general problems of the 2008 Saturn Outlook - part 2

Transmission went out while driving. Stuttering, shaking, and then no power at all. This happened in busy traffic and all I could do was coast to a stop. Had to push it to the side of the road after traffic was stopped.

Jan 2014 had problems with stabilitrac / traction control and transmission entering expressway. The stabilitrac / traction control service soon light came on and then the car began shifting hard as we began to enter traffic, the car then started to lose power we got off the expressway in fear of being hit and went to the dealer were they found nothing wrong. The car continued to do this on and off for some time for the next few months. In June 2014 coming home from a soccer game I my wife our son and another player had this happen again while traveling 70mph on the us23 expressway, stabilitrac / traction control service light came on transmission started shifting hard and then the transmission lost the ability to engage, the car began to slow almost getting hit. (thank god we made it to a safe place) we replaced the transmission because of broken wave plates within the transmission. On 3/7/15 took car in again for stabiltrac / traction control same thing again is happening dealer found nothing wrong told us to bring back when lights are on. 3/14/15 lights came on again took in dealer was unable to find anything wrong. Service adviser there was no danger driving the car but that I might after time begin to loss power and may not be able to travel over 20mph. I explained the history to him his advice was to avoid the expressways. My fear is to die in this car when merging into expressway traffic. After reviewing many compliants about the transmission and traction control / stabilitrac on the internet about the following cars Saturn Outlook, GMC acadia, chevy traverse and Buick enclave I hope that gm can come up with a fix before anyone has to die!.

Vehicle lost speed on freeway and driver control panel lite up with error messages (stabilitrak, traction control, engine reduced power, and emission control warnings). Onstar ran diagnostic with multilpe error codes and had to have vehicle towed to delarship. The dealership stated that the valve covers were leaking and oil was all over the throttle body. Extended warranty will only over throttle body and not valve cover since gm re-designed the valve covers! obviously gm knows the valve covvers fail!! my portion of repair is $1100. Again just outside of 5 year powertrain warranty.

3 weeks ago the dealership replaced my ecm because the check engine light came on and the vehicle was stalling. On Monday, my husband talked to the dealership because it started not shifting properly. They said due to the holiday they couldn't see us until Thursday. Within minutes if the conversation, the vehicle stopped shifting all together. . . No check engine light; nothing. Using onstar, we have it towed to the dealership. Tuesady we receive a call and are told it is $1600 to replace a "ball" in the transmission. Oops, they forgot the tax in the first quote; now $1800! we get a loan to have it fixed. Thursday we receive a call and now there are metal shavings in our fluid they didn't see before and it is going to be $4300 for a re-manufactured transmission. The service agent at one point laughed at me and said to do the minimu repair and trade it in for a new vehicle!! our warranty just expired in June, the vehicle has less than 60,000 and this is the second time in less than 30 days it has been in! as active duty military, we cannot afford $4300 to fix it but also cannot be without a vehicle!!.

I was driving vehicle home from work when the car began to slow down. I pulled to the side of the road and could not engage the reverse or drive setting. The vehicle was towed to a mechanic who checked the vehicle out and told me the transmission would have to be replace for $3600. The vehicle is one year past the warranty but should not matter because I have owned several vehicles other than Saturn with more than 100k miles and never had a transmission go out. This vehicle only has 67k miles and to have the trans go is pathetic. I feel gm should take care of this but I do not know who to call. This vehicle has been involved in other recalls like the wiper arm motor that I replaced and did not know it was being recalled. Therefore, I was wanting to know where I can send the bill for that.

Driving to a doctor appt and pulled into a parking lot to use my phone. Put car in park, engine on. Sat for 5 min, then put car in drive and engine revved and revved but did not move but a few feet. Put car in park and turned off the car for a few minutes. Upon restart, drove just fine for about 20 miles until check engine light went on. Went immediately to have to code read at a nearby auto zone. Gave 2 codes, one about a transmission problem and the 2nd about a computer self-repair completed. Never had the problem again. Then 3/5/14, at now 71,000 mi or so, while entering the on ramp to the freeway and now in the far left lane, attempted to accelerate, engine revved and car went maybe 25 mph if that. A large big rig slammed on its brakes and swerved to miss rear-ending us. Car was turned off and turned back on. Same problem-revved very high and would go only 25-35 mph in drive. Had to get off the freeway! vehicle overheated and smoking. Towed to mechanic shop and was told it was a miracle that we have been able to drive it as all the gears were stripped and it needed a new transmission. Gm dealership said manufacturer warranty 5yr or 100,000 mi just expired 2/13. $2,500-$3,500 in cost. . . Grrrr! along with a dual sun/moon roof leak!.

