The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated that while coming to a stoplight, the transmission failed to shift properly, and the vehicle jerked. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized with the power steering warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 124,000.
Saturn Aura transmission failure problems
38 of the 1,440 owner complaints about the Saturn Aura describe complete transmission failure, most of them for the 2007 model year.
- owner complaints
- 38
- worst model year
- 2007
- typical repair cost reported
- $3,800
- typical mileage
- 90,000
Is there a fix? There are 3 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Slipping 7Stalling 6Jerking 4Check engine light 4Won't shift 3Won't start 2Door locks 2
Trouble codes mentioned
P0716 1P0700 1
What owners say
Power steering intermittently goes out. Works after restarting vehicle. Had scheduled appointment on dec 27th to fix power steering issue. Was under recall issued warranty. Missed appointment after transmission went out. Was diagnosed bu mechanic who fixed transmission. Took it to gm dealership. Diagnosed it with same problem. Refused to honor warranty because it expired on the 31st. And was diagnosed a week later. Even though had said issue before it expired and confirmation emails to prove it.
I have a 2009 saturn aura, this vehicle was not recalled previously for the transmission issue, but I find now the transmission is going out on my car. It is only 10 years old and was wondering if somehow it was missed or something. It is slipping in the transmission and I was told that I would have to have a new transmission. It is worse in reverse. My car is now parked as I do not want to get out somewhere and have the transmission quit completely. I have never had a transmission go out this quick in a vehicle. There was a previous recall and I was wondering if somehow my car was missed or if something happened. Thank you
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 saturn aura. While driving 30 MPH, the vehicle lost power while making a left turn as the accelerator pedal was depressed. In addition, the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The contact pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road, turned off and restarted the vehicle, and drove home. The vehicle was later towed to apple chevrolet (8585 w 159th st, tinley park, il 60487, (708) 429-3000) where it was diagnosed that there was transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 83,000.
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.
When I bought the car last year the dealership said they installed brand new brakes but they where still squeaking so I just thought it was because of the new brakes but a month later my brakes and rotors and calipers were completely gone it costed me $1200 to replace them but then 2 months later again it started doing the same thing my brakes wore down completely so I asked my uncle to look at them and change them for me so he did and now my brakes are doing the same thing they grind very loud and squeak and I didn't buy no cheap brakes either they where top performance brakes another problem I had what's my control module in my transmission went out as I was driving on the high way my speedometer wasn't working and my car moved slowly and made a loud noise so I replaced it and it's working for now then my doors won't unlock I'll hit the unlock button in the car and the key chain but my back door on the drivers side does not unlock and my driver door does the same occasionally I have to pull the lock to unlock it and I've had my tires balance rotated and all that more than once but for some reason my front tires wear down fast I've went through 2 sets of front tires but my back tires are still good
35r waved plate broke and damaged transmission internal components. Also damaged teams case. Indepenant shop suggested I take thi car to gm dealer as this is happening on other vehicles with 6 speed electronic controlled transmissions. Gm dealer told me there was a service action against this transmission with a 6 cylinder engine, but my car has a 4 cylinder engine and gm could not offer any assistance.. Gm customer service representative suggested I contact the federal safety agency with my concern of defective transmission in vehicle. My car has 41883 miles at time of transmission replacement. When waved plate shattered, I was driving on I-94 west bound at 55 MPH, causing the vehicle into lump mode as I braked for traffic. I was fortunate that I was not hit by the pick up truck behind me as he changed lanes to pass.. Car was repaired at gordon chevrolet in garden city, mi 48135. Customer number 2440373, invoice number 21573.
My transmission went out suddenly on the tex-express toll road in dallas, going 75 MPH (the posted speed limit) on a narrow 2 lane overpass in the dark hours of the morning. There were previously no mechanical problems then suddenly I was going about 45 miles an hour. I managed to get off the overpass without an accident but my car would not shift to higher gears and upon parking it I discovered it wouldn't go in reverse either. My mechanic said that the wave plate broke and tore out the rest of the transmission. Other gm cars from my year had their wave plates part of a voluntary recall, however my VIN is not listed as an affected unit. I'm concerned the problem may be more wide spread than originally reported.
While driving the car at all speeds, the car jumps in and out of gears while in drive. I have a 30 mile drive to work, and on average this happens 8 times. I have had my car to the dealership numerous times since I purchased the car new in 2008. Each time they take it for a test drive, and then tell me that they cannot reproduce the situation. Yet I take the car home, and not a mile down the road, it will happen to me. I now have just 60,000 miles on the car, and I'm hoping that I won't have to purchase a new transmission after numerous trip to the dealerships. While it was under warranty.
