CarComplaints.com Notes: The Saturn Ion was a compact bundle of hurt wrapped up in a cheap, plastic shell. With so many defective components and a safety rating that a bicycle would be ashamed of, it’s a blessing this car only lasted five model years.
The 2003 (and 2004) Ion was cursed with GM’s flawed attempt at a continuously variable transmission, known as the VTi. It had such a high failure rate that a class-action lawsuit was filed against GM, eventually prompting a settlement and a warranty extension. GM discontinued the VTi for the 2005 model year – surprise, surprise.
The 2003 Ion was also part of one of the largest and most controversial recalls of all-time. A defective ignition switch in millions of GM vehicles could accidentally turn the car off and disable important safety components like the power steering and airbags. The problem resulted in at least 13 deaths, but what made it worse was that GM knew about the issue for 10 years before doing anything about it.
So was the transmission warranty extended? Yeah. Was the ignition switch recalled? Eventually. Is this car safe to drive? Not really. Honestly, you’re better off looking elsewhere.
8.0
pretty bad- Typical Repair Cost:
- $260
- Average Mileage:
- 73,850 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 5 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
- not sure (4 reports)
- remote start passlock bypass (1 reports)
electrical problem
Helpful websites
- Passlock/VATS Bypass - Hello everyone. I was having the same problem on my car. After doing the key restart for several months it finally got to where it would never start. The dealer wanted to charge me $1000 just for the parts to fix it and to be honest I would rather set it on fire then give them another dime. I found that you can do the wire cut method but this will only provide you a temporary fix. Eventually the other parts of the system will fail and you will be back to square one. The average lifespan of your passlock parts is less than 7 years. Why buy another BCM so it can fail again? I got lucky because I found this site because they sell a bypass that takes passlock out of the equation forever. No more failing parts. They also sell a manual that will instruct you to build your own bypass if you are handy like that. I wasn't. They really saved me because there is no way I could afford the new parts.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
My brother had the car before me and had the same problem and told me what I should do. He also told me that this car is not going to be fix able as you are going to stop making them and no more parts will be available . I was to sell this car as fast as I can and get a better car. I got hurt on the job and now I can not work at all, so selling the car is not an option for me. I was told that you can fix this problem. It would be nice to have it done. I also know that you do not want to do this as it cost a lot of money for you to fix your problems. Just think of all the good feeling that people would have for a company that stands behind their word. When would you contact me with an answer about this problem. Soon I hope.
Lauren Grove
- grove_larry, Glendora, CA, US