[gigamike]

I bought a brand new loaded XR on Friday night and during my first drive, it died right in the middle of the highway. Had it towed to the dealer who thinks both the main computer (they couldn't even get diagnostics from it) and the transmission will need to be replaced. I was told this could take 2-3 weeks so I'll have to rent a car during that time because my trade is already gone. Should I request a brand new one or let this one be fixed?

 

[MrBiz]

Wow, that's rough! I think that if it happened to me I would tell them I want a new Outlook. Don't forget about Saturn's 30 day exchange guarantee.

 

[mchappell]

We were driving our new Outlook home on 3/21, and the transmission acted up (wouldn't shift out of 2nd/3rd gear), check engine light went on. My wife taught me some new words that night. Got back to the dealer as soon as we could, but it was closed. Snuck in behind the cleaning lady, and, luckily, a tech was still there. He read/reset the codes, which indicated some type of valve/solenoid problem in the trans. I was ready to drive through the window, find my trade-in keys, tear up the paperwork, and forget the whole thing.

Took it back next day. Luckily, they only had to flash the trans computer, and it hasn't happened since. If they would have said the trans needed to be replaced, I would have either taken my trade back, or told them to give me a new one.

I would exercise the 30-day exchange policy if, indeed, they want to put a new trans in.

Mark

 

[gigamike]

We were driving our new Outlook home on 3/21, and the transmission acted up (wouldn't shift out of 2nd/3rd gear), check engine light went on. My wife taught me some new words that night. Got back to the dealer as soon as we could, but it was closed. Snuck in behind the cleaning lady, and, luckily, a tech was still there. He read/reset the codes, which indicated some type of valve/solenoid problem in the trans. I was ready to drive through the window, find my trade-in keys, tear up the paperwork, and forget the whole thing.

That sounds a lot like what my Outlook was doing before it gave up and shut down. It wouldn't shift out of second even after I shut it down and started back up. I turned around and planned on going back to the dealer before it just died in the road. I'd do the 30 day return policy if the dealer (or surrounding delaers) had something I liked. Either it's barebones 2WD models or ones that are totally loaded with Nav and Sunroofs. Thanks for the advice, I'll post back here when I figure out what I'm gonna do.

 

[MrBiz]

Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

[gigamike]

Just received a call from the dealer- they have been unable to get any diagnostic information whatsoever and aren't sure what to do at this point. They called in some additional technicians and will get back with me tomorrow. I'm a little hesitant to void the transaction 'cause the local dealers don't have anything I'm interested in (either way too many options or too little) and ordering one from the factory would force me to rent a car for 6 weeks +. But I also don't want to drive a lemon.

 

[admin]

gigamike, Can you search nearby saturn dealers, like in a 300 mile radius and have them ship it in?

 

[gigamike]

gigamike, Can you search nearby saturn dealers, like in a 300 mile radius and have them ship it in?

Yeah, I've been calling around and I found one in Denver that's dark red but is $5k more. I'm willing to pay the extra rather than driving the one I bought on Friday and I've asked the dealer to arrange a trade. The techs are completely stumped so even if they do manage to fix it, I won't feel that comfortable and the whole experience has tarnished the new car excitement if that makes any sense.

 

[admin]

That makes perfect sense. I'd feel exactly the same way in this circumstance. Have you tried gmbuypower.com? You should be able to search lots of dealers inventories back to back.

 

[MrBiz]

That makes perfect sense. I'd feel exactly the same way in this circumstance. Have you tried gmbuypower.com? You should be able to search lots of dealers inventories back to back.

Does gmbuypower.com work for Outlooks???

 

[gigamike]

Whoa, thanks for the gmbuypower.com tip, that's exactly what I was looking for :blob:

 

[gigamike]

Dealer just called and told me they have no idea how to fix the problems and they recommended I search for a new one. makes me a little nervous but hopefully I just got a bad one.

 

[admin]

MrBiz - yes it works, but it's not quite as easy as the GMC version. I think you have to search each dealer inventory one at a time instead of all within a certain radius at once. So it's not exactly blazing fast, but still better than nothing. I'm not exactly sure if it differs from the saturn.com website or not...

 

[MrBiz]

I checked it out. It is the same as the Saturn website. Actually it just links to the Saturn site.

 

[gigamike]

The dealer was unable to fix my Outlook and Saturn Engineering is stumped too. The car is going back to the factory for "Engineering Discovery" and the dealer made good and got me the same vehicle with the trailering package which they didn't charge me for. So far so good, almost 100 miles now without any transmission problems. Despite the problems of my first Outlook, I'm glad I stayed with this model and didn't get a VW Toureg.

 

[admin]

Oh that's great news! Sounds like they took care of you, that's good...

Keep us informed on your new Outlook. Post some pics!

 

[MrBiz]

Well, good news on the new vehicle. At least you got a free trailering package! :cheers:

 

[gigamike]

I've uploaded some pictures to my Flickr Gallery and wrote about the replacement on my blog. Kudos to Saturn of Colorado Springs for making this right.