The Houston injury lawyers at Denena & Points report that the U.S. NHTSA has just announced a recall by General Motors of more than 426,000 vehicles due to a dangerous transmission defect that could lead to your vehicle crashing without warning. The recall affects the 2008 to 2010 Chevrolet Malibu, the 2008 to 2010 Pontiac G6, and the 2007 to 2010 Saturn Aura that have 4-speed automatic transmissions. The defective component in the vehicles is the power train’s automatic transmission gear position indication.
The three 4-speed transmission makes and models of GM vehicles have tabs on the transmission shift cables that could fracture and separate. If these tabs do fracture and separate, the vehicles’ shift levers may not match with the position of the actual transmission gear. In other words, you might know what gear your vehicle is actually in.
So if you put your GM vehicle into the “park” position, remove your key, and leave the vehicle, your vehicle might decide to go for a drive while you are away (since it was never actually in the “park” gear. While your vehicle might not actually restart, since you removed the key, it very well might roll away.
So if you’re “parked” on a slight incline, the vehicle could roll away into a crash. Our Houston injury lawyers caution that the crash could seriously damage the vehicle, as well as any small children, animals, or unaware passers-by that might be in the vicinity. And you don’t want to be responsible for someone’s injury or death simply because your GM vehicle had a transmission defect.
General Motors has said that it will notify registered owners of the affected vehicles. GM dealers will install a retainer over the transmission shift cable end or replace the cable entirely if needed. These services will be performed free of charge on the recalled GM vehicles. Concerned owners can reach General Motors at 800-521-7300.
If you or a family member have been injured because of the defect in any of the recalled GM vehicles, fell free to contact the Houston injury lawyers at Denena & Points to learn about your eligibility for a full financial recovery for your needless injuries.