NHTSA Complaint #10435996 — 2007 SATURN AURA

STARTING IN MID-OCTOBER, MY 2007 SATURN AURA BEGAN SHOWING SIGNS THAT THE SHIFT LEVER WAS NOT WORKING PROPERLY. MY CAR WOULD NOT ENGAGE IN PARK WHEN THE LEVER INDICATED IT WAS IN PARK. THE CAR WOULD ACTUALLY DRIFT FORWARD AS IF IT WAS IN NEUTRAL. I CALLED THE NEAREST SATURN DEALER AND WAS TOLD TO TAKE THE CAR TO A CHEVY DEALER IN CASE IT WAS COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. THE CHEVY DEALER HAD MY CAR FOR OVER A WEEK TO DIAGNOSE AND FIX THE PROBLEM. THEY DETERMINED THAT THE SHIFTER NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AND THAT IT WOULD NOT BE COVERED. THEY HAD TO ORDER THE PART AND WAIT FOR IT - IN THE MEANTIME, I WAS PAYING FOR A RENTAL CAR. AFTER THE SHIFTER WAS REPLACED, THE CAR SHOWED THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM THE VERY NEXT DAY AFTER I PICKED IT UP. THIS TIME, THE CAR NOT ONLY DID NOT ENGAGE IN PARK PROPERLY, BUT IT WOULD NOT START AGAIN WHEN IT WAS IN PARK. THE CAR DID START IN NEUTRAL. I TOOK IT BACK TO THE CHEVY DEALER AND THEY TIGHTENED A CABLE AT NO CHARGE. THE DAY I PICKED IT UP, I DROVE IT STRAIGHT TO WORK AND IT WOULD NOT ENGAGE IN PARK, AND IT WOULD NOT START IN PARK OR NEUTRAL. MY CAR HAD TO BE TOWED FROM WORK. FINALLY, THE CHEVY DEALER REPLACED THE SHIFTER CABLE THAT WAS NOTED TO BE A PROBLEM ON THIS WEBSITE. THIS HAPPENED THE DAY AFTER I FORWARDED THE LINK ABOUT THIS PROBLEM TO THE DEALER. THE CABLE WAS REPLACED AT NO CHARGE; HOWEVER, I THINK I PAID FOR A NEW SHIFTER UNNECESSARILY CONSIDERING THE REPLACEMENT OF THE SHIFTER DID NOT IMPROVE THE PROBLEM. *TR