2008 Saturn Sky Red Line Convertible 2-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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GM calling in 56k Saturn Aura sedans over shift cables

General Motors may have made a few mistakes when it came to the whole ignition-switch debacle, and it will likely be dealing with the consequences for some time to come. But you have to hand it to Mary Barra and her team, because they're determined to clean house and avoid the same mistakes. That's why the biggest of the Big Three automakers in Detroit has been issuing recalls left, right and Renaissance Center. Aside from those vehicles fitted with the faulty ignition switches, GM has recalled over 50,000 Cadillac SRXs, another 50 heavy-duty pickups and some 51,000 full-size crossovers. There are bound to be more to come, and now it's issued another 50k-unit recall over faulty shift cables in the transmission.
The recall affects 2007 and 2008 Saturn Auras fitted with the four-speed automatic transmission manufactured between April 24, 2006, and October 31, 2007. The recall doesn't affect models equipped with the six-speed automatic, or for that matter any of the Aura's Epsilon platform-mates like the Chevy Malibu, Pontiac G6, Opel Signum and Vectra, Saab 9-3 or - carrying over from Fiat's aborted partnership with GM - the Fiat Croma, although many of those models used the same 4T40 transmission employed in the Aura.
In the affected vehicles, the shift cable might fracture while in motion, preventing the transmission from shifting into Park or the ignition from switching off, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures could lead to the car rolling away. Hence the recall of 56,214 units in the United States, owners of which can expect to hear from their dealership in due course to have the necessary components replaced.

GM ignition switch trial cleared to begin on January 11

US District Judge Jesse Furman didn't accept General Motor's attempt to dismiss a civil trial over the automaker's faulty ignition switches, and set a January 11 start date for the case to begin, according to Reuters. The judge found that plaintiff Robert Scheuer had the evidence to proceed with the case. Scheuer was injured in an accident in his 2003 Saturn Ion in 2014 when another vehicle forced him off the road, and he crashed into some trees. The airbag didn't deploy, and Scheuer alleged this was the result of the faulty ignition switch. According to Reuters, Scheuer's trial is one of six bellwether cases over GM's ignition switch problem in the coming year. Juries' decisions in these lawsuits should provide an example of how similar trials could end, and these results would help The General decide whether to settle other pending cases or to keep fighting them. The ignition switch fiasco has already cost GM billions. For example, the company's compensation program offered $594.5 million in 399 cases of people killed or injured by the defective parts. Anyone that accepted this money agreed not to sue GM for the problem later. The company also came to a $900 million criminal settlement with the US government and paid $575 million in civil resolutions in September.

Junkyard Gem: 2008 Saturn Astra XR 3-Door Hatchback

GM's Saturn brand spent the first part of the 2000s shifting over to vehicles on global corporate platforms, then spent the second half of the decade increasingly flailing for relevance as The General itself struggled to stay upright. By 2008, prospects for Saturn— and the American economy in general— didn't look so great, but that was the first model year for the Saturn-badged Opel Astra in North America. The announcement that the axe would be falling on Saturn came the following year, soon after GM declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and so 2009 became the final year for the Saturn Astra. Some MY2010 Saturns were sold (the Sky, Outlook, and Aura), but the Astra shares the dubious honor of the shortest Saturn sales run with the long-forgotten Saturn Relay minivan. For this reason, I keep my junkyard eye open for discarded Astras, and finally found this very clean '08 three-door in a Denver self-service yard last week. The Astra could be purchased with three doors or five, in two very similar trim levels. This car is the three-door, which was available only in semi-high-zoot XR trim. I'm not sure if the Opel Astra got these GM "Mark of Excellence" fender badges, but all American-market 2005-2009 GM vehicles have them (not counting stuff bearing the crypto-GM Suzuki badge). I've got dozens of these badges glued to my garage wall, because why not? Just one engine was available in the Saturn Astra: a 1.8-liter Ecotec four rated at 138 horsepower. The Ecotec has proven to be an unusually reliable engine, but I suspect that this one died in some expensive manner (because the rest of the car looks so nice) and that's why the car is here now. The base transmission in the Astra was a five-on-the-floor manual, and that's what this car has. The four-speed automatic cost an extra $1,325 on an $18,375 car (that's about  $1,765 on a $24,475 car in 2022 dollars), so either the original purchaser of this car preferred three-pedal driving or was just a cheapskate. I haven't seen enough junkyard Astras to know if the manual transmission is very rare in these cars; the five-door I found a few years back had the automatic. Presumably, an American car shopper looking for the European-style driving experience of an Opel might prefer the manual. Built in Antwerp, Belgium! As this was just a rebadged Opel, the Astra did not have the standard GM radio faceplate found in everything from the Chevrolet Equinox to the Saab 9-3.