Buick Power Train: Column Shift

Buick is recalling about 276,729 vehicles over a problem with the power train. 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.

Campaign
09V073000
Manufacturer
GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Reported
6 March 2009
Vehicles
276,729
Built between
Not published
Models
10
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
15 March 2009
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.

  • 2009 Buick Enclave
  • 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt
  • 2009 Chevrolet HHR
  • 2009 Chevrolet Malibu
  • 2009 Chevrolet Traverse
  • 2009 GMC Acadia
  • 2009 Pontiac G5
  • 2009 Pontiac G6
  • 2009 Saturn Aura
  • 2009 Saturn Outlook

What the defect is

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".

What could happen

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.

What gets fixed

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.

Timeline

  1. Recall reported to NHTSA6 March 2009
  2. Owners notified15 March 2009

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 6 March 2009.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

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.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
09041
Recalling manufacturer
GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Safety standard
FMVSS 102
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

General motors recall no. 09041.OWNERS may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to <a href=http://www.safercar.gov>http://www.safercar.gov</a> .

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand