NHTSA Complaint #11102847 — 2009 SATURN AURA

EXPERIENCED COMPLETE LOSS OF REVERSE GEAR AND FORWARD GEARS ARE SLIPPING, AND OR NOT ENGAGING SO THAT ENGINE RPMS ARE WELL ABOVE NORMAL BEFORE LUNGING INTO HIGHER GEAR AND/OR NOT SHIFTING AT ALL. DIFFICULT TO REACH SPEEDS ABOVE 35 MPH. PROBLEM FIRST OCCURRED TWO DAYS PRIOR AND AFTER SITTING OVERNIGHT, SEEMED TO RETURN TO NORMAL OPERATION. AFTER PARKING IN ANGLE PARKING SPOT WITH NOSE FORWARD, THE CAR WOULD NOT REVERSE OUT OF PARKING SPOT. I HAD ASSISTANCE TOWING AURA OUT OF PARKING SPOT, AND WAS ABLE TO DRIVE FORWARD AT LOW SPEED TO TRANSMISSION SHOP. DIAGNOSIS WAS FAILURE OF UPPER AND REVERSE GEARS REQUIRED TRANSMISSION REBUILD WITH SUSPECTED FAILURE OF WAVE PLATE. OBTAINED INFORMATION ON GM SPECIAL COVERAGE ADJUSTMENT #14404 - TRANSMISSION CLUTCH WAVE PLATE (MAR 3, 2015) WHICH EXTENDED WARRANTY TO 10 YRS/120,000 MI. MY 09 SATURN AURA IS WITHIN 10 YR PERIOD HAVING PURCHASED IN JANUARY 2010, AND HAS APPROX 95K MILES. I CONTACTED GM CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE AND WAS TOLD THAT MY SATURN AURA IS NOT COVERED BASED ON THE FACT THAT ACCORDING TO MY VIN, I HAVE A MH8 6-SPD TRANSMISSION, AND THE WARRANTY APPLIES ONLY TO "OTHER" 6-SPD TRANSMISSIONS . . . EVEN THOUGH THE TRANSMISSION FAILURE IS FOR THE EXACT SAME ISSUE IDENTIFIED IN THE SPECIAL COVERAGE ADJUSTMENT, OR SPECIFICALLY THAT THE 6 SPEED FWD AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION MAY EXPERIENCE A CRACKED OR FRACTURED WAVE PLATE, RESULTING IN A LOSS OF 3RD, 5TH, AND REVERSE GEARS.