I was driving home and all of a sudden my steering wheel locked up. My car kept blinking "pwr str" on the dash board. It has happened 3 time in the past 2 days. Luckily, when this has happened so far I was close to the side of the road so I didn't cause an accident or anything. There is nothing I can do to repair this, except to spend thousands of dollars to replace the entire engine and parts.

- Miamisburg, OH, USA

2005 Ion coupe - power steering light comes on and steering becomes hard to turn. Comes on after a few seconds in driving. Steering is hard to turn similar to manual steering.

- Little Rock, AR, USA

Power steering outage 2005 Saturn Ion.

- Kingsland, GA, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Saturn Ion. While driving at approximately 70 mph, the power steering warning light illuminated on the dashboard and the steering wheel became extremely stiff. The vehicle was pulled over and upon restarting, the vehicle operated as normal. The failure continued to recur intermittently as the contact took the vehicle directly to a local repair facility. The mechanic advised he would not be able to make repairs to the vehicle because it potentially was under recall. The manufacturer advised there was not a recall for his vehicle or the failure. The vehicle was not serviced. The failure and current mileages were 32,500.

- Brownsville, TX, USA

2005 Saturn Ion keeps losing power steering as I drive. The wheel turns very hard and requires aggressive strength to turn it. It happens every day and I get the message in the dash "pwr str" then my powersteering shuts off. Its an electric motor connected to the steering wheel. It is the same part number and assembly as the 06-07 cobalt, Pontiac G5 etc. Recall. They have the same system. GM recalled those but left out Saturn. I went in for diagnosis and it is a $1,200 repair. GM recalled the same part number motor and same system on other cars. This is unfair and very unsafe. I have heard it is a normal thing for these electric motors to be going out left and right on all cars that have them but only some get recalled not all.... I am unhappy and can't drive my car safely I have to carpool now.

- Tulare, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Saturn Ion. While driving at approximately 15 mph, the power steering warning light illuminated followed by a loss of power steering assist. The contact stated it became extremely difficult to maintain steering control. The engine was shut off and when restarting, the vehicle resumed normal steering operation. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be examined for the cause of failure. The failure persisted intermittently at any traveled speed and any length of time. The failure mileage was 90,000 and the current mileage was 113,000.

- Beavercreek, OH, USA

I was driving on the interstate at approximately 70 mph, when the power steering message appeared accompanied by a warning "ding." My power steering was completely gone. When I turned the car off and on again, the problem was remedied. However, I did not feel safe driving it, so I took it to get diagnosed and serviced. The service technician was unable to identify the problem and said no codes were registering, not even in the history. I read that GM has an open recall on their cobalts, which use the same motor system as the Saturn Ions. When I called GM to make my complaint, I was told there was no open recall, even though this problem is the same as what is happening to the cobalts.

- Shelbyville, KY, USA

Power steering suddenly fails while driving. Nearly hit a car when it went out and was difficult to steer. Started happening intermittently at approximately 40,000 miles last year (2009). Pull car over to side of road and shut off then turn on and power steering is back on. This is happening while driving straight down road. Now we have 53,000 miles (June 2010) and it is happening almost every time we are driving the car. We are very concerned about our safety. Should be recalled.

- Rochester Hills, MI, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Saturn Ion. While driving at approximately 65 mph, the power steering failed and the vehicle became very difficult to steer. The power steering warning light illuminated on the dashboard. The vehicle was pulled over and turned off. The vehicle resumed normal operation when restarted. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The failure recurred nine months later. The vehicle has not been repaired or diagnosed. The failure mileage was 30,000 and the current mileage was 48,217. Updated 10/28/10. The consumer stated she was reimbursed. Updated 10/28/10

- Carson City, NV, USA

No crashes or injuries. My power steering keeps going 'out'. one time I will drive and it will be fine, I'll start it up an hour or so later and boom for whatever reason the P.S. light is on and I have no P.S.. from what I've been able to find out, the same ps 'column' that was also installed in a few other GM cars were recalled, but, for whatever reason the Saturn Ion was not? this has been going on for about a week. I am taking it to Saturn for a diagnostics test on mon. I am also hoping that Saturn can 'clear the codes' if this is just an electrical/computer problem. If not, it seems to me they should honor the recall set out to the other consumers for the same problem!. I bought the car brand new in 2005. It has been a great car otherwise.

