2004 SATURN ION Complaints

POWER STEERING SHUTS OFF WITHOUT WARNING. ONCE IT HAPPENS YOU CANNOT TURN THE VEHICLE. MUST POWER DOWN THE CAR AND TURN IT BACK ON TO GET THE POWER STEERING TO WORK. IT CAN HAPPEN 2-3 TIMES IN A 5 MILES STRETCH, INCONSISTENT. WARNING - HAPPENS WHEN TURNING THE VEHICLE - I ALMOST CRASHED. HAD TO STOP AUTO IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUSY INTERSECTION - VERY DANGEROUS. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 SATURN ION. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE HAD MULTIPLE FAILURES. THE STEERING WAS ROUGH AND THE TRANSMISSION WAS CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO MAKE LOUD NOISES WHEN THE WHEELS WERE TURNED LEFT OR RIGHT. THE CONTACT WAS INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER:14V047000 (AIR BAGS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) HOWEVER THE DEALER STATED THAT THE PARTS WOULD BECOME AVAILABLE MID APRIL. THE MANUFACTURER WAS ALSO CONTACTED AND COULD NOT PROVIDE AN ESTIMATED DATE FOR WHEN THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE WOULD RECEIVE THE RECALL REPAIRS. AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WILL INSPECT THE TRANSMISSION AND STEERING FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 175. THE MILEAGE OF 175 WAS REAFFIRMED BY THE CONTACT. UPDATED 05/28/14 MA THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE BEGAN HAVING ISSUES 2 WEEKS AFTER IT WAS PURCHASED. THE VEHICLE WOULDNT START, IT HAD HIGH IDLING PROBLEMS, AND MOST RECENTLY THE STEERING COLUMN FAILURE. THE BATTERY AND THROTTLE WERE BOTH REPLACED. UPDATED 05/29/2014* JS

I PURCHASED 2004 SATURN ION 3 IN 2013 AND WITHIN 30DAYS I STARTED HAVING PROBLEMS WITH TRANSMISSION. VEHICLE WOULD STALL OUT AND BEGIN TO HESITATE AROUND 35MPH. I STARTED INQUIRING ABOUT TRANSMISSION ISSUES ON INTERNET AND OBSERVED THIS IS A COMMON ISSUE WITH THIS VEHICLE. I'M GETTING NO HELP WITH THIS ISSUE WITH GM DEALERSHIP. WITH ALL THE OTHER OWNERS COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS TRANSMISSION ISSUE WITH THE SATURN ION THERE SHOULD BE A NATIONAL RECALL TO FIX TRANSMISSION DEFECT ON THIS VEHICLE.(CVT OR VTI TRANSMISSION). *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 SATURN ION. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH, THERE WAS AN UNEXPECTED LOSS OF POWER STEERING WITH THE ILLUMINATION OF THE WARNING INDICATOR. THE CONTACT CONTINUED TO DRIVE WITH FORCE BEING APPLIED TO THE STEERING WHEEL. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE PROBLEM. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 49,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 SATURN ION. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH, THE POWER STEERING LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND THE STEERING FAILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION AND THEY STATED THAT THE POWER STEERING MOTOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 180,000.

CAMPAIGN ID #14V-047 GM CASE#[XXX] RE: IGNITION SWITCH RECALL I WAS OFFERED A RENTAL CAR BUT GM IS NOT REIMBURSING THE COST OF INSURANCE FOR THE RENTAL. I CANNOT AFFORD NOR HAVE THE TIME TO ARGUE MY CASE WITH GM. THIS IS GM'S FAULT, THEY SHOULD BE REIMBURSING ALL COSTS INCURRED BY THIS RECALL. PLEASE ASSIST ME. I DO NOT WANT TO HAVE TO RETAIN AN ATTORNEY FOR THIS. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

AS I WAS DRIVING HOME ON THE FREEWAY ON A CLEAR DAY. I NOTICED THAT THE STEERING WHEEL WAS HARD TO TURN WHEN I TRY TO CHANGE LANE. I THEN DECIDED TO PULL OVER AT THE FIRST EXIT. WHEN I SLOWED THE VEHICLE DOWN, IT WAS CLEAR THAT I HAD NO POWER STEERING. THERE WAS NO WARNING ON THE DASH CONSOLE AND NO AUDIO ALARM. FINALLY, I TURNED OFF THE ENGINE AND RESTARTED THE CAR. THE POWER STEERING CAME BACK AND I MANAGED TO DRIVE THE CAR HOME. *TR

