My 2005 Grand Prix GT has cost me thousands of dollars in repairs and that of course does not include the repairs that were required while the car was still under warranty.

This problem with the shift cable came after I had spent months in early 2013, 3 trips to the dealership and more then $1000 trying to resolve an issue with a gas or exhaust odor that was never fixed and still exists. They kept fixing things that probably didn't need to be fixed in the first place and in the process they had to remove my engine on at least 2 occasions. This in itself was enough to make me never want to buy and deal with another GM, but before I could even start to cool down over all the money I spent only to still have the problem with odor that I went in to get fixed in the first place.

In November 2013 I went to the local grocery store. When I parked the car I put the gear shift selector into Park and right away I noticed something was wrong because my doors did not automatically unlock and my cabin lights did not come on. I went in and completed my grocery shopping, I got back in my car and started it up with no problem, I stepped on the brake and put the car in reverse and then slightly stepped on the gas but the only thing that happened was my engine revved higher. I then tried putting my car into other gear positions, I was able to slide the selector from park all the way down to 3rd and back with absolutely no tension and it didn't matter which gear I selected my car would not move, the only thing that happened was my engine would rev when I stepped on the gas..

When the tow truck arrived the attendant found that the car was actually in neutral and that if I had originally been stopped on a hill and attempted to get out of my car it would have either rolled down the hill or it possibly could have injured me if I had attempted to try and stop it from rolling.

The dealerships notes on the invoice state:

CAUSE: SHIFTER CABLE CAME OFF OF TRANS, STILL IN NEUTRAL CORR: REPLACED SHIFTER CABLES NOTE BRAKE/SHIFT INTERLOCK WAS NOT WORKING Took apart and pin that holds servo is broken off, possibly happened when shift cable broke

After expressing my concern regarding the need for these repairs and what caused the problem in the first place the dealership rep tried to convince me that in order to save money I could just have them fix the shift cable and not bother replacing the gear shift assembly with the broken pin. He went as far as to suggest that I get the cable fixed and then take the car and try it for a week or two and see if I can live with the gear shift assembly with the broken pin. I called a few garages in my area that perform safety checks and they all thought I was joking when I told them what the dealer rep had suggested, when they stopped laughing they got very serious and pointed out that the pin that was broken was there for safety reasons to prevent the car from being put into gear without the brake being compressed and if that was not working properly a child or even a dog playing around in the car could accidentally hit the shifter and move it into gear. They also stated that my car would not pass a safety check if I did not get it fixed. I then called the dealership back and once again made it clear that I was not happy with the current situation and did not understand how or why it would have happened while the car had such low mileage on it.

The work and parts cost me $795.86 CAN, plus the cost of the tow, plus the cost of my transportation while I did not have my car.

I complained to GM Canada after this problem because of all the work that had been done previously without solving the odor issues and now the shift cable breaking and my car had just reached the 50,000 km mark but I was most upset over the dealer rep trying to convince me to just get the shift cable fixed. The rep spoke to the dealership doing the work and they came to an arrangement where the dealership was going to charge me for the parts at cost, otherwise my bill would have been even higher. The rep also gave me a voucher for an oil, lube and filter change as well as an 86 point inspection.

Now I see where GM is recalling some 2004-2007 Malibu's and G6 cars because of a problem with the gear shift cable breaking or wearing out prematurely. I called GM Canada again today to see why there was no mention of Grand Prix's being included in this recall but I basically got the run around and was told there would have been a recall for the Grand Prix's if there was a need for it. And the GM rep I spoke to today pointed out to me that I had already dealt with somebody at GM months earlier when I first complained while the problem was still not fixed yet.

I have owned a GMC Safari, a Pontiac Grand Prix SE, a Sunfire GT and the Pontiac Grand Prix GT I currently own, I never thought the day would come when I would say anything like this but..."from this day on I doubt very highly that I will ever consider buying another vehicle from GM and I sure as hell will never take any car I do buy to a GM Goodwrench dealer for and kind of maintenance or repairs.