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.
10.0
really awful- Typical Repair Cost:
- No data
- Average Mileage:
- 119,200 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 1 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
- not sure (1 reports)
brakes problem
Helpful websites
- No one has added a helpful site for this 2003 Ion problem yet. Be the first!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I recently bought a Saturn Ion 2. The very next morning , O' my god, there was such a loud, extremely LOUD, screeching metal scraping sound coming from the rear brakes I could not believe it. WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST DO I am yelling at myself at the top of my lungs knowing I had just spent everything I had saved for so long. With every braking, for about 5 min., continued this LOUD TERRIFYING SOUND as if the whole back end were going TO FALL OUT!!!! then it disappeared. Poof, just like that it was gone. Though it now was sounding as if I had no rear brakes, a lite sound of scraping metal to metal and then after about 4 or 5 min. that too had disappeared. Or maybe not BECAUSE at this point " I WAS SO AFRAID TO EVEN PRESS ON THE BRAKES" but I had to if I wanted to make it home. Other Issues As Well, BUT I will be listing them separately".
GM, DO YOU people really know what you are doing? FOR ONE, YOU ARE KILLING PEOPLE!!! PEOPLE ARE DYING, BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT REALLY TESTING THESE VEHICLES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT BEFORE PUTTING THEM OUT TO BE SOLD, ALL FOR THE LOVE AND GREED OF MONEY!!! IS MONEY MORE VALUABLE THAN LIFE?????????
- j.j.california, antioch, CA, US