2003 Saturn ION 1 from North America - Comments

I have a 2003 Saturn Ion that has all of these issues. My car acts like it doesn't want to start, my power windows don't want to work anymore, the key does get stuck in the ignition, once the car went crazy and my power steering wouldn't work and all these other things were going crazy. I will never buy another Saturn they have truly lost me as a customer for life!!

Dear Saturn trusters,

I, too, have experienced the ignition switch replacement on my 2003 Ion. I, too, have had the front anti-sway bar replaced on the 2003 Ion.

The 2005 Ion (level 1) that I own is also afflicted with the front anti-sway bar noises at only 29,000 miles, but I'm going to try and live with it.

Because I don't want to blow anymore dollars to try and make it perfect.

Any car with problems after a lesser mileage than that of the warranty expiration is hopeless, in my mind.

Yet, I still won't give up on the car, even though I got it super cheap from a used car dealer.

I still can't afford to give up on this car. Why? Because the A/C is truly awesome. It blows cold, real hard.

I hope I don't jinx myself. I still have another 2005 Ion, level 2, that lost its A/C 36 days after it was bought from a different used car dealer.

Granted, a used car dealer like these guys (I won't mention the name, because it's a small town we live in) could not be blamed for simply recharging a leaking A/C system (thank god we no longer use R-12 in cars) and calling it "good".

But, I just think that if some car that's made in America after the year 2000 and has less than 100,000 miles on it, that car should have a solid A/C system.

I realize, however, that I just got screwed by a desperate car dealer. There is a LOT of them out there.

We all need to make a sale these days.

Back to the 2005 Ion, level 2: The factory stereo CD player works great when it wants to. Sometimes it acts like the only hope would be the exorcist... I no longer bother to risk putting a CD in there.

I just hope the 2005 Ion model year has benefited from design improvements since the 2003...

So far, so good -on the ignition switch, that is.

My motto:

The Saturn is like a Trabant (the East German Car from a Communist Era). Just plan on keeping it and working on it yourself, because it's highway robbery out on the open parts market for a Saturn Ion.