2006 SATURN ION Complaints

ON SOME COLD DAYS, THE CAR WILL NOT START. THIS IS AN INTERMITTENT PROBLEM. THE LIGHTS, RADIO, ETC. WILL TURN ON WHEN THE KEY IS TURNED, BUT THE CAR WILL NOT START AND THE ANTI-THEFT INDICATOR LIGHT WILL BLINK. YOU HAVE TO WAIT ANYWHERE FROM 10-30 MINUTES FOR THE ANTI-THEFT SYSTEM TO RESET TO ALLOW THE VEHICLE TO START. I ONLY HAVE THIS PROBLEM ON COLD DAYS. THIS HAS HAPPENED MULTIPLE TIMES AND WE'VE CONTACTED GM TWICE, BUT THEY SAY THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF ANY COMPLAINTS. *TR

EACH TIME I KILL THE ENGINE I HAVE TO SIT AND WAIT FOR THE STRING OF ELECTRONIC TICS TO QUIT BEFORE MY CAR WILL LET GO OF THE KEY. EACH EPISODE SEAMS TO DIFFER ON THE LENGTH OF TIME IT, TAKES OR DECIDES, TO LET GO OF THE KEY. *TR

WAS REFUELING VEH. AND WHEN ALMOST FULL ,FUEL STARTED TO RUN ON GROUND. STOPPED REFUELING , AND LOOKED UNDER CAR . FUEL WAS DRIPPING FROM FRONT , CENTER OF TANK. *TR

I RECENTLY EXPERIENCED A MALFUNCTIONING DOOR LATCH ACTUATOR. ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS, DRIVER WAS TRAPPED IN THE CAR BECAUSE NEITHER THE INTERIOR OR EXTERIOR DOOR HANDLE WOULD ACTUATE THE DOOR LATCH, OPENING THE DOOR. EXTERIOR, INTERIOR MANUAL, INTERIOR POWER AND REMOTE POWER LOCKS WERE REPEATEDLY ACTUATED TO NO AVAIL. EVENTUALLY, THE DOOR FINALLY OPENED AFTER USING A HANGAR THROUGH THE WINDOW CAVITY TO BUMP ONE OF THE LINKAGE ARMS. IF THERE WERE AN ACCIDENT, THIS COULD POSE A SERIOUS THREAT TO A SUCCESSFUL EVACUATION. *TR

I HAVE HAD NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS WITH MY SATURN ION SINCE I HAVE OWNED IT. FIRST THERE WAS A PURGE SOLENOID THAT WENT OUT ON MY CAR WHICH AFFECTED HOW I STARTED IT. THEN MY KEY GOT STUCK IN MY IGNITION WITH THE CAR ON! I HAD TO DISCONNECT THE FUEL PUMP FUSE AND THE BATTERY TO GET THE CAR OFF. A MONTH LATER OF DRIVING THE CAR WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO USE THE KEY, I ORDERED A NEW PART FOR IT AND HAD A FRIEND REBUILD THE IGNITION IN THE CAR AND NOW ONLY MY SPARE KEY TO THE CAR WILL WORK. NOW THE MOST RECENT ISSUE TO DATE IS THE FUEL PUMP. I STARTED SMELLING GAS ABOUT A MONTH AGO AND IT GRADUALLY GOT WORSE OVER TIME. TOOK IT TO HAVE IT LOOKED AT AND THERE IS NOW GAS LEAKING ONTO MY GAS TANK AND GASOLINE IS ALSO POOLING UNDER MY CAR! HUGE PROBLEM! MY FRIEND SAYS IT IS THE FUEL PUMP THAT IS GOING OUT ON THE CAR AND I DO SEE THAT IT IS UNDER RECALL BUT I DON'T THINK MY CAR FALLS UNDER THE RECALL WHICH IS RIDICULOUS! *TR

