12 problems related to horn assembly have been reported for the 2003 Saturn ION. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 2003 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the power steering warning lamp illuminated and the vehicle became very hard to maneuver. Also, the contact mentioned that the horn failed to turn off after being pressed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 125,000 and the current mileage was 129,000.
The car's headlights and instrument lights shut off. Warning lights such as "check engine", "abs", and "theft lock" all came on after parking the car. The horn would not shut off, I had to disconnect the battery to get horn to stop. Attempted to start the following morning and while reconnecting the battery the horn came on again and the listed above lights stayed on. Car has been unreliable and unsafe to drive!!!.
Horn is very difficult to actuate, requiring hard pressing one of two specific small horn logos on the steering wheel air bag cover. These are hard to find in an emergency, and impossible to quickly find when driving at night. This has resulted in a few near misses, because the horn could not be activated quickly enough to alert another driver that they were leaving their lane. I had to swerve evasively to prevent the accident. Saturn dealer in past has said that horn works normally. This is the only vehicle that my wife or I have driven in thirty years that has this problem. It appears to be a poor design, and something should be done to rectify it. The horn is useless in a suddenly developing emergency situation. Date is not specific; as form would not allow submission without a date. I have not had an accident yet, but this should be rectified before someone has a serious accident.
While driving. Upon stopping the vehicle. The consumer got out to take the child out of the vehicle with the ignition running. The doors locked, and the consumer could not get her child out of the vehicle. Consumer contacted the dealer. However, the problem still exist. Doors locked automatically upon exiting driver's side. Additional service include, the a/c and heater funtion failed due to faulty connection from switch to resistor card, collapse of horn cover causing loss of airbag. Ignition switch failed. The signal and running lamps were inoperative.
The horn malfunctioned without warning. The consumer had to use excessive force in order to hear the horn.
Operation of the vehicle horn is very difficult as the activation locations are not prominent enough to find when involved in an emergency situation. In fact I believe that the horn did not operate on one occasion when positive activation was achieved. This is a dangerous design. One that more than likely has or will result in an accident.
Consumer found it difficult to depress the horns button when needed due to its location. This made it impossible to warn other motorist in a emergency situation. Also, when accelerating on wet surface tires will spin but vehicle will not accelerate.
The horn did not work all the time. The design for the horn, only allowed it to be used when the consumer's fingers were directly on the horn indicator symbol. The dealer suggested that the horn worked as designed.
Saturn horn is hard to activate (almost impossible in winter climates) due to a poor horn button design. In a panic situation you have to look down and hunt for the "g" spot on the horn button in order to sound the horn within sufficient time to be useful in warning other motorists. I have experinced this many times in a parking lot situation, and also during interstate driving. Sometimes the horn fails to sound at all. Saturn corp. Referred me to the dealer for repairs. Dealer claims there is nothing they can do because of the inherent design with the air bag. Other Ions that I test drove also displayed this behavior and Saturn corp. Should be working on a solution to this potential safety issue.
Horn failed without warning.
The horn assembly required excessive effort to activate. The consumer drove the vehicle to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that horn was designed that way.
In a panic situation, the owner was unable to locate the horn button due to the size and location. This caused a distraction, due to the consumer having to take her eyes off the road and look on the steering wheel to locate the horn button. The consumer noted the driver's head rest was tilted too far forward, the problem was eventually corrected.