISTER CAR TO THE VIBE-NUMMI PLANT). I ASKED PONTIAC ABOUT THIS AND THEY STILL DENIED THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM. THIS WAS ALSO THE TIME OF THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE AND GM LOOKED LIKE IT WOULD GO EXTINCT. NOW, IN SEPT. 2010, I GET THE RECALL NOTICE ADMITTING TO THE EXACT PROBLEM THAT TOYOTA DESCRIBED IN 2006. I WAS TOLD TO WAIT FOR THE SECOND LETTER BEFORE GOING TO THE DEALER TO CHECK IT OUT. THE SECOND LETTER CAME IN FEB 2011 ADVISING ME TO GO TO THE PONTIAC DEALER TO GET THE PCM CHECKED. I DID THAT BUT I ALREADY HAD THE CORRECT PCM FROM THE INITIAL FAILURE IN 2008. THE FAILURE OF THE NOW RECALLED PCM CAUSED EXTREMELY HARSH SHIFTING WHICH CAUSED TRANSMISSION DAMAGE (METAL FILINGS ETC. IN THE TRANSMISSION-DOCUMENTED) WHICH LED TO A COMPLETE TRANSMISSION REPAIR JOB COSTING ME $3275.45 AS WELL AS THE REPLACEMENT OF THE PCM. MY TRANSMISSION WAS RUINED BECAUSE OF A KNOWN FAULTY PART (PCM) THAT IS JUST NOW UNDER RECALL. THE RIGHT THING FOR PONTIAC/GM TO DO IS PAY FOR MY TRANSMISSION REPAIR CAUSED BY THEIR FAULTY PART. *TR