Nine problems related to anti-theft controller have been reported for the 2006 Saturn ION. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
On some cold days, the car will not start. This is an intermittent problem. The lights, radio, etc. Will turn on when the key is turned, but the car will not start and the anti-theft indicator light will blink. You have to wait anywhere from 10-30 minutes for the anti-theft system to reset to allow the vehicle to start. I only have this problem on cold days. This has happened multiple times and we've contacted gm twice, but they say they have never heard of any complaints.
The contact owns a 2006 Saturn Ion 2. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph, the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle was merged to the side of the road and after waiting ten minutes the vehicle restarted. The failure occurred sporadically. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated the faulty anti theft pass lock would need to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was unavailable.
Car intermittenly wont start. If you stall this car and you are sitting at a stop light, there is a good chance that you wont be able to start this car right away. This could create a dangerous situation. Dealer recommended replacing the ignition switch. Worked for about a week then the same problems started again. This problem is all over the internet. Seems to have something to do with the anti-theft device on the car.
The contact owns a 2006 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that the vehicle would not start due to the ignition pass lock security feature. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was informed that the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 50,000 and the current mileage was 62,000.
Steering wheel will not lock. When taking key out of ignition, and opening driver door, it chimes very fast, as if key was still in ignition or lights have been left on. It's as if the key was never removed at all, which means the anti-theft device probably does not engage and the ignition could easily be manipulated and started without the key. I have not contacted my dealer because the car is no longer under warranty and I do not have the money to pay for such a repair. However, I will be turning the car over to gmac once the smartbuy period is up. I also had a problem with the window falling off the track; I had this fixed while under warranty, but at 35,500 miles and I don't drive it that much.
Saturn Ion has trouble starting when the weather is cold. It is the pass lock anti-theft system that so many other people are having troubles with. Saturn dealer will not admit to any problem.
I have 2006 Saturn Ion 3 and there is something going on with the passlock which delay the time of my car starting I have to wait 10 minutes before I could get my car to start.
This is the second complaint I have filed on my 2006 Saturn Ion. I have been tracking a problem I have been having with it not starting in the morning. The problem is with the passlock system that allows fuel to pass to the engine, a so called anti theft deterrent. This morning I sat in my car in the driveway for 30 minutes waiting for the system to reset itself. Looking at various websites, gm has had this problem repeatedly for quite some time. I have contacted Saturn corporation, received assistance from a customer service rep, taken my car to the nearest dealership (70 miles away) and the dealership "can't duplicate the problem" and says they have "never heard of this problem before". I took over 20 pages of documentation with me showing thousands of gm customers that are experiencing this same problem. The dealership wouldn't even look at the paperwork. Something needs to be done about this issue. My car is only 2 years old. I was sold a defective product, gm knows the passlock system does not work properly but continues to treat their customers like they are idiots. It is dangerous to be stranded in a car that will not start with children in the car and ridiculous to have a car dictate when it will start.
I have a 2006 Ion, with around 38,000 miles o it. Last week when I left work later in the evening and turned the key in the ignition, the lights and radio came on, but the car did not start. I thought I needed roadside assistance but when I tried to start the car again when I was on the phone with them the car then started, which was about 15 minutes later. To make a long story short I took it to my Saturn dealer today (Saturn of monroeville) and was told this is a known issue with the internal security system in the Ions. They had to replace the ignition switch and reprogram the internal security code. If this is a known issue, why isn't a recall issue? what consistitutes an issue that warrants a recall? if it's safety related and argument could be made that if my car doesn't start it or even shuts down (not sure of the extent of what could have happened) that is definitely a security issue.