Automatic Transmission problems of the 2002 Saturn SL2

The contact owns a 2002 Saturn Sl2. While driving between 20 and 40 mph mph, the vehicle became sluggish while the contact attempted to accelerate. He had to slow the vehicle down and gradually accelerate in order to switch gears. The contact spoke with the dealer and they accused him of not following the maintenance schedule. The current mileage was 33,323 and failure mileage was 33,175. Updated 04/04/08.

I have a 2002 Saturn Sl2 and I've had to replace my transmission twice now. I believe that the dealership in manchester, nh knowingly sold it to me like this since I had brought up a very slight speed up effect the car had to the car sales woman, and she had told me that it was because the car had a slightly more powerful engine than the 4. 0 I was used to (it had a 4. 6) and the jump was just the "extra power". I haven't even owned the car for 18 months yet. It's a piece of crap and I have a pretty bitter taste in my mouth from dealing with the car dealerships in nh and in MD. The dealership in salisbury, MD wanted to charge me $3100 for a new transmission. I noticed (after the fact) that there was some technical problems with the transmission from the beginning in all '02 s-series, but I really think that if there's so many people having issues that there should be some sort of recall on the product. It has already cost me about $5000 on top of the 9,000 that I have already spent to purchase it (cost of car plus bank interest for loan). The car is hardly worth $14,000 but I'm still upside-down on my loan so I can't get rid of the thing. I've looked into the research on the NHTSA website in hopes that it will give some insight on how to fix the problem permanently (more money down the drain) but Saturn should really be reprimanded or made to reimburse the customers somehow. Cars are really too big of a purchase for things to go this wrong.

At approx. 71,000 miles, automatic transmission began exhibiting shifting difficulties between 2nd & 3rd gears. Reputable transmission shop diagnosed problem as hydraulic leaks within transmission. Replaced seals with trans. Rebuild, replaced mlps, total repair cost over $3650. Trans. Was not abused, this was a premature trans. Failure.

When putting the gear shift in reverse vehicle would not move. Consumer had the vehicle towed to the dealer for inspection.

Transmission was defective, when shifting it down shifted and changed gears on its own. Manufacturer to date has offered no assistance.

I have had trouble with this car since new delay and hard shifts into reverse always, and forward gears quite frequently had Saturn service dept check and they show no codes.