NHTSA Complaint #11021713 — 2011 BUICK REGAL

I'M WRITING ABOUT A CONCERN I HAVE REGARDING THE TRANSMISSION DESIGN FOR THE 2011 BUICK REGAL. I PURCHASED MY CAR FROM A REPUTABLE DEALER WITH A CLEAN CAR FAX IN 2014. THE CAR HAD ROUGHLY 45,000 MILES ON IT, AND EVERY BIT OF MAINTENANCE HAS BEEN PERFORMED AT THE APPROPRIATE INTERVALS SINCE I PURCHASED IT 3.5 YEARS AGO. DURING THE TIME THAT I'VE OWNED MY CAR, I HAVE PUT AN ADDITIONAL 30,000 MILES ON IT TOTAL. I HAVEN'T DRIVEN IT ON THE HIGHWAY SINCE JULY OF 2015, AND MY TRIPS ARE SHORTER THAN 4 MILES ONE WAY. ON MY WAY TO WORK A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, MY TRANSMISSION COMPLETELY FAILED WITHOUT WARNING. I WAS ALMOST BROADSIDED TWICE, TURNING LEFT AROUND A ROUNDABOUT. I WAS DRIVING ROUGHLY 30MPH, AND WITHOUT WARNING IT LOST POWER. THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT FLASHED, AND THE CAR STALLED TRYING TO SWITCH GEARS AS I ACCELERATED. WHEN I WENT TO PUT IT IN PARK, IT WILL SLIDE INTO REVERSE BUT DOESN'T MOVE IN ANY DIRECTION. I WAS FORCED TO PUSH IT UPHILL IN A PARKING GARAGE, SO MY TOW TRUCK DRIVER COULD COME AND TOW IT TO MY MECHANIC. I HAD IT TOWED TO MY MECHANIC, WHO INFORMED ME THAT THIS DESIGN HAS A FATAL DESIGN FLAW CAUSING THE TRANSMISSION TO FAIL. THE ENCLAVE HAS BEEN RECALLED AS WELL FOR EXACT SAME FAILURE. I THEN GOT A SECOND OPINION FROM HIS TRANSMISSION EXPERT, WHO WAS DUMBFOUNDED I WAS NEEDING TO REPLACE A TRANSMISSION IN A CAR THAT HAS ACCUMULATED 30,000 MILES TOTAL IN 4 YEARS TIME. BOTH MY MECHANIC AND MY TRANSMISSION EXPERT INFORMED ME THAT THE ENCLAVE HAD BEEN RECALLED FOR THE EXACT SAME FAILURE, AND THEY PERSONALLY KNEW OF BUICK REGAL OWNERS WHO HAD THEIR TRANSMISSIONS FAIL WITHOUT WARNING. IF I HAD BEEN GOING FASTER THAN 30MPH, OR BEEN ON THE HIGHWAY, IT COULD HAVE BEEN FATAL! I SPOKE WITH MY ATTORNEY, WHO ADVISED ME TO FILE COMPLAINTS WITH BUICK, THE FTC, AND THE NHTSA.