My car has 89,000 miles and the transmission went out yesterday. I was traveling at 57mph when the cars engine revved to 7 rpms, and then slowed to 30 mph. I was unable to maintain the speed limit because the car would not go above 25-30 mph. It's gonna cost nearly $4,000 to fix and the "5yr" warranty expired in March. Very disappointed in gm for making such a terrible transmission. So many problems and very little help with the problem!.

While driving on the highway at 60 mph, the rpms went up to 6000. . . . Had to slow down to 20 mph on highway. . . . Thank goodness it wasn't rush hour! took it to dealer and the transmission is out!.

The contact owns a 2008 Saturn Outlook. The contact stated that while driving 10 mph, the vehicle began to surge and lunged forward. The contact attempted to put the vehicle in reverse in order to park in his driveway but the vehicle would not accelerate while in the reverse. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 66,000.

Was driving my in-laws 2008 Saturn Outlook at about 40 mph and then engine revved and would not shift. Was on busy highway and had to pull over. Turned car off and back on and tried to drive and engine would not shift past 30 mph and then starting going in and out of shifting and not moving at all. Had to pull back over and then get a tow. This happened with no warning.

I was driving my Outlook at approximately 30 miles an hour and it would not shift into the next gear. I had to pull to the side of the road and limped the car into a parking lot thinking maybe the transmission fluid was low. That was checked and was found to be at a normal level. Leaving the parking lot we learned that there was now no reverse. The only gear that functioned was first gear. We drove at low speed to the dealership and on 8/26/13 I was told that the car needed a new transmission at approximately $3500 - $4000.

After having 2008 Saturn Outlook acting "oddly". My husband took for a ride. At stop sign went to accelerate onto road. Car would not move. Had to call for tow. And wave vehicles to pass. Five days without a vehicle and counting.

This car sucks, bought the car last may 2013 and within 2 months and to take it to cottman trans in NJ , I still had a warranty from guardian , they came out to look at it , the wave plate is bad , but we aren't going to be responsible for it because they should of fixed it , took it back to faulkner Buick GMC and an hour of free , guess what the wave plate and trans needs to be replace , I looked o the web and it states this car Saturn Outlook has transmission problems , when are the going to recall this problem too .

Was driving on the hwy & the vehicle started lurching & the engine light came on. The vehicle then started running rough. I took it right away (same day) to an auto shop & had a diagnostic done. On the way home the vehicle locked in the 1st gear & I was only able to go approximately 10 mph. It showed the speed sensor was out. I took it to a transmission shop to have the repairs done where it was found that the whole transmission needs to be repaired. The wave plate is bad, which is a known issue with gm with these models. It is a cost of $3500. 00 to repair & could have had serious injury to myself & my children. I want to know why a recall has not been done on this? and why gm is not be held accountable for these repair costs?.

Vehicle has not been shifting correctly for the past year or so. Took it to a gm dealership last week and was told the wave plate in the transmission was cracked. Began researching this problem and found a forum where hundreds of other gm owners have experienced this problem. After reading, it appears that when my car would not shift into reverse two years ago, it was the beginning of the problem. I didn't recognize that as a transmission problem and when I mentioned it to the dealership (which is no longer a gm dealership since they no longer have Saturn), it was dismissed because it only happened one time. I continued to have issues with the shifting but didn't take to authorized gm dealership so they don't have record of it. Recently, rpm's were randomly jumping above 4 on the highway every 10 minutes and I felt lucky to make it home from a recent trip in the mountains. Of course, gm is not willing to take any responsibility and will not provide any financial assistance to repair car but I don't understand how so many people can be experiencing these problems and it not be a recall issue? really upset that my two children were in the car and scared to death we were going to wreck or get stranded!.

Saturn 2008 Outlook started to have problems when shifting gears. Feels like going into 3rd gear is the problem and sometimes in reverse. Sounds like a rev of the engine and then a hard shift into the gear. There have been many posts online about this and unfortunately gm is not consistent with how they resolve. This sounds like it should be a courtesy fix or recall.

Was driving on hwy. At 60 mph when engine began to rev and then when I came to stoplight and took off, the car would not go over 30 mph. And would jerk and then as I continued to try to get speed because of others behind me-it would not go. Had to drive 30 mph for two hours to get only 40 miles. Transmission needs to be replaced and gm is not standing behind their product. This is a hazard and there are sooo many complaints with problems just like this and no recall yet-really-so will one be made when someone is killed in an accident. Also when this began I had a 1/2 tank of gas, when I got to dealership-2 hours later-the car was on e!!!!!!!! horrible gas mileage on this too now. Passenger airbag says needs to be serviced-was like this when we purchased and dealer said they would fix-never did and this is a safety concern because it means the passenger is not safe in this vehicle, but then again, none of us are because of gm-am going to begin process with small claims court regarding all of these issues. Horrible vehicle and gm should be ashamed-no wonder I always bought non american made cars-shame on us for thinking gm would be good since it was made in USA.

