general problems of the 2008 Saturn Outlook - part 1

Transmission is failing. Reverse is slipping. Low torque trying back up inclines. Known problem with 2008 acadia, enclave, traverse & Outlook per transmission shop who test drove and scanned. No code via dashboard, but scan tools and professional diagnostics verify failure. Techem has been replaced in February 2019, by gm service @ owners expense when forward drive failed.

This has been a big problem for all Saturn owners. The transmissions are always going out in them. This transmission is starting to slip. I’m surprised there is no recalls. Very disappointed.

Dear NHTSA, please first refer to this known issue: NHTSA id number: 10126145 manufacturer communication number: gcus-9-2635 14404b � special coverage. Bulletin. This was an offer from gm to repair this known defect if it occured either before 120k miles or 10 years. My wife's 2008 Saturn Outlook is used for kid transportation and local trips mostly so she never puts on that much mileage. This vehicle went into service in or around 10/2008. On or around March 1, 2019 her Outlook began to experience issues consistent with this gm TSB, failure of the 35r wave plate, a know issue documented by gm. The thing would jerk and shake in reverse, would either fail to shift into 3rd or 5th or if it did, whine and show no acceleration in the least. It happened about 10 times, on local roads and on the highway, very dangerous. I took the vehicle in to our local chevy dealer and was told that the transmission was shot, only 67k miles and it needed to be replaced. I asked the service writer about having the transmission repaired rather than replaced. He really recommended a factory rebuilt unit. We were literally 120 days, 4 months outside of the warranty coverage period on this issue. Saturn/gm would not budge and told me that at some point I had to own the responsibility of the repair! really? on a know issue that was outlined in the TSB as, "upon failure only" should I bring my vehicle in for repair. How is this fair? I have no idea what I expect from the NHTSA, but to simply know that gm should have honored the repair or replacement, it was only four months past the cut off and it is a know issue. Thanks for listening, I do plan to file a small claims case and contact any and all consumer protection agencies about this matter. (xxxxx) redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

In my Saturn Outlook. The transmission is faulty. Ive talked to many people who have experienced the same issues with Saturn Outlook. Also talk to service managers at a couple different gm dealerships. To which they have all said that the transmission is those vehicles are very bad designed and are not built to last. They have replaced a bunch of these transmissions. Problem : starting out on take off. The transmission will hesitate and jerk the car. Potentially putting you and others in a bad situation if there are other vehicles. And once you are going it will do the same thing. To me its a serious issue that gm shoupd address and fix.

After pulling into my driveway and putting my car in park, I turned the car off and took the key out of ignition. As I took my foot off the brake, the car immediately began to roll backwards and I slammed on the brakes. I almost hit my son who had already exited the vehicle. I attempted to restart the car but it would not start. The car appeared to be in park but would roll back as soon as I took my foot off the brake. I could remove the key from the ignition. The door locks did not unlock automatically as they usually do. I engaged the emergency brake in order to keep the car from rolling. The shift cable needed replaced due to a fracture of the locking tabs. There has been a similar recall for different years and models see gm recall no. 12106.

While the vehicle was in motion on the freeway in the carpool lane, going approximately 70 miles per hour, all of a sudden I heard the engines rpms sounding louder than supposed to be. I looked down at my dashboard and they were at 7000 rpm. The accelerator pedal felt like it was no longer accelerating and the check engine light was on. Previous to this, the check engine light had never come on. I took my foot off the accelerator pedal and depressed it again and only the rpms went up and the vehicle did not accelerate. At this point, I realized I had no acceleration pedal control, while in the carpool lane, so as so as safely possible, I merged over to the freeway shoulder. I came to a complete stop on the shoulder, then began to accelerate and realized the vehicle would only go as fast as 20mphs before taking the rpms over 5000. I completely stopped the vehicle again on the shoulder before attempting to move it again. And was met with the same response. I realized, at this point, the transmission is the problem. I shifted through each gear to see if I had them, park reverse neutral drive, and I had them. I proceeded to drive on the shoulder and the vehicle would not shift past 2nd gear and I could not comfortably drive faster than 41mph. I had to get the vehicle towed 75 miles back to my home.

Having trouble with my transmission it will not shift it is tanking my rpm's past 6 there was a recall for this but I can't fine it.

