2004 Saturn ION 2 from North America - Comments

It handles horribly in the snow and rain.

Poor radio reception.

Popping sound somewhere in drive train.

RPM's hover between 500 and 1000 at idle; sometimes the car hesitates as if it is going to stall.

Rattle behind dash and the dealer doesn't want to take apart the dash and find it.

Hum sound when accelerating sometimes. This is especially evident when I am using my car charger or have my iPod charging.

I have hydroplaned numerous times. The tires look good and the pressure is right. Any advice on this would be appreciated.

My lights behind the radio flickered, but the dealer replaced it and the lights no longer are an issue.

There's no reason for this behavior in the rain. The tires may look OK, but it's worth replacing them with a better quality tire. Maybe you should slow down, too.

I have a 2004 ion. I've had it since it had 19000 miles on it and now it has nearly 40000 on it and it has been a great car. I think some people want a lexus or a jaguar out of a car that costs 1/3 of the cost. it isn't going to happen. take care of the car and if it gets you where you want to go then stop complaining. thanks...

If I remember reading my car manual correctly, the tires that come on the Saturn Ion 2 are strictly dry weather touring tires. If you want to drive in the rain, snow, etc. then you really need to buy new tires. I had the same handling issues and it was then that we realized the tires are the lowest quality possible. I replaced them with the new Toyo Ultra 800 and the difference is unbelievable. The car handles fantastic now. Hope this info helps.

I have the 2004 Ion II. I bought it with only 70 miles on it. At 8,000 miles I had the heater core replace and it has been problem after problem ever since. Anything from having to get new tires at 20,000 due to the alignment being off (the tire shop told me that it could only get this way from the manufacturer, Saturn reimbursed me for the alignment), the heater blower replaced 3 times, and the bushings have been replace 2 times. These are just a few of the problems I have had. Does anyone have a sulfur smell coming from their car? I have used all the different types of gas as told by Saturn and the odor has not gone away. Saturn has not been able to duplicate it all the times that I take it in,so I am just bearing with it.

I had the same problem with the car idling high. They could never duplicate everytime I took the car in. One day it was acting up and I took it in and did not turn off the car and the mechanics came and looked at it. They determined that it was a sensor and then when you turned off you car it reset, so the problem was not consistant. Hope this helps.

I was having the same problem with the idling and stalling in low gears, and it turned out that the computer needed to be re-calibrated. It's run fine ever since.

I think it's hit or miss with this car because it seems like people either have no problems or tons of problems. My Ion has been nothing, but problems as well. I have issues with it idling too high, my windows (manual) are all loose so they rattle. The seal around the driver-side door is bad. The lowest gear on my automatic transmission doesn't work properly. The rpm's shoot up to around 4,000 or 5,000 (even when I shift into the gear from a speed of 10 mph) and continue to climb until I shift out of that gear again. There is a piece of the center console near the driver's side feet that continually falls off. Finally, the hood release lever falls off every time I try to use it. I would never recommend this car to anyone.