While accelerating vehicle abruptly reduced speed and did not move this caused vehicles following my car to immediately slow down to nearly miss rear ending my vehicle.

My 2008 Outlook started to jerk driving down the road and then had very high rpms but no acceleration in the middle of an intersection I could not move and then the check engine light came on. I took it to a Chevrolet dealership and it had a broken wave plate and the transmission had to be rebuilt which took 2 weeks. I was lucky enough to still be covered under the powertrain warranty by only 2 weeks. The service manager told me they have seen hundreds of these as it is a known problem with this car. Why has there not been a recall yet if this is happening to everyone.

We were passing another vehicle on the interstate and the transmission stopped working but the engine continued to operate at full rpm's. We slowed and pulled over across traffic. The transmission would engage for a second but the car did not move more than a few feet.

We were traveling down a highway when all of a sudden the vehicle rpm revs up and the engine gears are no longer engaged. We could only drive 30mph to prevent the rpm's from going too high. Also, no reverse gear. Towed into gm dealership and transmission broken down and the wave plate is what was damaged. Wave plate replaced and gm refused to pay for all of repair. Said it was not their problem since powertrain warranty went out 2 months ago. They have a service bulletin out, but still refuse to acknowledge this is a problem with this vehicle. There should be a recall from gm on this faulty part since they refuse to admit that there are issues with these model's transmission. The following is the service bulletin listed for this problem. Bulletin no. : 09-07-30-012a date: January 12, 2010 subject: no reverse, 3rd or 5th, check engine light illuminated, dtc p0776 (replace 3-5 reverse clutch plate (waved) models: 2008-2009 Buick enclave 2008-2009 Chevrolet equinox, malibu 2009 Chevrolet traverse 2007-2009 GMC acadia 2007-2009 pontiac g6 2008-2009 pontiac torrent 2007-2009 Saturn aura, Outlook 2008-2009 Saturn vue all equipped with 6t70/75 6-speed automatic transmission (rpos mh2, mh4, mh6 or my9).

Delayed shifting when pressing down accelerator to increase speed to change lanes while on freeway. Took car in for service and was told transmission wave plate was inoperative.

The contact owns a 2008 Saturn Outlook. The contact was driving approximately 20 mph when the vehicle began to jerk abnormally. In addition, the engine rpms increased however, the vehicle would not accelerate and began to roll backward. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing and was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 73,000.

My wife and I own a 2008 Saturn Outlook xr with just a hair under 80k miles on it and within the last week or so we have started having some weird transmission issues related to shifting between gears. From 1st to 2nd gear the transmission seems to ?slip? momentarily causing the engine to rev mid shift. It also seems to ?clunk? very hard between 5th and 6th (overdrive). Occasionally, between other gears it seems to shift roughly, too. I have double checked the transmission fluid levels which are within tolerances, but seem to smell hot to me. One other thing I have noticed, is that when braking or putting the car in park, the transmission doesn't seem to fully disengage properly as noticed by the engine seemingly ?lurching?. We are the second owners of this vehicle having only had it roughly two years. We have already had to replace the water pump under warranty, and have had it repaired under recall for various issues at least twice.

The vehicle was in an accident before, but only body damage, I bought it at 33254 miles, it is driving fine, but having hesitation issues, looks like the transmission is having a problem, I have read others with the same problem. Apparently this is a huge issue with many Saturn 2008 owners this car has a salvage title but only because of the body damage accident, not engine, all otherwise is running perfectly fine.

I had transmission problems on my 2008 Saturn Outlook. While driving the car one morning it just stopped accelerating and then locked up and wouldn't move.

I have had my the children in the car when the service stabilitrac warning came on causing jerking in heavy city traffic and wouldn't allow me to go. Had it towed and the mechanic said the entire timing component was bad, this was a chevy dealership. Next I was traveling on a freeway with my children approaching an officer at the scene of a wreck my car revved very high and wouldn't shift anymore. . . . Not only with an officer at a accident but also reduced to one lane traffic due to construction. When this happened it nearly caused a collision. I had to attempt to coast to the side of the road. Mechanic said transmission needed to be rebuilt. I have spoke to Saturn and informed then of all my issues. . . Evenafter transmission repairs my car continues to jerk and stall in traffic to the point I was almost t boned by a semi!! I have had my fill of my children at risk from a poorly built car! my passenger airbag won't even kick on and is having problems. All my problems started at 50,000 miles!! my sun roof was leading and I had water gushing down my pillars had to pay for that to be serviced as well!.

My transmission on my 2008 Saturn Outlook went out and was replaced (with a brand new transmission) under warranty in April 2012. It is going out again and the warranty is expired, November 2012. When I bought the truck, the dealer was trying to push an extended warranty on me, stressing over and over that it covered the transmission, so obviously he knew my truck would have future transmission problems. My truck still had a warranty, and with my truck being only 2 years old, I opted not to buy it, trusting that Saturn was a reputable dealer. Big mistake trusting Saturn.