Bought from sterling motors in watertown sd, in 2017. Trade in was 2000, plus 500 dollars cash, for a 2008 Saturn Outlook xr awd. Loan was for 10000 after the 2500 trade/payment. Had 160000 miles now has 180000. Within less of a week check engine light comes on, stabilitrac, service air bag, timing chain, traction control all came on. As of 2018 we have replaced all four tires, brakes. Struts, rotors, tie rods, battery, co2 sensor, thermostat, and a few other things. It still needs power steering pump, timing chain fix, cv joints replaced and who knows what else. I've complained to the dealer and he told me I can not trade back, and when we bought it he said it passed the suspection test and claimed nothing was wrong with it. He had to top of the power steering fluid as it was whining and low, said that it was because they flushed it. So now upon turning it has this weird rubbing vibration and loud sound, it shakes at all speeds, it loses power while driving stutters at low speeds, passenger window button don't work, loud noises when idling, whining noise from power steering either just from stationary or driving. It takes forever to pass someone as it almost stalls with the gas pedal all the way to the floor. It has a weird chemical smell when using heater. This Saturn Outlook is unreliable, very unsafe even after fixing what I had already fixed. I have an invoice for the repairs from watertown Ford dealership in south dakota. Sterling motors will not help, said they could fix but I have to pay for parts and work. He sold me a lemon and he doesn't care about the safety or wellbeing of me, my children or others on the road. Talk to the loan place and all they said is I have an agreement to pay regardless if the car works or not. I'm currently 2 months behind. I can't afford another 700-3000 fix while paying 300 a month for a SUV that is unsafe to drive.

There was recall on the passenger side seat airbag the dealer supposedly fixed it but the code is back on #b0081 called dealer they said OH well the recall was fixed well if it was the code should not be back on for the same thing. Also there was a recall on the transmisson took it several times to dealer said nothing wrong then finally the solineds went out replaced them 1 month later the whole transmison went this was on a gm recall and I feel because I had complained several times before that gm should reimburse me the $5000 we had to pay to get a new transmison. The transmison went out while on the freeway and the airbag has been on wont go off.

Every time it rains my car get a large amount of water inside causing a musty smell and possible mold. I have to vacuum water from the battery area, in the trunk lift it up and vacuum out and leave it to dry out in sun when available. It causes my seat belts to become wet. The passenger side of the floor is wet as well as the back seat area floor. It cause the windows to continually fog up and the defroster doesn't work properly. When I press the gas there is a hesitant sometimes and I was told by a gm service tech that is the battery losing power causing that issue. This is ridiculous that we have been told more than once from the gm service techs that there is nothing that can be done and that corporate is aware of the issue. This is not only a safety issue but health as well. My family rides around in this car.

Was driving and noticed check engine light on, car would not go over 35mph, brought to a shop and it had transmission codes, shop drained fluid which was black and replaced with new fluid. Things seemed fine but then was using car in low gears and lost low gears. Started before christmas, car spent two weeks at shop trying to find out what was wrong. Lost low gears on January 23.

11/17/2016 replaced 2 transmission in two years within a few weeks after getting the car back from repair shop wife was driving to work on 12/16/16 the car stop running on the expressway. Dealer states throttle body was freezing do to condensation building up within throttle body stated this is common in these cars. Again got the car back after spending a ton more money getting it fixed had to take it right back engine light came back on within 20mi of driving. Don't waste you time buying these lemon cars.

During transit on interstate the engine stop providing power to the transmission and rpm decreased to 1,000 while decelerating the vehicle from 70mph to 45mph making it difficult to change lanes to pull off the road almost resulting in a fatal motor vehicle accident. After about 30-45 seconds the engin reengaged. 30 minutes later the vehicles system alerted that the transmission is overheating and recommended that we place the vehicle in nutral. This is the second time this has happened.

"takata recall" having problems with stabilitrak affecting the brakes,transmission,and engine while driving on city street car now will not start.

We bought the vehicle from gm, as we pulled off the lot and made it less then a half mile down the road and the engine light came on. The engine was running rought so we took it to a mechanic. They advised us it was a power train issue. We called gm and the requested us to bring the vehicle in so they're mechanics could look into the issue. Confirmed that we have a timing chain and a power train that needs to be fixed. Ultimately they refused to foot the bill and said they would only go in half. Now we are having to pay 1700. 00 to fix a vehicle before we even make our first car payment.

The 2 separate incidents occurred while driving for an extended time on the highway. The incident was around 5/13/15 traveling along route 81. While driving the transmission began to fail thus losing power and causing a safety concern on a busy highway. . The 2nd incident occurred on 7/31/15. While driving along route 695 in baltimore the water pump failed causing a loss of power and over heating the engine. Thus becoming a safety hazard on busy highway.

Transmission has completely went out due to waveplate.

While driving car, I noticed a vibration at 30 to 40 mph. A transmission shop said it was caused by transmission problem. I was informed there is a recall repair for this transmission, but no response from general motors.

