Shifter cable broken behind retaining bracket vehicle rolls in park intermittently vehicle wont start in park lots of recalls online for shifter cable on this saturn model and many other gm models gm has not issued a recall (yet) for this vehicle.
2008 Saturn Aura transmission complaints
Page 5 of 5: complaints 101 to 124 of 124, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Transmission will not shift in low gear.....recurring problem since new....almost hit in accident due to no shifting...then suddenly shifts like no problem.....
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 saturn aura. The contact stated that he noticed that he could take the key our of the ignition without the vehicle being secured in park. The contact tried to start the vehicle but the vehicle would not start because the vehicle was not secured in park. The vehicle was not taken for inspection. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The failure mileage was 40,000. Updated 09/26/12
Automatic transmission shift cable broke when moving from park into reverse. Cable had corroded and broke near the point of connection to the transmission in front of the firewall. Car rolled backwards and would not restart because transmission was no longer in park and could not be shifted. 2008 saturn aura 3.5l with 4 speed transmission with problems very similar to the federal safety agency action number : ea11015. Saturn would not cover repairs under warranty and repairs cost $307.72. If breakage had occurred somewhere other than a parking lot it could have been very dangerous with no control or ability to move out of traffic or harm's way. Should not have worn out and broken with 40,000 miles and 2 years old.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 saturn aura. The contact stated that when the gear shifter was placed into park with the brake pedal engaged, the transmission failed to recognize that is was in park. The failure recurred intermittently and became progressively worse. An authorized dealer was notified of the defect. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was also made aware of the problem. There was an open concurrent investigation under the federal safety agency action number ea11015 (power train: automatic transmission: gear position indication (prndl) that could possibly have been associated with the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 45,000. Updated 7/18/12
I cannot consistently get the car into park. The prndl indicates I'm in park, but the car keeps rolling. I believe that this is the same issue as campaign id #: ea11015.
Placed car in park, car doors did not unlock and key could not be removed from the transmission. Other symptoms included selecting reverse and gear shift stayed in neutral, car shut down ok and would not re-start. The problem is intermittent but would return at random intervals. Took the car to a local garage and nothing was found. The problem seemed to clear up by repeatedly cycling the shift selector. The last time was this weekend when the parking brake was used to stop the car from rolling in the garage after the console indicator and position indicated park. Took the car to the chevy dealer today and the shift cable and bracket were replaced. Seems to be ok now. Filed this report because the chevy 1-800 line said no help because the car was out of the VIN number range -- was told that another aura out of the VIN range on the service bulletin was towed in for the same problem. The range gm has identified is apparently too narrow and more cars are involved than gm acknowledges. It was my fault this wasn't addressed sooner -- but just couldn't find time or resources to deal with it after the local garage found nothing.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 saturn aura. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, red fluid was leaking from the vehicle. The contact checked the transmission reservoir and noticed that there was no transmission fluid in the vehicle. The contact called the manufacturer who suggested that the contact take the vehicle to a dealer. The contact took the vehicle to a dealer where it was discovered that transmission fluid was leaking from the faulty trans cooler lines. The dealer replaced both trans cooler lines. The failure mileage was 47,942.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 saturn aura xe. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle and shifting into reverse, the vehicle rolled back and remained locked in reverse. The shifter then went limp when moved to drive and then hit a curb. The contact turned the ignition off and tired to restart it again, but with no success. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The dealer informed the consumer, the shifter cable broke from the gear box. The new cable was the same as the failed part. Failure mileage was approximately 7,492 updated 03/23/12 *bf updated 05/11/12
This vehicle is a major safety concern for me. This car started jerking out of nowhere when I was on my way home from work. The other major problem it has is that if I have the car in one gear it forces itself to drive in another gear. I try to switch gears and that became almost impossible to do. This car did not switch to the correct gear when I was driving amidst traffic. A car could have easily toppled me over with this car not wanting to drive when I know that it is in the right gear. Most every other saturn has had plenty of issues in regards to recalls. How this car seems to escape the same fate is beyond me. I never thought that I would be posting anything negative about my car but this needs to be brought to attention. This car is more of a safety issue than any other car I have previously owned.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 saturn aura. While driving in reverse approximately 5 MPH, the contact attempted to shift the gear selector into drive; however the shifter failed to respond and remained in reverse. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer who stated the transmission shifter cable fractured. There was an open investigation associated with the federal safety agency action number ea11015 (power train: automatic transmission: gear position indication; prndl). The vehicle was in the process of being repaired at the owner's expense. The manufacturer was notified of the transmission malfunction. The approximate failure mileage was 44,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 saturn aura. The contact stated that the driver shifted the vehicle into park and exited. Upon exiting, the vehicle rolled backward. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and the contact was informed that the shift cable fractured. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure and the current mileages were 43,689.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 saturn aura. While stopped with the gear in drive and the brake pedal depressed, the contact switched the gear to park and noticed that the gear would not engage in park. The failure recurred intermittently and more often when the weather was warm. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic. There was an investigation under the federal safety agency action number: ea11015 (power train: automatic transmission: park/neutral start switch power train:automatic transmission:lever and linkage:floor shift power train: automatic transmission: gear position indication (prndl) that could possibly have been related to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.
I came to a complete stop, the car was in drive. I accelerated and my car drove backwards, in reverse. I was frightened and deeply concerned. I took my car to the dealership for repair, no repair was done on this serious problem. The work order states, they could not duplicate concern.
