Unknown Or Other Problems of Saturn ION - part 2

I have a 2004 Saturn Ion and on yesterday my car would not turn off. Although I could still remove the keys from the ignition, the car would still not turn off. In 2009, I received a recall letter informing me about the recall on my electronic transmission. I don’t know if this ignition switch has anything to do with that issue, but I would like to find out. When I called chase Chevrolet here in stockton, CA, on March 30, 2010 at 7:10 am, the repair man told me that it has been a lot of Saturn cars that had to repair this same type of problem. And that either the car would not turn off or turn on and in my case, the car wouldn’t turn off. This incident happened yesterday at exactly 6:00 pm when all dealerships were closed. I was in sacramento, CA and had to drive all the way to stockton, CA just so I could turn my car off by the ignition switch that took a family member two hours to figure out. Now I have to pay over $300. 00 for the repair, but if this is happening to a lot of Saturn’s, I feel it’s an issue that needs to be addressed. Thank you for you time and your gratitude toward our safety.

See all problems of the 2004 Saturn ION 🔎.

Intermittent issues with vehicle not starting. Insert key into ignition, turn and nothing. Vehicle dash lights come on, but nothing turns over. Well-known issue as noticed on several message boards. Per Saturn and others with this issue, the ignition switch and/or the wiring harness need to be replaced - which cost a lot of money. The system is supposed to "reset" itself after 10 minutes - however up to 24 hours passes without the system resetting itself.

See all problems of the 2003 Saturn ION 🔎.

The ignition key would not turn off the vehicle. It was stuck in the on position with the car running. I had to drive to my mechanic and have him disconnect the battery to get it to stop. He rebuilt the ignition, but I continue to have problems with the key getting stuck after shut off. There has been another continuing ignition problem in my 2006 Ion for a couple of years, before and after the key got stuck in the on position. The key continually gets stuck in the ignition after shut off and will not come out until I play with it (restarting the car, moving it a bit, playing with the door locks, etc. ) for a couple of minutes.

See all problems of the 2006 Saturn ION 🔎.

Was driving at 35 mph when suddenly everything died and check engine light came on, I thought it was the transmission, was able to restart after pulling to a stop, drove slowly to Saturn dealership, they test drove it said all was ok, sent me home. Same thing happened about a week later, went to dealership again, they had tech hook up to computer and told me it was the apps - accelerator pedal position sensor. This defect causes an unsafe driving condition and is expensive to repair. They are not sure if it's the apps or the wiring. It may be due to moisture.

2003 Saturn Ion-3 purchased new began not starting in 2009. After waiting approximately 10-15 minutes the car starts up. Took the car to a repair shop where a diagnostic test was done and they could not find a problem and could not reproduce the car not starting. Went on-line and discovered numerous complaints from other Saturn Ion owners regarding this exact problem. Wrote a letter and sent copies of these same complaints to gm in January 2009. A service rep. Called me saying they had no recalls for this problem and nothing could be done about it by gm. Starting having many more incidents of the car not starting in 2010, but waiting the 10-15 minutes and the car then starting. Sent an e-mail to gm regarding this issue. Again a service rep. Called and said due to the age of the car I should take it to an authorized dealer and the repair, if they could find it, was my responsibility. This issue can be quite serious since you cannot start your vehicle and are left sitting there in conditions that could be dangerous (very cold weather, late at night, etc. ) lately this situation has happened 6-8 times in two weeks. It would certainly help if gm knows about this situation and would issue a recall.

In cold weather(temp under 32f), my wife's Saturn will not start. This is the fourth time this season. When trying to start the car, nothing happens. She has light, radio but turning the key everything goes dark and no turn over of the engine. I checked online and found the a lot of other people are having the same problem. The part seems to be the ignition switch has a problem with the passlock. I called the dealer and he even said the same thing about people having this problem.

In ambient temperature of 29 degrees, my vehicle would not start. Passlock light was blinking for 10 minutes and then stopped. After that, I was able to start the car. This has happened before.

See all problems of the 2005 Saturn ION 🔎.

On four different occasions while driving my 2004 Saturn Ion on the highway, after hitting an unusual bump or dips in the road, I?ve experience a complete shutdown of the car?s systems, including loss of power, loss of steering and any ability to accelerate, brake or navigate the car. The car slows to a complete stop. From my past experience I've learned that the car will need to come to a complete stop and then shifted into park. The car key will then physically need tp be removed and reinsert the key to get the vehicle restarted. (trying to start the car without removing the key will not work. ) on all occasions this has presented an extremely dangerous situation as other cars traveling on the highway at speeds of 55-75 mph are forced to maneuver around my stalled vehicle, which does not even have the power or control to be pull off to the side of the road. The car was taken to the Saturn dealership on October 17, 2007 after the first 3 incidents, however diagnostic tests could not identify or replicate the problem. The dealership adjusted a fuse box in the under carriage of the car. But could not neither assure me the problem was resolved, or would not happen again. The situation recurred recently on oct 4, 2009 while on interstate 95. The severity of the situation could have easily resulted in a fatal accident as I sat stranded in the fast-lane of the highway. The car is presently at another Saturn dealership where they again say they are unable to identify or replicate the problem. I am no longer confident in the safety of this vehicle and seek the NHTSA assistance in resolving the matter.