This car has been a bust since the warranty expired. The transmission went out a year ago and was of course a recall for many other auras except our specific one. Had that replaced, now its the timing chain, which is also a common complaint of the aura yet there is no recall. The car misfires, shakes violently when in idle and when driving. It has a very hard shift. Its very hard to accelerate and the rpms shoot up. It also stalls and it sometimes just shuts off. Every light in the vehicle is on, check engine, stabilty, etc. It another expensive repair thats worth more than half the car.
Related recalls
Power train: automatic transmission
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) notified the agency on April 29, 2014, that they are recalling 56,214 model year 2007 and 2008 Saturn Aura vehicles. On May 22, 2014, GM increased the recall to include an additional 1,074,899 model year 2004-2008 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles manufactured from May 16, 2003, through October 5, 2007, model year 2004-2007 Malibu Maxx vehicles manufactured from June 25, 2003, through April 5, 2007, and model year 2005-2008 Pontiac G6 vehicles manufactured from May 26, 2004, through September 28, 2007, and equipped with 4-speed transmissions. The total number vehicles being recalled is now 1,131,113.
- Risk
- If the transmission shift cable fractures while the vehicle is being driven, the transmission gear selection may not match the indicated gear and the vehicle may move in an unintended or unexpected direction, increasing the risk of a crash. Furthermore, when the driver goes to stop and park the vehicle, despite selecting the PARK position, the transmission may not be in PARK. If the vehicle is not in the "PARK" position there is a risk the vehicle will roll away as the driver and other occupants exit the vehicle or anytime thereafter. A vehicle rollaway increases the risk of injury to exiting occupants and bystanders.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and GM dealers will replace the shift cable assembly and mounting bracket, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact General Motors at 1‑800‑553‑6000. GM's number for this recall is 14152.
Recall number 14V224000 · Recall details
Power train: automatic transmission: gear position indication (PRNDL)
- What is wrong
- General Motors (GM) is recalling certain model year 2007-2010 Saturn Aura and model year 2008-2010 Chevrolet Malibu and Pontiac G6 vehicles, equipped with a 4-speed automatic transmission. On these vehicles, the tabs on the transmission shift cable end may fracture and separate.
- Risk
- If the tabs were to fracture and separate, the shift lever and the actual position of the transmission gear may not match. The driver would be able to move the shifter to 'PARK' and remove the ignition key, but the transmission gear may not be in 'PARK.' The vehicle may not be able to be restarted and the vehicle could roll away after the driver has exited the vehicle, resulting in a possible crash without prior warning.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will install a retainer over the cable end or replace the shift cable as necessary. This service will be performed free of charge. Notification to owners began on on November 9, 2012. Owners were instructed to not bring their vehicles for repair until January 2013. Owners may contact General Motors at 1‑800‑521‑7300.
Recall number 12V460000 · Recall details
Power train: automatic transmission: lever and linkage: column shift
- What is wrong
- General motors is recalling 276,729 my 2009 buick enclave, chevrolet cobalt, hhr, malibu, traverse, gmc acadia, pontiac g5, g6 and saturn aura and outlook passenger vehicles. These vehicles fail to comply with federal motor vehicles safety standard 102, "transmission shift position sequence, starter interlock, and transmission braking effect", and fmvss 114, "theft protection and rollaway prevention". On some of these vehicles, the transmission shift cable adjustment clip may not be fully engaged. If the clip is not fully engaged, the shift lever and the actual position of the transmission gear may not match. With this condition, the drive could move the shifter to "park" and remove the ignition key, but the transmission gear may not be in "park".
- Risk
- The driver may not be able to restart the vehicle and the vehicle could roll away after the driver has exited the vehicle, resulting in a possible crash without prior warning.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect and ensure that the shift cable adjustment clip is fully engaged. In the event that the clip does not engage, the shift cable will be replaced free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on or before march 24, 2009. Owners may contact buick at 1‑866‑608‑8080, chevrolet at 1‑800‑630‑2438, gmc at 1‑866‑996‑9463, pontiac at 1‑800‑620‑7668 and saturn at 1‑800‑972‑8876 or at www.gmownercenter.com.
Recall number 09V073000 · Recall details
Questions about the Saturn Aura transmission failure
Which Saturn Aura years have complete transmission failure problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2007 (19 complaints), 2009 (11 complaints) and 2008 (8 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix complete transmission failure on the Saturn Aura?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $3,800 (median of 10 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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