I pulled into a parking space, put my car into park(2008 saturn aura)turned the key off took the key out of the ignition and exited the vehicle, the car started rolling backwards as I had parked on a slight hill, the car rolled backwards and almost knocked me down as I had not closed the door yet. The car rolled approx 15-20 feet before I could re-entered the vehicle and apply the parking brake. I tried to restart the car as it was now part way into the street and blocking the sidewalk. The car would not restart, the shift lever was in the park position. When I shifted the shift lever from park down to drive and back to park it felt like it was not engaging all the way into the park position, just before the lever got to the park position there was a little resistance and it felt like something was making it not go all the way into park even though the selector was at the park point in the column. I opened the hood and looked around & noticed the shift cable casing just before the mounting bracket was broken. I was able to push the rod by the mounting bracket where it connects to the transmission slightly and heard a click noise. I re-entered the vehicle and it started it as it was now engaged fully into park. I put the car into drive and drove it 4 blocks to my house and parked it in my driveway where I shut it off, applied the parking brake, opened the hook and manually pushed the rod into the park position. I feel that the 2008 saturn aura should be recalled as this is a highly dangerous condition and I've been reading that many people have been having this exact same problem with many different year saturn aura's. I have found the 2009 aura's have a recall. Why not 2008? I feel that every saturn with this style shift cable should be recalled and cable replaced ! Not to mention, there should be a redesigning of this cable so this doesn't happen again.
Driving into gas station car would not go into any gear... Towed it to house.....found out that the transmission shift cable broken...saturn customer service very helpful...car still under power train warranty. Hope they can get it fixed. Seems to be happening to everyone with a 2007-2009 saturn aura.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 saturn aura. The contact stated that the gear selector was shifted into the park position and the engine was turned off. When the contact exited the vehicle, it began to roll. The contact reentered the vehicle with caution and engaged the emergency brake to stop the it. The engine failed to restart until the gear was shifted into neutral, where it was started and resumed as normal. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who stated that the shift linkage was faulty. There was a recall on the 2009 model year associated with the federal safety agency campaign id number 09v073000 (power train: automatic transmission: lever and linkage: column shift). The contact experienced a similar failure as mentioned in the recall. The repair was not covered in the service warranty and the vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 71,000.
Transmission shift cable 2008 saturn aura xe: the trans. Shift cable in my 2008 saturn aura with 47,305 miles had to be replaced. The car would not start, I tried to have a passerby jump the vehicle because initially I thought maybe it was the battery. When he lifted the hood and began to place the cables on the battery the vehicle rolled forward almost knocking him down. Luckily I was in the car and felt the vehicle move and placed my foot on the brake pushing on the shifter to the position for park believing that maybe in error I hadn't had the vehicle in park but it was in park already - I then applied the emergency brake. When the tow truck driver came to tow the vehicle I explained I couldn't get the vehicle into park and that it had moved almost running over someone. He sat in the vehicle and put it in neutral and started the car stating that it was in neutral safety mode because the transmission shift cable was stretched or broken. The cable has been repaired by me and wasn't covered under a recall or warranty.
I have a 2008 saturn aura. The car was parked with nobody inside it and the, keys removed, in a parking lot with a very slight incline. While my wife was inside a store the vehicle rolled backward 100 feet only to be stopped by a parking block. The prndl still showed the vehicle as being in park.
I have a 2008 saturn aura. Car fails to engage in park 75% of the time, especially when the transmission is hot. Does not allow car to auto-unlock, not be able to be restarted unless shifted to neutral, causes car to roll unless emergency brake is engaged........dealer claims shifter cable is cracked and is charging $360 to replace.......I noticed a recall for almost this exact same problem on the 2009 aura....should this model year be included also?
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 saturn aura. The contact stated the vehicle continued to roll forward after shifting into park gear. In order to stop the vehicle, the contact engaged the parking brake. The contact also stated she was unable to remove the key from the ignition. The vehicle was examined by an independent mechanic who stated that the shifter cable was fractured. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered to cover half of the expenses. The failure and current mileages were 56,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 saturn aura. The contact stated the vehicle would not start due to the gear shift that was stuck in reverse. While driving in reverse out of a parking space the gear shift would not shift back into park or drive it remained in reverse. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who stated that they were researching the warranty with the general motors manufacturer to confirm if the vehicle could be repaired under the warranty. There are no related recalls for this year make and model vehicle. The contact did not call the manufacturer. The failure mileage 43,287.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 saturn aura. The contact was reversing approximately 2 MPH into a parking space when the vehicle abnormally accelerated forward. Immediately, the gear was moved from reverse' into park and then the vehicle rolled forward without warning. The contact turned the engine off and removed the ignition key causing the vehicle to stop. The engine would not restart. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing. The technician informed the contact that the shift cable control failed. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated there was a manufacturer's recall related to the failure. The reference number was unknown. The failure mileage was 57,782. Updated 11/16/10.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 saturn aura. The contact stated while driving at approximately 15 MPH, the vehicle would intermittently exhibit abnormal shaking and jerking. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The failure persisted. The contact also stated that while driving at approximately 55 MPH, the engine would begin to rev unusually loud without warrant. The vehicle was not taken in to be examined for the failure. The failure mileage was 2,000 and the current mileage was 25,000.
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