2006 Saturn Ion 2 will not start in cold weather.

In below freezing weather, our 2006 Saturn 4-door Ion is extremely difficult to get into when everything freezes. This might not be abnormal except that the plastic tread on the door frame at the bottom on most of my doors now have shattered and broken off due to this. Also, the back door windows roll down by themselves a little in any temperature. And today (again in freezing weather), my driver's side front door would not close. The latch wasn't catching. I called Saturn and they said there was no fix for it, and you had to spray it with wd40. I've never had to do this with any other vehicle and never have I seen this happen before. As it was, the wd40 worked. The number of failures for the door is 2 (last night, and this morning). The number for the door tread is 4 (all 4 doors). The number of failures for the window are far too numerous to count, so I've put in there 100 because I've had it over a year and it does it constantly.

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.

When it is cold I noticed that my car will idle up to 4 and when I put it in drive it will go real fast even with my foot off the gas. When I try to brake it is hard to stop because it just wants to go.

Recently I experienced a problem with my car failing to start. I was advised by the mechanic that Saturn issued a technical service bulletin addressing this issue. The reference numbers is 04-08-45-005c, date of issue December 4, 2006 affecting 2003-2006 Saturn Ions built up to and including VIN breakpoint 6z147837. I was told by the mechanic that my car had both diagnostic trouble codes listed in this bulletin.

- the contact owns a 2004 Saturn Ion . While driving at 8 mph with the road condition being extremely poor the vehicle slid on some ice, causing the vehicle to bounce of the side of the curb. The contact noticed that the right wheel was pushed back to the fender. The right drive axle broke inside the transmission. The cv joint was still undamaged,not even a tear in the boot. The contact had the vehicle towed to the dealership. The failure mileage was 22000, and the current mileage was 22500. A mechanic wrote that he had not seen so much damage which involved a low speed curb impact. Updated 03/13/07.

The contact owns a 2003 Saturn Ion. The vehicle fails to start in cold weather or will occasionally take more than five minutes. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The contact replaced the battery and made minor repairs, but the failure still persists. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 60,000.

I am the owner of a 2004 Saturn Ion 3. I have now had it for three winters in which I have had starting problems every winter. I have replaced the battery all three winters, to find that was not the problem. After many reading many blogs and websites I have found that Saturn uses an ignition switch that freezes in the cold. Saturn also does not claim to this issue. We have taken our car to the local dealership with this problem, but no mechanic knew what the problem was. I live in a place that is known for cold winters so I know now (especially after reading complaints about this on the net) that the mechanics have to be aware of this situation with the cars. My husband has replaced the ignition switch to find that it did not help (obviously if we are using the same freezing part)! this is not listed as a recall, because it is not a safety issue. I am sorry, but if I get stuck out at a rest stop on some highway by myself or with my young child in below 30 degrees, that becomes safety issue to me!!! another safety issue that has presented itself in the Ion is my seat belts. They do not lock or retract. There has been no tampering or changing of anything that would cause this to happen.

I have a 2005 Saturn Ion. The ignition switch is defective. It randomly decides to not start on any day. I can drive to the gas station five miles down the road, get gas, get back in my car, and it not start. Some days my car will not start for two consecutive days, and then all of a sudden it will crank! started right after warranty expired and continues to do so.

During a weekend of thunderstorms my sunroof leaked a large amount of water into the interior of the car. The passenger side of the vehicle was soaked. I got the car back, and during another thunderstorm the car leaked again. The dealership also left my car out in the rain with a known leak for three days on the first trip to the service department. The service manager referred to this leakage problem as a design flaw.

The rear bumper is starting to have obvious scratches where the trunk lid comes down. The district service manager says that this is a common problem, that Saturn identified two years ago. During the service visit the technician realized that my bumper was misaligned at assembly and realigned and corrected the problem. Then the problem started again. Now it is in the center of the bumper where the first time it was on the right side. The service department says that the only thing that can be done is to shave the bottom of the trunk lid and re-paint. The car has now been in the shop twice for this problem. I was told by the technician and service advisor that when the car is in motion that air or wind resistance goes through the bumper and pushes the bumper against the trunk lid causing the scratches on the bumper and bottom of trunk lid.

In February/March of 2006 I started experiencing issues with the sunroof. The switch operating the sunroof was not working properly. I made an appointment for service and had this checked on 03/17/2006. The problem was confirmed and a replacement part was ordered.

Shifter knob came detached during street driving.

