Transmission Solenoid problems of the 2007 Saturn Outlook

My husband had left to take our kids to school on March 8, 2013. He said when he pulled out of the drive way it would not shift out of 1st gear. It would only go about 15 mph. We were planning to take this vehicle on a weekend trip to the mountains (4 hour drive one way). He turned around and came home to get his vehicle to take the kids to school. We decided it was not a good idea to try taking the Saturn to the mountains. The check engine light came on and we went to advanced auto parts to have them check it. It said that the transmission shift solenoid was faulty. The check engine light went off on the following Monday. We were hoping it was just a fluke. Less than 2 weeks later, March 20, 2013 I was driving the Saturn on my lunch break and when I went to accelerate at a traffic light (when the light turned green) it would not shift up. And was stuck in 1st gear. Luckily I navigated across the double lane traffic into a parking area and turned the vehicle off for a minute and started it back and then it did fine. The check engine light also came on and we contacted a gm dealer that had worked on it just months before for an oil leak and they wanted to look at it the very next day. Once they looked at it they said the transmission shift module was faulty and needed to be replaced and that it would cost $1237. 00. My Saturn only has 85,000 miles on it. It should not be having transmission problems. The warranty just went out on it on July 31, 2012, so of course gm will not cover the repair. I have seen that this problem is happening alot with this particular vehicle. It is only a matter of time before someone gets seriously injured or killed. Thankfully both times it has happened with our vehicle we have been in light traffic although it is a very scary situation when it does happen.

While traveling home from a vacation, made a brief stop, once the car reached 35 mph the transmission slipped and we lost all ability to accelerate. Engine rpms would increase with no acceleration, engine temperature spiked. Coasted to a stop on side of road and checked fluid levels. After restarting, had lost 3rd, 5th and reverse. Drove car 10 miles in 2nd gear to only repair shop in 50 mile radius. Mechanic hoped for bad solenoid but unfortunately the entire transmission was damaged. 3 months out of warranty, gm will not assist financially. New gm transmission replaced in vehicle $3200 later.

In June of 2011 my Saturn suddenly started sticking in 2nd gear on an interstate highway. There were 37000 miles n this vehicle. I was able to exit and make it to a gm dealership where the vehicle was diagnosed with a broken 3-5wave plate which was repaired under warranty. Now 15 months later I was driving at 45 miles per hour and the vehicle suddenly revved to 5000rpm and slowed to about 10 miles per hour. The vehicle was towed to a gm dealership and the control module and solenoid valve need replacement. There are now 52500 miles on this vehicle. This is a known problem and gm has made no plan to recall the vehicle for transmission issues.