Shutters in reverse shifts hard at times . Its a problem gm knows about but wont own up! they will see were that gets them. I only get fords the only reason is my wife liked it should have gm junk.

Driving when the car jerked and reved and then went squealing away. Going 40 mph and cars behind were not following closely. This happened for about 50 feet and then the car would not move - reverse and d and l would not work. We were in a city for an audition for college admission which was 400 miles from home. We had to have the vehicle towed to a nearby independent mechanic. The transmission is gone. Needed to rent a car to return home and will now have to fly back to pick up the vehicle again after paying $4400. We were lucky that nothing had happened when we were on the interstate or driving around the city and campus. Also, forunate that we made it to the audition. This is a family car usually carrying kids and animals. Besides the repair bills, the vehicle is junk because no one would want to buy this. The $4400 to bring the vehicle home and wait for the next thing to happen like the power steering issue. This car was a large purchase and very sad to know that you have to keep investmenting money in it or junk it. This needs to become widespread and definitely a recall before something tragic happens.

The day before when my wife was pulling out of the garage, we heard a popping sound. We just kind of gave each other a look, not sure what it was. She noticed some hesitation in acceleration that day. 2 days later, while she was driving the kids to school, the car started to make a revving sound, like what kids would make while pretending to drive. Then when she turned and tried to accelerate, the engine rpm's would go up but the car wouldn't move. She turned it off and then back on and limped home. Tried to reverse into garage but the car wouldn't go in reverse. Now it's sitting on the street in front of the house.

I have a 2008 Saturn Outlook awd vehicle, I began having problems with my vehicle's engine light being on (after replacing my factory supplied gas cap which had broken with a generic one) and the vehicle's acceleration became sluggish and slow in response. On 22 Jan 2015 I drove my vehicle (veh) about 1/2 mile, stopped at a store, pulled into a parking spot, returned to my veh starting it up and trying to place the veh in reverse to no avail. I placed the gear shifter in park, tried reverse again and nothing. Each time I tried to place the veh in reverse and apply the gas I would only hear the revving of the veh's engine. I could put the veh in drive and move forward however, my veh's tires were against the sidewalk (curb). I was able to rock the veh to an angle, drive over the sidewalk and drive to my house and park the vehicle. After having the vehicle towed to the repair shop, I learned that a part known as the: 3, 5, reverse wave plate had gone bad and it would cost $2500 to repair (not including the parts). As I searched on-line (GMC, NHTSA. Gov, and other internet forums) I learned that this was not an isolated event. I read reports of other 2007, 2008, Outlook, acadia, and traverse vehicles (all GMC) all having experienced the same problem. Time after time the malfunction involved no negligence on behalf of the veh driver, merely driving of the vehicle. In most of these incidents, the veh owner informed GMC about the problem and was offered no assistance with this issue. I have learned that this part costing approx. $20 has done millions of dollars in damage to countless veh. There has to be something that can be done about this issue, there are too many consumers affected by this faulty $20 part that breaks apart and damages your transmission. Please take a moment to look into this matter and try and get some monetary relief for these affected consumers.

The contact owns a 2008 Saturn Outlook. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated to shift gears and jerked forward. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and it was determined that the 35r wave plate failed. As a result, the entire transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.

Driving the vehicle at low speed coming to a stop, but the vehicle wave plate in transmission broke causing the vehicle stop could not move it. Had to get out of the vehicle to push it off the road. Gm has installed a bad wave plate in the transmissions for Saturn, GMC and chevy SUV. There are a number of complaints about the wave plate that have failed. Once the plate breaks the vehicle will not move, which could cause an accident.

October 16, 2014 transmission 6t75 awd failed. Into shop 10/17/14. Cost $4281. 45 for transmission plus $366. 53 for car rental. [have bills] transmission went into "limp" mode due to loss of all gears except 6th gear. March 2015 received letter from gm stating "this letter is intended to make you aware that some 2008 model year Saturn Outlook vehicles may experience a cracked or fractured wave plate, resulting in loss of 3rd, 5th and reverse gears. The affected vehicles are all equipped with a 6t70 or 6t75 6 speed automatic transmission and fwd or awd. " the letter went on to say "if you have paid for repairs for the condition described in this letter, please complete the enclosed reimbursement form and present it to your dealer with all required documents. If this is not convenient, you may mail the completed reimbursement form and all required documents to reimbursement department, po box 33170, detroit, mi 48232. I submitted two forms on April 11, 2015, one for the transmission [$4281. 45 & one for the rental car while Saturn being repaired [$366. 53]. May 22, 2015 both claims were rejected by gm. Reason given: "the vehicle is outside the time and mileage parameters of the customer service action program. To me this is clearly a safety issue. Traveling on the freeway and/or highway and suddenly loosing your transmission [momentum/vehicle speed] creates a safety hazard for both the driver and other vehicles in close proximately. There should not be "time and mileage parameter" that has been subjectively imposed by gm in order to avoid responsibility for poor engineering.

