NHTSA — Vehicle Speed Control: Cruise Control Problems

CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2005 Ion still had power steering issues and a defective ignition switch leftover from previous model years, but hey – at least Saturn improved some of its safety rating to marginal, right? Baby steps.

If you had to buy a Saturn Ion – and I would question why anyone would even consider it – I suppose the 2005 could be considered the best of a bad bunch? I mean, GM did finally get rid of that awful VTi transmission, and both the power steering problems and ignition switch defect that plagued owners were recalled. The problem is they waited 10 years to recall the ignition and let over 30,000 warranty claims get filed before they bothered to fix the power steering. So you kind of have to wonder, is GM making these fixes to keep owners safe or just to keep government lawyers from taking all their money? You be the judge.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
0 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2005 Saturn Ion engine problems

engine problem

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2005 Saturn Ion Owner Comments

problem #3

May 122005

Ion 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

2005 Saturn Ion, multiple problems w cruise control disengaging & not operable unless vehicle shut off, unexpected acceleration, & activating on it's own. The dealership would not believe me until the service manager witnessed this problem. When Saturn sent an engineer to review the issue he also doubted me as he had the vehicle for 1 week & was unable to reproduce the problem. When I submitted for a new vehicle under the states lemon law the service manager accused me of making this up to get a new vehicle. Saturn required me to pay $1800 for mileage depreciation to replace the vehicle & refused to honor the extended warranty which came with my original vehicle. My big error was in giving the dealer & Saturn Corp 5 time to try & fix the problem. Those 2 extra attempts caused further mileage which cost me in additional out of pocket expenses.

- Sandown, NH, USA

problem #2

Jun 012005

Ion

  • miles
I purchased a 3005 Saturn Ion coupe 3 5/31/05 with in the past 7 months, the car has been back to the dealership 5 times. The day after I picked up the vehicle, I noticed a thumping noise in the back. After bringing back to the dealership, I was told that the rear rotors needed to be replaced. This did not fix the noise. My second trip the dealership indicated that I needed new rear brake drums. Because they were warped (future conversations with the sales manager indicated that this was completely normal, that if the car sits for a few weeks without being driven, the drums will warp, which leads me to think that Saturn should re think the quality of parts they use.) since that time, I have brought the car in for a defective radio (which was replaced) a drivers window that wouldn't go down (motor replaced) and the cruise control not working (after 2 times, it was replaced). I finally was able to speak with the area manager last week after I called Saturn customer service to log a complaint for the second time. He offered me free basic maintenance (oil changes, tire rotations) for 2 years. This was the first time that anyone at Saturn had offered to do anything for my time/inconvenience. Very poor customer service/satisfaction.

- Voorhees, NJ, USA

problem #1

Dec 102004

Ion 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
The contact bought a 2005 Saturn Ion on 12-10-04. The first 50 miles he had to take it back to dealer because the cruise control was not working. The dealer fixed the cruise control under warranty. The dealer had to get a new computer program for the car. Since then he had to take vehicle to dealer five times because the car sputtered and died sporadically. The last two times was on 9-26-05 and on 9-30-05, and on 9-26-05 the dealer replaced the automatic transmission body control, tcm, and power train module. Repaired all wiring and connectors. During test drive, the service light was still on. He believed the dealer reset the service engine light. The contact picked up the car on 9-29-05, and on 9-30-05 the check engine light was still on. The dealership replaced the engine wiring harness at that time. The contact picked up the car on 10-03-05. He has only driven the car once sine then and the check engine light has not yet come back on. The contact has talked to a field representative from Saturn several times, and he told him to got to the ok dmv.

- Oklahoma City, OK, USA

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