I USED TO OWN ONE OF THE GM VEHICLES IN THE NEWS LATELY REGARDING THE IGNITION SWITCH ISSUE. I WANT TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE ARE LOOKING AT THE IGNITION SWITCH ISSUE CORRECTLY. MY VEHICLE WAS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT WHEN THE ENGINE SIMPLY SHUT OFF. THIS HAPPENED TWICE IN THE YEARS I HAD OWNED IT, BUT I DON'T REMEMBER THE KEY BEING MOVED TO THE ACCESSORY POSITION AS IS INDICATED ON MANY OF THE NEW REPORTS. I THOUGHT IT WEIRD, BUT THOUGHT I MAY HAVE BANGED SOMETHING, LET THE OIL GO FAR TOO LONG, OR NEEDED NEW SPARK PLUGS. ADDITIONALLY, IF YOU SEARCH ONLINE YOU'LL FIND MANY INSTANCES WHERE THE CAR OWNERS OF THIS VEHICLE FREQUENTLY HAVE A KEY SWITCH ISSUE WHERE AN ATTEMPT TO TURN ON THE CAR RANDOMLY WILL ACTIVATE THE ANTI-THEFT SYSTEM WHEN TRYING TO TURN ON THE CAR DESPITE HAVING A PERFECTLY VALID AND WELL USED KEY. GM PROBABLY HAS AN INTERNAL NOTE ABOUT THIS AND IT MIGHT RELATE TO THE PARTS THAT NEED TO BE FIXED/RECALLED. FINALLY, I ONCE DID HAVE MY KEY COME OUT OF THE IGNITION WHILE THE CAR WAS STILL RUNNING. I WAS TRYING TO TURN THE CAR OFF QUICKLY AND THE KEY JUST CAME OUT WITHOUT GOING ALL THE WAY TO THE OFF POSITION. PERHAPS I HAD A FAULTY IGNITION SWITCH, BUT I WANT TO MAKE SURE THE INVESTIGATORS SEE THIS TO ENSURE THE PROPER FIXES ARE APPLIED FOR OUR SAFETY. *TR

WE WERE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT 70MPH WHEN THE CAR STALLED OUT AND WE LOST POWER STEERING ABILITY. WE STARTED THE CAR AGAIN WHILE IT WAS IN MOTION AND IT CAUGHT BUT IT HAPPENED AGAIN A FEW MORE MILES DOWN THE ROAD. SINCE OUR SATURN DEALERSHIP WAS NO LONGER IN BUSINESS, WE HAD A TRUSTED MECHANIC TAKE CARE OF IT NOT KNOWING THERE WERE ISSUES. I RESEARCHED THREE RECALL NOTIFICATIONS FROM SATURN. ONE INVOLVED THE LEFT TURN SIGNAL WHICH WE HAD TO HAVE FIXED TWICE WITH A HARNESS AND BULB REPLACEMENT IN ON 2/5/05 AND AGAIN ON 10/24/05. ANOTHER WAS A FAULTY IGNITION SWITCH REPLACEMENT ALSO ON 10/24/05. AND THEN THE THIRD WAS THE FAULTY ELECTRIC POWER STEERING WHICH AS YOU KNOW WE HAD REPAIRED ON 10/4/12. I CONTACTED GM ABOUT A REIMBURSEMENT AND THEY SAID NO BECAUSE WE WERE PAST 10 YEARS OR 100,000 MILES, AND THAT THE REIMBURSEMENT FORM MUST BE RECEIVED BY 8/31/11. MY QUESTION TO GM IS, HOW CAN YOU PUT A LIMIT ON SOMETHING THAT WAS FAULTY FROM THE BEGINNING? THE NEW IGNITION AND INJECTORS IN MARCH 2010 ($758.94) AND THE NEW STARTER IN AUGUST 2011 ($324) AFTER HAVING RELATED PROBLEMS/REPAIRS DUE TO THE RECALL IN OCT 2005 SHOW THAT SOMETHING JUST WASN'T RIGHT IN THE MANUFACTURING OF THIS MODEL. AND THE POWER STEERING MOTOR REPLACEMENT ($177) IN OCT 2012 SHOULD ALSO BE REIMBURSED BECAUSE GM ALREADY ADMITTED IT WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE MODEL YEAR SO REGARDLESS OF WHETHER WE HAD 10,000 MILES OR 160,000 MILES, IT WAS FAULTY. NOW WE LEARN THAT THEY KNEW THESE WERE PROBLEMS ALL ALONG AND DID NOT TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THEM. WHAT REALLY BOTHERS ME IS THAT I INQUIRED ABOUT ALL OF THIS WITH THEM IN DECEMBER 2012 - THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE "A NEW GM" DIFFERENT FROM THE COMPANY BACK IN 2001? IF THEY WERE DIFFERENT WHY DID THEY REFUSE TO REIMBURSE ME THE $2,177 WE SPENT IN REPAIRS, OR ADMIT THAT THERE WAS A RECALL? IS IT BECAUSE WE DID NOT DIE IN AN ACCIDENT? *TR

DRIVING 60 MPH ON THE EXPRESSWAY, I WAS RUN OFF THE ROAD BY A SEMI TRUCK ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD. I HIT A HIGHWAY SIGN HEAD-ON. THE AIRBAG DID NOT DEPLOY, ALTHOUGH THE DAMAGE TO THE CAR WAS EXTENSIVE. THANKFULLY I HAD MY SEAT BELT ON, BUT SUSTAINED BRUISES. *TR