The contact owns a 2008 Saturn Outlook. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to reverse and would not accelerate over 20 mph. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 105,000.

The contact owns a 2008 Saturn Outlook. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate after a stop, the vehicle failed to shift into gear without warning. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing, who stated that a new transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 93,000.

The car was moving at approximately 55mph on rt168 chesapeake expressway and would not accelerate which almost resulted in a rear-end collision. Over the next few days we experienced hard shifts going into 3rd gear and 5th gear. On 6/25/2014, the car would not shift into reverse, so we took the car to the priority chevy. We were told the transmission was destroyed, and a new one would need to be installed. I researched the issue, and found many other drivers reporting the same issue. I also contacted a national transmission chain, and they also reported seeing an increased number of transmission issues with Saturn Outlooks, some of which almost resulted in crashes due to the hard shifting.

While driving truck started slipping really bad. Drove to a o'reilly and check the transmission fluid it was good. Thought maybe it was just a fluke, started the truck back up and it wouldn't go in reverse. Transmission done!.

The vehicle suddenly would not accelerate while attempting to merge with traffic. The vehicle revved up and would max out at about 25 mph. I was able to turn on my hazards and drive into a parking lot. I have been told the issue is with a faulty wave plate and it appears to be a very common issue.

Every since I have had a recall fixed. . . My lights flicker on the dash and I have been having problems with the transmission seeming to stay in one gear. It was told to me that it may be a timing chain issue but it is not a recall. I have read numerous complaints in regards to this issue from other Outlook owners.

Approximately April of 2014 we had the first incident: while driving on the highway, at speed, the transmission seemed to "pop" into neutral (no change of gearshift lever, just engine revved). As the truck no longer had power, we managed (thank goodness) to get the truck to the shoulder avoiding highway traffic. Moved gearshift lever to park and then back to drive with no change - engine just revved as in neutral. Turned the truck off and called for a tow. While waiting for same, we turned the truck back on, and transmission seemed to function normally. Brought the truck to both wind gap Chevrolet (place of purchase) as well as an independent aamco - verdict was the same: broken "wave plate" and a new transmission was needed at a cost of over $3000. 00. Problem continues to this date. When we referenced the endless online complaints of same, gm was unmoved, although the power train warranty was still in effect. Very dangerous - lose power at highway speed with multiple close calls!!!! headlights: headlights, both low and high beam, continually burn anywhere from minutes to days after being replaced. Switch assemblies have been replaced, cannot get low beams to illuminate at times, then no headlights at times. Very dangerous. Again, endless online complaints of the same issue. Sunroof: endless issues with the sunroof leaking and soaking the floorboards on both drivers and passenger sides. Taken to wind gap Chevrolet, told we need to have sunroof replaced. Again, endless online complaints of the same issue. Based online and on this NHTSA site: it seems that these are serious and dangerous issues with this vehicle!!!!! recent headlight recall on similar vehicles for the same issue. Why is this vehicle not recalled for transmission/power train and headlight issues!?!?.

I was driving my children to school when my power steering just stopped and I had to try and drive without it. I was told a month before it was the steering and pinion rack, got that fixed and there was two codes that popped up. I was told that one cancelled out the other which didn't make sense. Now the transmission needs work and they say that was the problem to begin with. I have spent so much money trying to fix this problem only to find out that it was the transmission along. I am very disappointed in GMC cause when I went to the dealer they suggested that I change part until they find the problem. I am pissed cause I still can't enjoy my truck anymore. My extended warranty is over and they dealer wants over 2000 grand to fix the transmission ¦ if that's what it really the problem. Looking online many people have had this issue and still no recall on the transmissions for Saturn Outlooks. Shame on you GMC.

Transmission went bad right after 100000 miles, reverse and 3rd gear is not working. I am asking to GMC to replace it since there are hundreds of cases with the same situation.

2008 Saturn Outlook. Consumer writes in regards to engine and transmission problems. The consumer stated the check engine light illuminated and the vehicle stopped running. Upon inspection, a code was received for a cam shaft position sensor. The consumer learned the problem was supposedly fixed at 51,000 on April 7, 2011, where the timing chain and crankshaft were replaced. On August 23, 2013 the vehicle was in the shop for transmission problems.