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Sedans Saturn ION Saturn ION
3384 messages, Last post on Oct 01, 2009 at 1:00 PM
You are in the Saturn ION Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: taxman10 (May 01, 2005 3:33 pm) This Ion is quite quiet inside and the wind noise at highway speed is more than acceptable. Seats are comfortable and the headroom is amazing to me. I've never been able to sit in a sedan of just about any make or size with a sunroof and not have my head tilted to one side or worse--in the sunroof-equipped Ion there is a comfortable amount of headroom between the top of my head and the ceiling. Room for the knees and thighs between the center console and the door armrest is adequate but a touch tight--not uncomfortable but an extra inch or two there would be good. I also wish there was another storage tray or bin at the front of the center console in front of the cupholders & just under the climate controls. If this car had another 15 horsepower or so it would be truly awesome, but the 2.2 engine is certainly adequate, just not headsnapping. Ride quality is good, firm but forgiving over bumps. Maneuverability is really good--terrific tight turning radius means you can nicely zip into parking slots But the somewhat negative comments I've made here are petty issues and I am extremely pleased with the car so far. I imagine Saturn will continue to refine this car; it's pretty damn good now, but I would think a 2007 Ion could be awesome if they do things right & listen to their customers. |
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Replying to: joerecording (Jan 29, 2005 1:57 pm) That was a fight initself to get them to admit that I showed it to them before I ever drove off the lot. My CD changer/ radio cassette upgraded system with 6 speakers as an upgrade and several $$ later has been replaced and this is my 3rd radio/cd player. The CD player keeps shutting off on it's own while a disc plays, this happened 2 times, and 2 new cd players put in. Now the CD palyer does not turn on at all. You can not eject or insert a disc or even get it to play, only the radio works. Now a third cd player has been replaced. Speakers blewn while I was listening to the car before I drove off the lot, static crunching distortion noise, 2 right front speakers replaced. Then my car stopped meanwhile I was driving and was in heavy traffic with speeding cars. I coasted into a parking lot and shut off the car. Waited a few minutes and the car started and I drove straight to Saturn. They told me it was the speed sensor that went. 3 times it has been replaced. The car looses power when sitting and waiting top turn as you try to drive through the turn.I was told the first 2 speed sensors were a defective part and assured it would never happen again, as they replaced it with a new sensor form a new supplier. Then my transmission went, 44,000 miles on a road trip that i had been driving for over 6 hours doing 80 mph my transmission blew and the car shut off with a 18 wheeler hauling fast behind me, almost got killed. The car transmission is warrantied until 75k miles per Saturn. They will not recall it and help people from being killed, they will pay to fix it. front cover side was replaced, they told me I got a brand new transmission. The belt in the transmission blew into pieces, they showed me and said when they opened up the VTI transmission, metal pieces came flying out.. Now I am suppossed to feel safe 500 miles away from home to turn around and drive home. My muffler shield broke, all I do is drive 10 miles to and from work every day, loud ratteling noise, they had to fix by putting on a new muller at 34K miles. now I had to fight with Saturn as i hear a loud noise fromunder the hood with the ac on or off, they claimed I was crazy and they and 3 technicians never heard a noise. i had to pick up the car go to work then drive back and leave the car running for them to hear it running loud. Had to make a scene at the dealership with the technicians and the service manager to say hear the loud noise from my car running over there? Amazingly enough they heard it, and it was the fan motor that went, but hey i am crazy and hear stuff. I paid for a platinum zero dollar deductible extended warranty and told me that if it was the fan they would fix it and pay for it, but the diagnosis was $100.00 I had to pay them, not likely I told them. They charged me $324.00 as well the week before for a drive serpentine belt, front brakes pads and to machine my rotors. Car still does not feel any different when my brakes were bad and did not want to stop. Pedal very low and feels sometimes like I will not be able to stop. they told me I have to pay $89.99 to bleed the brakes!! IThat should be included in the brake job , everyonelse does that and they should adjust my petal, they did nothing. And lastly my car was brought in before 36k miles becuase the factory paint on the front bumper was peeling up. They painted it after i fought with them , then hit the bumper before they let it dry enough and put it on with a dent in the paint. i had to fight with them and have them repaint it. Unbelieveable.Then my car had a transmission seal . valve leak days after they checked my transmission fluid and opened it to check. My car had all the warranty work done to fix that days later. i want to know about the lemon law and howto get rid of this car. We all need to fight this and complain, bad PR hurts them and they act. I saved to buy a new car that was no better than my used mustang that had engine problems. Some piece of mind I got, now I am afraid the transmission or engine will go as I drive. |
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Hi, I have owned a 1995 SL1, 2001 SL1, and now a 2005 ION2. I drove them 93,000 Km and 112,000 Km before trading. The only unexpected problem I had was a transmission filter leak after 76,713 on the 95 and after 76,117 on the 2001. The motor for the sunroof on the 2001 broke, but the sun roof on my son's saturn was fine. Since I keep records on all cars I own, I noticed the following expected problems never occurred. Fan Belt, muffler, radiator, alternator and brake pads only once in 100,000 km. According to the user manual for the 2005 I shouldn't expect much repair until 160,000 km. I should expect to change the auto transaxle fluid  83,000 km; maybe I will have this done at 76,000 km. I would say I am a satisfied Saturn owner. What I was searching for was information on the changes to the mechanical parts. Contrary to what I have read in the forums, I don't have a serpentine belt on my 2005 ION. The only belt I have left is the air conditioning belt. I have read articles (positive) on the Electric power steering, but what happened to the alternator and whatever else this belt used to provide power to ? Why do I no longer have a transmission dip stick ?. Al 
