CarComplaints.com Notes: The Saturn Ion was a compact bundle of hurt wrapped up in a cheap, plastic shell. With so many defective components and a safety rating that a bicycle would be ashamed of, it’s a blessing this car only lasted five model years.
The 2003 (and 2004) Ion was cursed with GM’s flawed attempt at a continuously variable transmission, known as the VTi. It had such a high failure rate that a class-action lawsuit was filed against GM, eventually prompting a settlement and a warranty extension. GM discontinued the VTi for the 2005 model year – surprise, surprise.
The 2003 Ion was also part of one of the largest and most controversial recalls of all-time. A defective ignition switch in millions of GM vehicles could accidentally turn the car off and disable important safety components like the power steering and airbags. The problem resulted in at least 13 deaths, but what made it worse was that GM knew about the issue for 10 years before doing anything about it.
So was the transmission warranty extended? Yeah. Was the ignition switch recalled? Eventually. Is this car safe to drive? Not really. Honestly, you’re better off looking elsewhere.
10.0
really awful- Typical Repair Cost:
- $300
- Average Mileage:
- 115,650 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 3 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
- not sure (1 reports)
- replace power steering motor (1 reports)
- replace rack and pinion (1 reports)
steering problem
Helpful websites
- No one has added a helpful site for this 2003 Ion problem yet. Be the first!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I'm really f*cking lucky on this one.
Driving home from work the steering began to clunk and click allot worse than it did before (It always had a little click and a moan when steering hard) just before leaving there was a loud pop and I lost half of my steering when turning to the right, But I kept driving...
I actually made it home, But as I pulled into the driveway the steering completely failed and there was no control of the vehicle whatsoever. I just think I'm so damn lucky it didn't fail while going 90kmh down the highway on a turn.
Bought a remanufactured rack and pinion assembly from benson's auto parts for $300 (There was a small core charge)
Looks like the bearing on the pinion gear shaft fails and the balls drop down into rack, causing it to jam up or even force the pinion away from the rack, making you loose control.
- David T., Mindemoya, Ontario, canada