NHTSA Complaint #10597439 — 2008 SATURN AURA

DURING THE WINTER OF 2013 I STARTED NOTICING MY DOORS WEREN'T ALWAYS LOCKING AUTOMATICALLY WHEN SHIFTING FROM PARK INTO DRIVE AS THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO. THEN I HAD AN INCIDENT IN WHICH I PARKED MY CAR AT A MALL AND COULDN'T RESTART (BECAUSE IT WAS STUCK IN GEAR) IT BUT AFTER TRYING TO START THE IGNITION AND SWITCHING GEARS I WAS ABLE TO START IT AGAIN AFTER A FEW MINUTES. THESE EVENTS SOON LEAD UP TO MY SHIFTER MALFUNCTIONING AND THE CAR GETTING STUCK IN DRIVE WHILE I WAS TRYING TO PARK IT ON A CITY STREET. I WAS NO LONGER ABLE TO SHIFT GEARS AND ONCE TURNING THE CAR OFF I COULD NOT RESTART IT. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH, I FOUND OUT ABOUT THE RECALL INVOLVING THE SHIFTER CABLE TAB HOWEVER, I WAS NEVER NOTIFIED BY GM. IN FACT, WHEN I CONTACTED GM I WAS TOLD THAT MY VIN WAS NOT APART OF THIS RECALL. BOTH THE DEALER AND GM SAID I WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR THE REPLACEMENT EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A KNOWN FACT THAT THERE WERE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF CARS THAT HAD THIS SAME PROBLEM. EVENTUALLY THE DEALER TOLD ME THAT THERE WAS A "LOOPHOLE" THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM TO REPLACE THE PART FREE OF CHARGE DUE TO THIS RECALL. THE FACT THAT I WASN'T NOTIFIED AND INITIALLY GIVEN A HARD TIME BY GM IS VERY ALARMING. *TR