general problems of the 2003 Saturn ION

Driving on staight on the highway hit a bump in the road my car started spinning out of control steering wheel locked up which made my driver side crash into a cement wall, my airbags did not deploy even thought the car hit the wall so hard that it cracked my radiator, my car then shut off then turned back on.

Accelerator car speeds up on its on when I am driving on it's own. Rps getting to the highest level cant hardly stop car.

I was driving my Saturn tonight and noticed that even when I would let off the brake, the car would accelerate and rpms would stay elevated. I was driving at about 35-40mph. I was coming up to an intersection and it simply didn't feel right, like it was pulling forward. The traffic light turns red and I start to apply pressure to the brakes. It felt like the brakes were resisting and it was taking a lot more pressure than usual to slow down. My car would not come to a complete stop and I was going ~5mph right up to the crosswalk. The car started violently lurching forward and still, still wasn't coming to a stop. The rpms were revving and I was able to react in time to put the car in neutral, keep braking, and turn the engine off right before things would have ended very badly. I kept my car in park and turned it on, and it would shoot up immediately to 4000 rpm. I didn't trust the car at all at this point and sat in -18 degree weather processing what had just happened and what to do next. After about 5 minutes I heard what can be described as the acceleration pedal releasing or popping back up in place. There was nothing it could have been caught on to cause it to stick. Terrifying.

Coming to a stop in heavy traffic alarms and lights went off, the car lost powering and wouldn't go into gear finally when the gear engaged it would only stay in first gear. Luckily we were able to pull off the busy highway and get safely to the side of the road with no accidents or injuries.

I have owned this vehicle for 4 yrs and have has multiple instances of the vehicle revving and speeding up without ever hitting the gas. When this occurs I have reached speeds over 25mph without ever hitting the gas pedal when taking off from a stoppped position. Usually this happens when I start the vehicle initially but has occured while driving also. The rpm's will go high and if I put in gear the car will just take off. It sometimes will rev down after idling for a few minutes or if I shut off and restart after a couple minutes. When it happens while driving I have had to put in neutral and coast to a stop and shut car down. This is just a very unsafe situation altogether, and from what I have seen there are many more who have experienced this same issue.

I was driving down a boulevard, I was doing 40 mph there was a police car in front and there was maybe about 2 car length distance from him. The light hit yellow and I saw him brake so I started braking as well but my car would not brake. The acceleration continued increasing, I didn't know what to do. I was slamming on the brakes but my car did not stop. My car slammed into the police car within seconds. My car was destroyed. My hood was bent in half, my front bumper scratched & peeled. The bumper stood on the car only because I kept trying to brake and the car went in an angle where it went under the cops car. Both my side fenders cracked and my front light was destroyed. The whole car frame is destroyed and I was held at fault of this accident. My insurance went up, I didn't get no money to help fix my car nor check the problem. If there is way I can get any type of help I would truly appreciate it. 5 months later the same situation happened again thank god I was not driving my vehicle it was parked. It was just accelerating on its own, I didn't know what to do. I left it parked for a week and when I turned it on it was fine. Im scared that this will happen again, please help me out.

The contact owns a 2003 Saturn Ion. The contact stated the vehicle abnormally accelerated without warning. The engine rpms raced even after the brake pedal was depressed, but the vehicle was hesitant to stop. The contact had to slam the vehicle into park in order to correct the failure. The vehicle was not inspected or repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 180,000.

The contact owns a 2003 Saturn Ion. When the heater is operated, the vehicle would idle extremely high. The failure has been occurring since fall of 2006. The contact stopped at a traffic light and the failure recurred. Suddenly, the vehicle accelerated without the accelerator pedal being depressed. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failures. The manufacturer stated that if the dealer could not duplicate the failures, then nothing could be done. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 33,000 and current mileage was 74,300.

I have had my car in for the same repair 4 times since I got it in may 2003. What happens is the car will rev and/or accelerate (sometimes in park, sometimes in drive) on its own. It has accelerated, almost causing me to go through an intersection with my toddler in the car. It occurs without warning, & Saturn has temporarily fixed the problem under warranty each time. The throttle is replaced each time, but there is a recurrent pattern every 4-6 months, as shown on record with Saturn. I was told by Saturn that they investigated the issue, only finding it in one other car. Being as that problem was solved with the other car, & being as my car was just fixed again, they are unwilling to deal with this issue.

While driving, the consumer noticed the vehicle would accelerate from 5 to 20 miles on its own. The consumer applied the brakes, but the pedal went to the floor and the vehicle continued to speed. The consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle. The driver has electrical windows and locks failed. The window would roll up and down intermittently. The door latch would do the same. The master cylinder was replaced as well. These problem continue to occurred and has not been resolved. The driver has informed the mechanic about the problem. Please fill in additional information.

The vehicle stalled while driving on the freeway and going down a hill. The vehicle accelerated up to 5,000 rpm's and would not go down until the vehicle was on a flat surface. Provide further details.

Throttle froze during the winter months. Consumer contacted manufacturer, and was told that because warranty expired they will not make any repairs without consumer first paying for it. Also, headlight covers were covered with a film that made visibility difficult. On 3-7-04 the vehicle was involved in an accident. When the consumer took her foot off the gas but the vehicle did not slow down. The vehicle began to slide then rolled over. The driver sustain double whiplash and left shoulder muscle spasms. The vehicle was not totaled. On 6-16-04 the front passenger side wheel bearing was replaced.

The two Saturn 2003 Ions I have driven (including my current vehicle) have a transmission problem where, when engaging in third gear, the transmission will "freewheel" for several seconds before engaging with a lurch. The problem can be created by accelerating around a corner while the transmission is shifting from second to third. The cars were manufactured in March/April, 2003.

I bought a Saturn Ion in early August of 2003. I have had 5 separate occasions where the vehicle has stalled out on me and had no control of the car what so ever! the latest time was at the interstate at 65 miles per hour with an eight wheeler truck right behind me. Had I not thought quick and put the car in neutral and restarted the car or else I would have been hit it the rear by a several ton vehicle. I could have been killed! the entire power to the car dies !! the steering column locks up and you the entire car "shuts down" and you are stuck in front of another car w/ only the prayer of restarting your Saturn Ion so that you are not killed! the first person I spoke with in the service department told me that he had heard of this in a "couple of other cars" the service manager claimed he had no knowledge of what the "first service technician was talking about. " I am outraged that Saturn said they would try to get the car to "duplicate" this problem for them. I have told them that it is not something that happens everyday or even every week. Their response was "we can't fix what we do not know is broken" I am going to ask that the car be returned to gmac which is the lean holder! I do not think this is a safe vehicle for myself and my small children. "I strongly discourage others from purchasing the Saturn Ion !!!! I feel as if I have been riding in a death trap!! outraged unfortunate Saturn owner of winston-salem.

While driving at any speed and when first accelerating vehicle would bog down and stall. Vehicle had been to the dealer on four occasions, but dealer was unable to duplicate or resolve the problem.