My car hesitates when shifting from first to second gear. Once the clutch is out and you apply the throttle the car goes then looses power and then goes again. This car was is in the shop the last 26 of 39 days for 4 seperate attempts to fix it. The dealer states they can not fix it and that Saturn corporate has no idea what is wrong with it either. No one from Saturn customer care has once asked me for my side of the story or the 6 pages of documentation on how I was treated and told would be done to repair my car. The dealership that I purchased it from has told me there is nothing they would do to repair my car. My car is now at another dealership the day after I was told to pick it up because the service engine light came on in approximatley 60 minues after pick up from the original dealer that I purchased it from. It seems there are mant Saturn Ion redlines with this same problem on the internet. . .

Car will suddenly stall and shut down.

I purchased my 2004 Saturn Ion in April, 2004. In June, 2004 my right turn signal stopped working, causing my running light on that side not to work either. In July, 2004 when opening up the hood to refill windshield wiper fluid, the hood latch inside the car came off in my hand. On Dec 22, 2004, the brakes on my 2004 Saturn Ion failed to work cause me to go through a stop sign, which resulted in a accident with another car. Both cars were only moving about 15 - 20 mph, but on impact the whole right (passenger side) side bumper broke up and was on the ground. Leaving a big gapping hole on the right passenger side of the car. No recalls have been placed on defective brakes, as of this date. In February, 2005, when coming out to start car after work, the car would not start, the key locked in the ignition, the hood and the trunk locked and couldn't get them open to get a jump from the tow truck. I had to have the car towed back to the Saturn dealership. Battery was replaced. The same day I picked the car up from the dealership, went into a store when I came out the car would not start again. This time the key didn't lock in ignition so I was able to get a jump. This has happened on about 4 different occasion, with the dealership not able to give me any solution to the problem.

I own a 2003 Saturn Ion. The battery went dead today because my wife left the lights on by accident. When the battery in this model car becomes discharged two undesireable problems arise. I feel that both of them introduce safety concerns. First, the key won't come out of the ignition switch through normal means. Second, the car can't be moved! the gear shift lever remains in the park position. I feel that a car designed such that these two problems occur when the battery fails is a poor design. The instruction manual provided with the car makes no mention of these problems occuring with a dead battery. In order to jump a dead battery in a car it is often necessary to move the car I n order to jump the battery from another car. I feel having an intentional design in a car that prevents it from being moved by the owner creates a safety concern. Regarding the key situation, my wife left her entire set of keys in the car when they got stuck in the ignition switch. Many important keys were left in the car unattended. It could have made a bad situation much worse. It turns out that the instruction manual in the car discusses how to get stuck keys out of the ignition switch, but no mention is made in the book that keys will get stuck in the ignition switch when the battery goes dead. I spoke to the consumer complaint department at Saturn regarding this concern, but it is not Saturn's policy to respond to this type of customer complaint. Since I feel these two problems do have a safety impact, I decided to register this complaint with the NHTSA.

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.

On three different occasions my knee has accidentally hit the keys, causing the engine to shut off. My wife has had this happen once. I am 6 foot 3 inches, my wife is 5 foot 6 inches. In other words, normal heights. Two of these occasions have been on a freeway, going 65 mph. Luckily traffic has been light so there has not been an accident. Had traffic been heavier, this could have been much more serious.

I own a Ion 2003, when we purchased the car we also purchase the plastic window guards from the dealer. I had problems with the back door, the two parts making up the door were separating at top of window. They try to gluing, it didn't work, then they try something else and it did work, and finnally they order a new part. When they install the new part, they removed the plastic guard fron the window and said they will replace it at the next oil change. Well the next oil change came a they not only did not replace the window guard but they removed the guard from the other window!!!!they stated the guard was the caused of the problem. Now I want to know are the doors safe. My wife place my grand child in the back seat. Is there a bigger problem with the doors ????.

I purchased my 2003 Saturn Ion quad 3 on 6-12-2003. I've had nothing but problems with it since the beginning. The transmission slips constantly. A tech from spring hill says this is normal for this type of transmission. Trying to turn left in front of oncoming traffic is a nightmare. This car is in the shop as we speak. The rear quarter panel is cracked and being replaced. The rear bumper is being painted because of scratches from the trunk rubbing. The front bumper is being painted because of runs in the paint. None of the body panels seem to match up. They're attempting to fix a popping noise in the front end. They're replacing the dr side glass because it is severely scratched. It sometimes runs rough at first crank.

First, my power steering would go out. I would turn of the car and turn it back on and it would be back for a short time. I took it in and it was fixed a week or two ago. Now, the ignition key is locked in the on position. To turn it off I have to disconnect fuse 16 and disconnect the negative power cable. To turn it on I have to reconnect the negative power cable and reinsert the fuse. I was advised this is a common problem with Saturn Ions and not related to the recent work that was done on the car.