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Hi again, the salesman led me astray, I looked at the engine again and the belt is flat and it does drive an alternator and the air conditioning. I would call that a serpentine belt. Al 
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Hi, again, veterans to this board! I just returned home after spending 4 months in the Alaska bush. I missed my ION and the freedom of driving on contiguous freeways and interstate roads. The car sat through the snow pileups of greater DC unmoved and the brake rotors completely rusted out. It's unattractive with our alloy wheels, but we've experienced no problems driving. We should get the brakes checked anyway and an oil change but all in good time. We have not had the key-stuck-in-iginition problem that others on this board have spoken of. We have taken it to the dealer in the past year for a number of recall fixes. Otherwise, we have not had to do any repairs yet. I expect that we need to catch up on regular maintenance issues like tire rotation and brakes. Will have to check the manual. I think we need to get it washed and detailed bad. Our ION2 now has 38,083 miles on it. I'm jealous that vue has 66K on his/hers. Our 1992 SL1 has 253,797 miles on it. After sitting in the driveway unused for 4 months, it needed a jump and some air in the tires. It too needs an oil change. But it's running fine. I can't say that I empathize much with caitlin. (By the way, that glass-breaking thing happened to my husband with the SL1, so I believe you. He was in college, and on a cold winter day, he got into his car, started it and the back windshield completely shattered -- no explanation to speak of.) I've always told my college friends that just because some people say Saturns are good cars, it doesn't mean they're indestructible. One word comes to mind: karma. Good to see that the board is still alive and kickin', Me,  subjectively driving/riding in a 03 ION2 AT silver w/ conv & travel pkgs, a/c, 15in alloys, spoiler and radio/cd/cass/coaxials Disclaimer: I do not work or am in any way affiliated w/ Saturn or GM. Most of my family (and my husband's) refuse to touch any American, let alone GM, cars with a 10-ft pole. Good day! |
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Replying to: micweb (Jun 01, 2005 9:03 am) The ION has a space frame that concentrates most of its strength in door's centerr, not the lower edge. The IIHS side impact test has a substantial lower bumper protrusion on its ram. Result - mismatch. Also, the Ion's plastic skin does little to distribute crash energy across the door. The Cobalt's steel door skin and internal beams apparently distribute crash energy more evenly. side notes: the wiring on lower end GM cars I've owned has proven unimpressive (poorly wrapped, cheapo connectors). As for lighted window switches, '04+ Malibu has them in front, but not rear. |
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| I've read that there will be some price adjustments as well as a few refinements. Of particular interest to me are the 2.4L Ecotec with 170hp and the "auxilary" input for the new stereo. The Saturn website has no info about either of these. Does anyone know? | |
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Replying to: papa_h (Feb 28, 2005 6:56 am) saturn corporate about the problem so that if it pursists, I will have it in the vehicles history with them. Although the guys at the dealership have been very nice and are trying to help, apparently these cars have computer glitches and I have been told that Saturn corporate is aware of the problem but there is nothing they can do at this time. It is so sad because I love my ion. I love everything about the car as long as I dont have to take long trips that would involve cruise control. If anyone else has had this problem, please email me at foobrain netzero.net, or respond here (or both).
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But - my husband just purchased (Wednesday) a 2006 Ion Quad w/the travel package, abs (which doesn't come standard..we were surprised!), spoiler, extended warranty, XM radio and remote start/alarm etc. ($18,300). He had nothing but trouble from the sales folks - the first salesman kept using terms like "cheap, noisy interior". He seemed totally disinterested in making a sale. Second guy seemed better - until the ink dried, then it was as if it was a chore to answer the phone. The remote starter didn't work, so after much haranguing - they dispatched a repair person to fix it. Several questions for the pros: 1. We were told they could install a feature that would allow the XM to be played through the CD auxiliary - but now believe after research that the add-on is not available for 2006..is it or is it not available, or are we being hoodwinked?? 2. Today - after fewer than 100 miles on the vehicle, my husband got the following warning: "Secondary air injection emission control system - no critical system". This was an Onstar warning that said you must have this serviced within 7 days. When we called the dealership - they seemed not at all concerned, and told my husband he could continue driving the vehicle with no voiding of warranty. What is the warning - and is the warranty still okay?? They say they will have to call him on Monday to let him know if there are after-hour servicing options. It's a lovely car, and we really want to love it. It just seems like the dealership is making it difficult. Thanks in advance for your comments! Bev |
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| The gauge console where the speed, fuel, and tachometer is located provides critical information on driving a car. How could the designing engineers make such a blunder that you have to look away from the steering wheel to read this information? This is an extremely unsafe design. People drive their cars, concentration their line of vision on the steering wheel and the the immediate visual fields ahead in the road. Can anybody explain this to me? | |
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