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

2005 Saturn power steering going out shut car of start it resets steers with assist for a while it`S the same part number that is on cobalts that are recalled along with 3 other cars this is dangerous my wife is disabled and they want $900 to fix it and wont sell me the part because its a recall part being saved for recalls this is bs the car was back to selling dealership 3 times with cant duplicate said at first was every so often no its every time I drive it.

- Irving, TX, USA

My electronic power steering assist stops functioning at any point in time.

- Stanford, KY, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that while driving 60 mph, the power steering failed and she was unable to maintain control of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who notified the dealer of the failure. The dealer confirmed that the computer needed to be reprogrammed. There were no related recalls; therefore, the contact would be responsible for the repair cost. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 84,000 and the current mileage was 85,000.

- Gaston, SC, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Saturn Ion. While driving at speeds of 15 mph, the power steering warning light illuminated on the dashboard and the wheels locked. The contact was able to move the vehicle off the roadway shut off the vehicle. When restarting, the vehicle appeared to have resumed normal operation however; the failure recurred within one mile of travel. The dealer advised the power steering motor may have needed to be replaced but he would have to perform a diagnostic test to confirm the failure. There vehicle was not repaired.the failure mileage was 88,900 and the current mileage was 89,093.

- Aurora, CO, USA

I was turning into sam's club and the power steering quit working. The car was very hard to steer and, because I was turning a corner and this happened unexpectedly, I almost hit the car that was waiting to exit the sam's club lot. I then parked the car after struggling with the steering wheel to turn into a parking spot. I went shopping, came back and, when the car was restarted, I had my power steering. I had another failure within two days, and now the power steering fails even just going to the grocery store (about 2 miles). I called the local GM dealer who said to bring it in for diagnosis. What I read online is this is a $1000+ repair usually replacement of the steering column. I even went to an auto salvage and was quoted $450 for the power steering column and installation. My car only has 66,000 miles on it. This appears to be the same problem for which GM currently has a recall for cobalt and Pontiac G6 cars.

- Tampa, FL, USA

2005 Saturn Ion 64,000 miles. Power steering fails without notice. Power steering is not hydraulic. It is via an electric motor. No fuses blown. Steering will go back to normal and then fail again. Many have looked for a solution on-line but little help. Attempted repair everything from cleaning electric motor brushes and interior of motor housing to replacing the entire steering column at a cost of over $900. Nothing definitive. Same system and same failure on GM Chevy cobalt. This is a very dangerous problem. I will not allow my wife to drive the car. Car is useless and can not even be sold due to this safety issue. We need urgently to have this repaired.

- Orcutt, CA, USA

I own a 2005 Saturn Ion 2 with approximately 37,000 miles, 2 weeks ago the power steering went out, almost resulting in a head on collision as the warning didn't come on until after the fact and I was in the process of turning a corner. Initially the power steering is intact when you first start the vehicle, however it fails after being driven for a short distance, perhaps less than a mile. There have been several GM models recalled for this very same problem, cobalts and Pontiac, perhaps the same problem exist for some of the Saturn models, like mine and they should be added to the list? this is a newer model with low mileage that has been well maintained, I have been quoted $800 to $1000 for the repair of the problem, I have also been informed that if I pay for the repair now and this vehicle is added to the list of recalls for the power steering that GM is not obligated to reimbursement for the expense, therefore hesitant to proceed as GM states its safe to drive there vehicle with power steering failure.

- Lansing, MI, USA

Power steering continually goes out on my 2005 Saturn Ion 4 cylinder. It becomes very hard to turn once power steering goes out and has almost caused accidents on the road.

- Felton, DE, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Saturn Ion. The contact stated that the power steering warning light would intermittently illuminate on the dashboard followed by a loss of power steering. The contact would have to shut the vehicle off and restart in order to get the steering to function correctly. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 52,000 and the current mileage was 54,000.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Saturn Ion. The contact stated while traveling at speeds of 65 mph, the power steering warning light illuminated on the dashboard immediately followed by a loss of power steering assist. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 53,000 and the current mileage was 54,000.

- Galloway, OH, USA