The head on my car blew at 6,000 miles!!! My first experience with the Saturn dealership, and the service department FORGOT to put the oil gasket back on the oil filter during a routine oil change, therefore spewing my entire engine with oil, draining the entire car of all the oil within a day or so... All of this without my knowledge ruined the head on my car, which Saturn fixed (took an entire day) at no charge, thank God, since it WAS their fault in the first place...
The leather seats are pretty and comfortable, but they discolor majorly due to my blue jeans and khaki leather seats...
The center console that covers up the air conditioner, radio equipment stuff, etc. - all of that is completely loose, and has been since I bought the car 5 years ago. The snaps broke during the test drive after ONE MILE ON THE CAR...
The oil filter is not like ANY OTHER ONE OUT THERE... It resembles a paper air filter, then that sits basically within a cup with a PLASTIC FILTER COVER, WITH A PLASTIC NUT that you have to have the VERY SPECIFIC equipment to change the oil yourself, otherwise you end up stripping the plastic nut completely, or wear yourself out trying to unscrew the thing... OH - and don't try to replace that part, because none of the auto parts stores around here carry anything to replace this at all. They don't even know what that part is called!
My car makes an awful noise at highway speeds, when I'm going very slow or even moderate speeds (like 35 MPH) over tiny bumps like reflectors on the road or a bump in our driveway...
The driver's right air conditioner vent is in the completely wrong place, and only cools off your hand or the steering wheel...
The oil filter change, anywhere you go is entirely too expensive - about $10-$15 more expensive than every other car out there...
I was rear-ended by another driver, and he was going about 35 MPH at the time... He caused several thousands of dollars in damage, but it only looked like a few scratches and a hole in the plastic bumper, causing me not to take action until I got the insurance check to fix the damage, several months later...
This car has a tendency to have windshields break very easily... I've replaced 4 since I've owned the car - in 5 years... I'm still driving with a broken one that finally passes inspection, thank goodness.
I do like the fact that it speeds up quickly, stops well, and barely makes any noise while the engine is cranked and the air conditioner is off...
The car stays pretty for a long time, and doesn't fade, much, if at all... (in 5 years so far)
The radio is good, along with the speakers.
The 16" alloy rims I purchased with the car are still as gorgeous as the day I purchased the car.
All I can say is the Ion has been a very well made car with few problems. I have been waiting for something to happen after hearing some of the problems that others have encountered, but thankfully I have not had to deal with.
My only gripe, and this could be serious, is that the engine just shuts off for no reason at the worst of times. I was on the snow on the 401 at about 45mph and... ended up in the snow bank across 4 lanes and thank God it wasn't very busy at the time.
My Ion is the CVT or IVT, and I didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. A few times I had to disconnect the battery to reset the engine management system, but as time goes on, this all becomes more infrequent.
I am getting a little long in the teeth about this issue, but it could be construed as serious, but other than that, my Ion has performed flawlessly. Almost 40mpg highway, but terrible in the city! Acceleration gets better as time goes on, but I think I am just learning the quirks of the CVT.
I think, and this happens with ALL vehicles, that you got a lemon, pure and simple. I have almost 100 000 miles on my Ion and I have not noticed any degradation as I keep my maintenance up and do all I can myself.
The only other thing that I am ticked at is the air direction button has locked up and I think this may be due to something falling into the air vents from the top of the dash. We will see. I am very happy and pleased with the way this car has performed taking into account the one major quirk.
Too bad Saturn has decided to drop the car as this just leaves the Sky as the only real sports coupe that Saturn now has.
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