2004 Saturn ION 1 review from North America

I had the same problem with the car not starting in cold weather. I bought the 2004 Ion brand new in 2003, and only had it for 1 month when this began happening. Brought it in to the dealer and they informed me there was nothing they could do; nothing turned up on the diagnostic test. This happened about 8 times that first winter; finally someone at Saturn informed me the ignition switch would need to be replaced. After that, no problem until 2007.

November 2007, it starts happening again. Called the dealer and they asked me to bring it in. I told them I'd had the same problem in the car when it was new, and it had been the ignition switch, so that's what I suspected. The guy said they'd need to run a diagnostic test for $100 (I no longer am under warranty). I told him that if it is the ignition switch, it hadn't shown up on the test the first time, so asked them to check that first. He said that they would still need to run the test, because even if it hadn't shown up on the test, it would show up on the "scan". (Can someone explain to me what the difference is?) When I asked him what the difference was, he spoke some jargon.

I finally convinced him to look at the ignition switch first, and if that wasn't it, gave permission to run the test. Later he informed me that nothing was wrong with the ignition switch, but they found a shorted wire in the ignition column; cost would be $227 which included the diagnostic. He said he was 99% sure this was the problem. I had them go ahead and do the repair.

A week and a half later I had the same problem. Called them up again and brought it in again. In the meantime I had found this web-site and all these complaints, so I printed some out and brought them in. After running the "diagnostic test" again, the same guy informs me that now it is the ignition switch. It hadn't shown up on the test last week, but it was showing up this week. He said they wouldn't charge me for the test or labor, but I'd have to pay $55 for the part. I refused to pay due to the fact that I had paid $227 the week before for them to "fix" something they had misdiagnosed as the problem, and also this was a defect that had been on the car when it was new. He said this was the best they could do.

I'm no genius, but it seems to me that the "shorted out wire" story was made up to attempt to get more $ out of me. How could the ignition switch have turned up on the test when it hadn't shown up the week before? And it hadn't shown up on the test when I had the problem before? Also, why should I be responsible for paying $227 for a mistake that they made, especially when I was informed that they were 99% sure it was the problem, and it wasn't?

Every time I go in to Saturn, I get the feeling I'm being taken for a ride (no pun intended). True, I am a female and know nothing about cars, but I do know when I'm being lied to. Also, even I, with absolutely no training or experience with cars whatsoever, could have determined that if a car will not start in the cold, it wouldn't have anything to do with a shorted-out wire. If they could not have figured this out, one wonders what the qualifications are for the "technicians" that they hire.

I am angry about 2 things:

1) The fact that Saturn knows about this and refuses to recall the part.

and

2) That (I believe) I'm being lied to in an attempt to get more $ out of me. I truly believe that the story about the shorted wire was completely fabricated, and I have doubts as to whether or not any repair was actually made. I also think that, since they made a mistake and misdiagnosed the problem, they should have refunded my money, but they refused to do that. Not only will I never buy another Saturn, I am looking into trading it in for another car. I will never buy another American-made car.