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CB Transportation and Vehicles Pontiac G6 Able to take car out of park without keys in ignition or foot on brake.. And they say it's normal
Pontiac G6

Pontiac G6 review: Able to take car out of park without keys in ignition or foot on brake.. And they say it's normal 6

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1:58 pm EDT
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I have a 2007 Pontiac G6. My daughter (3) was getting her drink out of the cup holder on Monday afternoon and hit the gear shifter. The car came out of park and rolled out of my driveway and into the street...NO KEYS in the ignition and she is no tall enough to reach the brake to press it! YES, I know, never leave a kid unattended in a vehicle, I have heard it enough! Accidents happen. After chasing my car, snatching up the ER brake and going inside to get my car keys, I pull my car back in the driveway, remove the keys, set the parking brake and was able to take my car out of Park and move the gear shifter back and forth between the gears. If I put the keys back in the ignition and turned it to ACC, I was not able to get it out of park without pressing the brake.

SO, keys out of ignition, foot off brake, the car can be taken out of gear? But with the keys in the ignition, and key in ACC position, you can't take out of gear without first pressing the brake.

I contacted GM/Pontiac on the next morning. I was instructed to take my car to a GM dealership. The representative contacted the dealership and advised them of what the problem was. I took my car to the dealership and the service manager checked it and said No, that's not suppose to happen. He called one of the mechanics up and got the same answer. After running a diagnostic test, the end result was: "System operating as designed". HUH?

I have been on the phone back and forth with GM trying to get this resolved. THIS IS NOT NORMAL! No car is suppose to come out of gear like that. Accidents happen. I am very fortunate that a child was not passing by my driveway while my car was rolling backwards into the street or a car was passing by. My car has never done this before and now all of the sudden this. And GM is telling me it's normal? I contacted the dealership where I purchased the car from and the service manager there agreed with me. He went on the lot and checked the G6's on the lot and none of them came out of gear. But yet, this is normal?

Is anyone else having this issue? I was having a problem a few months ago with my keys not coming out of the ignition or the car not wanting to come out of park. All of the sudden, they came out when day when I turned the car off and I have not had anymore trouble with that. Now, my car decides to come out of park without keys or brake pressed.

Update by no_more_pontiacs
May 26, 2010 2:18 pm EDT

Thanks! Mine has 59000 miles. I purchased it brand new. And yes, I've tried before to take it out of gear too, so that's how I know it wasn't doing it prior. GM is telling me it's normal and the Shift Lock Control System (that's suppose to be a safety feature) is ONLY active when the ignition switch is in the RUN or ON position, then the lever cannot be moved out of park until you press the brake. Some safety feature huh? This is my 2nd Pontiac but if/when I get rid of this one, I will not own another. I have never seen a car that you can take out of gear without at least the keys in the ignition and it be called normal!

Update by no_more_pontiacs
May 26, 2010 2:30 pm EDT

You can go from D to N and vice versa without pressing the button. I have tried absolutely every possible combination in the past few days. GM is not wanting to do anything! I actually just got off the phone with them AGAIN! I am fixing to contact my attorney and see if there's anything I can do. I just want them to fix it. It wasn't doing it in the past so something has malfunctioned.

Update by no_more_pontiacs
May 26, 2010 4:35 pm EDT

Thanks! Yeah, I called the dealership where I bought my car and he checked the G6's they had on the lot and none of those would come out of park. I have had my LAST conversation them. I have contacted the local TV news station in my town and have also contacted my attorney. I hope I can get somewhere. My first opportunity to get rid of this car, it's GONE!

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Rita Lockwood
May 23, 2007 12:00 am EDT

I've got a 04 Pont Grand Am and I'm on the 3rd time fixing a brake problem. I bought the car with 18,000 miles on it, it now has 46,000 and it's been parked for 4 months. The brakEs are so bad, Sears replaced everything last year and within 3000 miles it all had to be redone! Breaks, cal, hoses, rotors were totally gone, the 1st and 2nd time (warped, cracked, turned a cooper color!). The brakes got so hot that the seal where you put brake fluid into was warped! It had to be replaced so the cap would go back on! After the 2nd repair I took it to Bob Tricket, Bridgeport WV and they replaced the Hydrolic Pump. The problem still exist and the dealers keep telling me nothing is wrong that I just put "cheap brakes on" but they were original when it 1st happened! Now they want $1300 for the "good Pont breaks" I don't know what to do. If I put the Pontiac Brakes on and spend a ton of money, it's going to happen again! I know that I wasn't riped by Sears they stood by THEIR WARRANTIES and replaced the breaks when they know it's got to be the car. I went to another site and found numerous complaints about the brake system and it's the same thing going on with there's as mine! I want to know what Pontiac is going to do about this! I bought the extended warranty with the damn car and all this brake work is not covered!

Complaint #2~ I took my Pontiac to a Pont dealer for a STRONG GAS SMELL around Jan 07. It was in the shop for 30-45 minutes, the worker comes to me and says that they couldn't smell the gas and there was no signs of a gas leak. Now for 1 month (Dec 06) I could smell this horrible gas when I would start my car in the AM, my 8 year old would cry when I took her to school with the windows down! It was winter! But the fumes were so bad I had to keep the windows down! The dealer tells me that nothing was wrong but "IF I could smell it again to bring it by and they would have someone stick their head in the window to see what it smelled like"! I took it right down the road (SAME WEEK!) AND THEY FOUND A HUGE LEAK AROUND THE ENGINE! I HAD TO HAVE THE FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR REPLACED!

NOW WHY COULDN'T A PONTIAC DEALER FIND THE PROBLEM AND WHY CAN'T THEY FIGURE OUT WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY BRAKES! I'VE GOT A FILE FULL OF BRAKE REPAIRS AND CHECK UPS FOR STRANGE RATTLING SOUNDS IN THE FRONT OF THE CAR. I want it fixed and done right!

Rita Lockwood

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klef
May 25, 2007 12:57 am EDT

U bought a lemon

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TxAgent
US
May 26, 2010 2:06 pm EDT
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I have a 2009 G6 GT with 37000 miles and it works fine, and that's something I do check once in awhile to make sure I can't accidentally knock it into a different gear, and I don't have that issue. Then again it's a 2009 and it's a GT so I don't know if it's any different.

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TxAgent
US
May 26, 2010 2:23 pm EDT
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Usually the only gear you can knock it into is from Drive to Neutral or Neutral to Drive, but if my memory is correct, the G6's don't even allow ANY shift changes without at least pressing the button on the handle. Maybe it's a freak accident, but it's something I wouldn't want to be scared of happening again, much less with a child inside.

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TxAgent
US
May 26, 2010 2:44 pm EDT
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I'll check mine and see if it lets me do the D to N transition in a few minutes and I'll let you know.

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TxAgent
US
May 26, 2010 4:13 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I checked on my car and with no keys, even pressing the button on the shifter, it would not move from park. I turned it on and it indeed does shift from D to N and vice versa without pressing the button.

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