By Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times –
LOS ANGELES — General Motors Co. announced Friday a big recall of Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn mid-size sedans to fix a transmission problem that could cause the cars to roll away after the driver has left the vehicle.
The recall affects more than 426,000 model year 2007-2010 Saturn Aura and model year 2008-2010 Chevrolet Malibu and Pontiac G6 vehicles, equipped with a 4-speed automatic transmission and sold in the U.S.
GM will be contacting the owners to tell them how to get their cars fixed.
The problem results from tabs on the transmission shift cable end that may fracture and separate in the cars. Such a fracture can put the transmission shift lever out of sync with the actual position of the transmission gear. For example, the transmission might look like it is in park but could be in another gear.
This could cause the car to roll away unexpectedly and cause a crash. GM said the problem has caused at least four accidents but no injuries.
Technicians will install a retainer over the cable end or replace the shift cable as necessary in the recalled vehicles.