The contact owns a 2008 Saturn Outlook. The contact stated that the wiring for the exterior lights was melted. As a result, the lights would not function at night. In addition, the vehicle would not shift into third gear while driving. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer, where the dealer diagnosed that a speed sensor was needed to repair the transmission and an exterior lighting assembly was needed to repair the wiring. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and informed the contact that the vehicle was out of warranty. The failure and current mileages were 100,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Vehicle would suddenly lose power, traction control light and check engine light would come on, then light would say engine power reduced. Ongoing problem since 2011. Becoming more frequent. Today complete power loss, transmission would not respond again. 85000 miles now. This has happened from every speed from 1 mph to 60 mph.

Vehicle has had 3 major transmission warranty repairs done tone NHTSA # 10030729, two engine warranty repairs (water pump, engine seals) and one electrical recalls NHTSA # 08v44100 wire harness which is a fire hazard and one windshield wiper/washer linkage 08v410000 which could result in a vehicle crash.

I purchased this 2008 vehicle in July 2008, used but "new" with a bit over 16,000 miles on it from a dealership in syracuse that is no longer active. My vehicle has always been well cared for and serviced accordingly. Starting Jan. 31, 2010, the engine began to make a loud knock. It did not matter if I warmed the vehicle, or if it was warm weather or cold. On some instances it seemed to not accelerate on the highway as it should. Often hesitating to "go". It has been into the dealership four different occasions, for a total of 21 days out-of-service cumulatively, soon to be more. The first time they gave it back the next day as they stated they could not duplicate the noise. Three days later the knock was back. The second time it went in they had for 7 days, could not duplicate. 2 days later back again. . . The third time the dealership locally here put a new timing chain in. They said it was "slack". However, this did not fix the issue. It was supposed to go back in for the same engine knocking, etc. Before it could go in I was driving at night with small children in the car on a highway and had no headlights. After taking it to the dealership they say the wiring harness melted and they have no idea why. They take the vehicle in again for a fourth time. Tell me its fixed. New wiring harness. Pick up vehicle. . Same engine knock present. They now say maybe its a lifter? cam? don't have parts. Give me this same vehicle to continue to drive. Something is fishy here. How many vehicles does it take for a safety recall or investigation????? does someone have to die?! headlights going out at night on highway, engine not accelerating. . . . Major safety issues. Multiple complaints. I'd rather not have someone called to the scene of my death or the deaths of my children because of a known defect that is not being addressed! also, another 2008 Saturn Outlook is at the same dealership for similar problems. . .

The contact owns a 2008 Saturn Outlook. The contact stated that the engine stalled when the accelerator was depressed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 4,500 and the current mileage was 41,000. Updated 11/07/11 updated 06/13/2012.

Specifically, the performance of the transmission my Saturn 2008 Outlook has never been satisfactory. Altogether it's incredibly sluggish, giving a jerky, pulling feel and takes 45-60 seconds to speed the car up past 50 mph. There have been times when I came dangerously close to being hit by oncoming traffic. Additionally, the stabilitrak light warning comes on when it shouldn't. This light is generally followed by a warning the traction control is off when it isn't. I have complained to 2 of gm's dealers (Saturn and Chevrolet) for the last 3 years about the transmission. They have all told me that there nothing wrong with the transmission--until things got bad enough that the transmission stopped working altogether, and I was stuck on the side of the road. Raleigh's downtown gm dealer finally had no other choice than to take the transmission apart and discovered the root of the problem. So they thought. Ever since I picked up the car from this repair, I have been experiencing the same problems. I took it back to the gm dealership. Again, they purported they could not "simulate" the problem; therefore, in their mind, there was no problem. I'm reminded at this point that this is the same thing gm's dealers had said before the transmission finally gave way. Through the internet, I understand that there are many others who report problems with gm's transmission on the Outlook. Like my counterparts, I would appreciate a resolution that includes gm's owning up to this problem and resolving to fix it once and for all.

The contact owns a 2008 Saturn Outlook. The contact stated that while driving at any speed the vehicle would lose power and downshift with an abnormal increase in rpms. The failure was experienced numerous times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times. The dealer updated the transmission module but the failure was not corrected. The vehicle continued to lose power with a significant loss of fuel mileage. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 46,000 and the failure mileage was 50,000. . . Updated 07/12/12 the consumer stated the sensor camshaft, cylinder head, battery, windshield wiper motor, air bag wiring harness, power steering rack and gear, front pads and rotors, gaskets for intake manifold, gasket for rear valve cover, right front strut, both strut mounts, engine mounts, left front stabilizer link, headlight harness, timing belt cover seal, exhaust stud, power steering pump, hose and clamp, all had to be replaced. Updated 10/02/12.