General Motors has settled a class-action lawsuit brought by the owners of more than 90,000 Saturn Vue and Ion models that came with GM's VTi continuously variable transmission. The transmissions have, apparently, had an unusually high failure rate and cost $4,000 to $5,000 to replace. The transmissions were found in the 2002 to 2005 Vue and 2003 to 2004 Ion. It was discontinued after 2005.
The settlement has received preliminary approval from a federal judge, but the official settlement hearing will not occur until February 17. Rob Schmeider, who represents the Saturn owners, estimated that the lawsuit could cost GM over $100 million, though GM attorney Joe Lines found that figure to be "wildly exaggerated" and estimated the true cost would be closer to $10 million to $20 million. Lines declined to give a failure rate for the transmissions.
The settlement applies to all owners of '02 to '05 Vues and '03 to '04 Ions with the VTi transmission. The percentage of the settlement each person receives will depend on the number of miles on the vehicle when the transmission failed and whether the current owner bought it new or used. Assuming the settlement is approved, all owners of those vehicles will receive a claims form for expenses related to the transmission failure, but only if the vehicle had less than 125,000 miles on it before the failure and the transmission fails within eight years of the date the vehicle was manufactured.
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-----The orginal Mr.Goodwrench on the JBO since 11/99-----
Hmmmm wife had an 04 ion had to have the CVT Trans replaced somewhere are 45k I know we paid some out of pocket but I'd have to find the bills.
Those things are junk. They need work. But have faith technology will get there soon.
Soon.. but not quite yet obviously lolz
Glad I got my Ion in 2005.. Heard nothing but horror stories about the CVT..
Quote:
Watching you parade around my bedroom in a thong was a little like watching sea lions mate.
Yup garbage. It was funny watching Vue's get pulled into the shop for an oil change and hear the CVT making noise. Once people got wind of this, many owners started trading them in.
It is sad to hear they are not working out so well in cars. They have had CVT in ATV's for years with no issues. In fact in many cases it is much prefered over a standard trans. I really wonder what GM was dong wrong here.
FORGET GIRLS GONE WILD WE HAVE GOVERNMENT SPENDING GONE WILD!
If I remember correctly, the CVT Ions were slower and burned more fuel than a conventional 4 spd auto, although I never actually drove one more than 15 feet.
GM's CVT's may have problem, but Snow Mobiles, some older hondas, the new prius and even a maxima have the CVT. The technology is proven, GM just screwed up somewhere.
-Chris
How exactly is CVT different from a normal automatic transmission? I'm just curious.
I think Nissan offers a CVT on most or all of its cars and small suvs now. If I remember correctly, Toyota uses a different sort of transmission in it's hybrids, it's not the same as most other manufacturers.
Hellion179 wrote:How exactly is CVT different from a normal automatic transmission? I'm just curious.
Check out that wikipedia link, but essentialy its an infinite ratio transmision, and is in theory supposed to keep the engine at its most efficient speed.
-Chris
