One problem related to steering is tight has been reported for the 2003 Saturn ION. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Several times these last few months my vehicle pwr str light has come on. The steering wheel is hard to turn left or right. The first time this happened I turned the car off and went in the house and got my husband. When he turned it on and put it in reverse nothing happened, it was ok. The next time I was backing into a parking spot, it locked up and was hard to turn. I turned the ignition off and restarted it, then it worked again. Then again in the drive position. This has happened several times. My daughter was driving the car not long ago on a city street and had to stop in the middle of the street, turn the car off and on again, then it was ok. Today I was driving on the road (a city street) and the steering wheel locked. I fought with the wheel to get over. Turned the car off and on again but the steering wheel was still hard to turn and the pwr str light remained on. I did this several times to no avail. The wheel stayed hard to turn. I fought with the wheel, turning corners, praying no one would be in my way as I had to make wide turns because of the hard steering wheel. When I got to my driveway I had to turn and backup several times to get into my driveway. I turned the car off and on again several times and the light has not gone out. I will not be able to drive my car in this condition.