30th Jan 2005, 20:41
I own a 2004 Ion QC. I have about 12,000 miles and the only problem I've had is that the dome light rattles a little. I agree with the comment directed to the individual with the modified Ion. Build your own projects, don't buy somebody else's. You should have that checked over by a professional. I was a Saturn technician until 2004. Over all, the vehicles are a good value. You are paying 15-18,000 dollars for a 15-18,000 car. Also, I feel that people who buy a car during its first year of production are asking for trouble. It doesn't matter if it is a Saturn or a Mercedes-Benz. Time is needed to work out the kinks. Unfortunately that can't be done on a test track because a professional drivers habits are much different than your everyday driver. For anyone that has an issue with a Dealership inability to repair the vehicle, contact the dealership's general manager and request that they schedule your vehicle to come in when the technical field rep is going to be there. Good luck!
11th Apr 2005, 19:29
Sorry, but those of you that are disagreeing with the person's assessment of their modified ION are wrong. Modified or not, the problems that occurred on that ION - i. e - noisy suspension (Faulty or poorly lubricated bushings), rubbing noise from the steering, wind noise: these are common problems being had by a LARGE portion of all Ions, not just the modified one mentioned above. And, they are happening in newer model years too, not just the first model year! Saturn knows about these problems too, there are technical service bulletins for most of these problems (which is how the dealer is so quick to diagnose the problem when you bring the car in). Saturn needs to smarten up and make some serious improvements/modifications to these vehicles. In the meantime, the 2003-2005 model years are just poor buys - period.
28th Apr 2006, 19:55
The left and right front hub assembly had to be replaced at 35,000 miles. Now the car has 56,000 and the left is making the same noise again. Who else is having these problems? Sounds like a good candidate for a recall.
6th Jan 2007, 17:07
Have a 2003 Saturn ION and at the current stages it continues to lock out when trying to start it up. It happens a lot not sure what the problem is. Anyone with similar issue please advise.
15th May 2007, 13:10
I also have a 2003 Ion III and have had many of the problems listed by others. A/C started acting weird- set rotary switch to high, but fan only ran on slow speed. Did some research and learned others were having trouble with excessive grease inside the switch assembly. Pulled mine apart and sure enough! Cleaned it all up, put it back together, works fine now! Wonder how much that would have cost? Also had the same "lock out" problem others mentioned. Took to dealer and after $250+ they replaced the starter switch. Of course I asked for the old switch, opened it up and bingo! Excessive grease. I'm still having front-left turn signal bulbs burning out even after taking it in for the recall modification.
I've been a Saturn owner since 1993, but they've really changed since then. Service is terrible at my dealership. I used to trust them, but now I'm very wary and feel they're just trying to gouge me. They used to be "a different kind of company, a different kind of car" but now are just like every other car company, producing a typical car.
Get this, even the guy who called asking for my feedback kept trying to explain away all my complaints. He just wouldn't listen and kept insinuating that I had done something wrong or that my perceptions were incorrect. Kept mentioning that Aura won "Car of the Year." So what? MY CAR HAS PROBLEMS! In the "old days" they would have welcomed my feedback as an opportunity for improvement.
24th May 2007, 17:19
I have a 2003 Ion 3. I have had numerous problems with this vehicle and would like to trade it in for something with fewer problems. I have had the lock out problem and it cost about $300. I have had to replace my hood latch twice. I have had to replace the windshield wiper transmission, there's another $250 (I didn't even know the wiper had a transmission). I replaced the O2 sensor, and know my engine coolant sensor has gone out. It keeps telling me I am out, but it is full. And on top of all of that my front right blinker doesn't work. I changed the bulb and that didn't fix it. Needless to say I don't recommend this car.
30th Jun 2007, 18:58
I own a 2003 Saturn Ion and only had small aggravating problems in the beginning and also periodic problems with the transmission. The second month after purchasing the car I had trouble with it moving when shifted into reverse. I took the car in and the problem was "fixed". Next I had trouble starting the car - turn the key and nothing - when reported the incident was referred to as a common occurrence. Next, my car with only 39,000 miles would not climb a hill - it just would not move - in the middle of morning rush hour traffic. The car has been at the service center for five days waiting for a new transmission. I am thankful that I took out an extended warranty on the car other wise I would go broke trying to keep it in safe running condition. I must say that the service that I have received from my Saturn dealership has been exemplary. They have been apologetic and vigilant in there efforts to repair all problems.
16th Jul 2007, 00:05
My daughter has an '03 Ion 3. If you need to honk you need Superman to push the horn pad. Dealer says, "no problem" "It's O.K." The headlamp assemblies have fogged up. one @ 29,000 miles was replaced by dealer. The other one fogged up 1 month later @ 30,000 miles. Dealer says It will cost $200 to replace. No other options for that. Sorry about your luck! It also shut off on the highway at 70 MPH. Just died! Then started right up. Knowing that the dealer is going to say "no problem, Can't Duplicate" I set out to kill the car. 0-90 in first gear only! @ 90 changed to D then slammed on brakes, down-shifted then punched it back to 90. Shifted to N then revved to red-line rpm's. repeated many times until I cooled off. The car has never given me anymore problems and has run great since. By The Way, It has a hell of a lot of power!!
16th Dec 2004, 07:26
I'm sorry, but I think that except for the problems with the lights, all of your problems are due to the modifications the previous owner did to the car. If that job was not done right (and many of them are not), it could create all of the suspension and wheel problems you mentioned. My guess would be that you probably bought somebody's beat up toy, and you are unfortunately getting what you payed for. If you pound on a car and do shoddy modifications to it, there is going to be problems. If you like the car lowered, I would find somebody competent to go over the job to see what things were done wrong (I suspect many). You might also find this to be a good opportunity for you to learn about cars yourself, and you could even participate in repairing this job, or do future work on the car yourself. If you want a modified car, it would be much better for you to be able to either supervise the job, or do it right yourself, instead of rolling the dice buying a modified car second hand. Good luck.