DRIVING HOME ON A PAVED ROAD AT 25 MPH WHEN SUDDEN OVERWHELMING SMELL OF GAS FILLED THE CAR. FOR MORE DETAILS SEE SERVICE REQUEST [XXX]. GM HAS PUT ME THRU EXTREME STRESS AND ENDANGERED MY LIFE AND OTHERS FOR A 42 DOLLAR PART. AS I TYPE THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT HAS RETURNED. I FEAR FOR OTHERS ///PLEASE REVIEW THE RECORDS,TOWED TO DEALERSHIP....SPECIAL COVERAGE PART WAS NOT INSTALLED...MECHANIC CLAIMS GAS LINE UNDER CAR IS LEAKING. GAS IS POOLING ON TOP OF MOTOR..LAST REMARKS AS I LEFT THE DEALER" I WOULDN'T DRIVE IT...DON'T SMOKE" NOTHING BUT EXCUSES...CAR IS SITTING IN MY DRIVEWAY AND HAS BEEN EVER SINCE,,,,2006 SATURN IONS ARE DANGEROUS FIRE HAZARDS AND GM SEES RECALLS AS WAYS TO MAKE MONEY ON REPAIRS...THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED FREE REPAIR = 400 OR MORE TO FIX...THEY DO NOT ABIDE BY THE RECALL ORDERS AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

PWR STEERING FAIL WHILE DRIVING. CAR DINGS AND DISPLAYS THE PWR STEERING CODE IN DASH. KNOWN ISSUE BY GM. TOOK IT TO DEALER TODAY, THEY SAID THEY'LL FIX IT FREE OF CHARGE BASED ON 10187A SPECIAL POLICY. IT ONLY COVERS THE MOTOR/MODULE AND NOT THE STEERING COLUMN. I AM AFRAID THAT THEY ARE GOING TO RIP ME OFF BY SIMPLY SAYING THE WHOLE COLUMN IS THE PROBLEM SO I'M OUT A LOT OF MONEY. BASED ON RESEARCH AND COMPLAINTS GM RECALLED OTHER CARS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. IF THEY USED THE SAME PART AND THEY WERE RECALLED IN OTHER MODELS THEN THE SATURN ONE SHOULD ALSO BE RECALLED. IT WAS VERY SCARY LOSING POWER STEERING. GM NEEDS TO MAKE SATURN OWNERS "WHOLE" BECAUSE THERE HAVE BEEN VARIOUS ISSUES ALREADY. I REPLACED THE IGNITION SWITCH TWICE, THE KEY WOULD GET STUCK AND SOMETIMES WOULD NOT START. *TR

I WAS DRIVING MY 2006 SATURN ION ON A LOCAL STREET, PICKING UP MY CHILD FROM SCHOOL, WHEN THE IGNITION WENT OFF. THE CAR HAD NO POWER & I HAD ONLY A FEW SECONDS TO STEER THE CAR OFF TO THE SIDE BEFORE THE POWER STEERING STOPPED WORKING. I PUT THE CAR IN NEUTRAL & COASTED TO A STOP. I TURNED THE CAR OFF, WAITED A MINUTE, & THEN TURNED THE KEY AGAIN. AT THAT TIME, THE CAR STARTED UP AGAIN & I TOOK IT DIRECTLY HOME. IN THE DAYS FOLLOWING THIS INCIDENT, SEVERAL DIFFERENT TIMES THE IGNITION WOULD GO OF BY ITSELF. IT FELT AS IF THE KEY WAS NOT STAYING IN THE ON POSITION. NOT BEING AWARE OF A WARRANTY FROM SATURN, I TOOK IT TO A LOCAL REPAIR SHOP. WHEN THE MECHANIC TRIED TO TAKE THE KEY OUT OF THE IGNITION, IT WOULD NOT TURN OFF OR COME OUT OF THE STEERING COLUMN. HE WAS FORCED TO DISCONNECT THE BATTERY IN ORDER TO TURN THE IGNITION OFF & NEEDED TO REPLACE THE PART IN THE STEERING COLUMN WHERE THE KEY GOES IN. BECAUSE THE MECHANIC HAD TO DISCONNECT THE BATTERY, I WAS ALSO FORCED TO TAKE THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP A FEW DAYS LATER TO HAVE MY REMOTE LOCK REPROGRAMMED. I HAD TO PAY OUT OF POCKET FOR BOTH OF THESE REPAIRS, BECAUSE I WAS UNAWARE THAT GM HAD A SPECIAL WARRANTY COVERING SUCH ISSUES. I NEVER RECEIVED A LETTER ABOUT THIS PROBLEM, BUT IT IS A RECALL ISSUE IN OTHER STATES. *TR

MY ION HAS HAD CONTINUOUS STEERING AND SUSPENSION PROBLEMS SINCE 2009. I HAVE EXPERIENCED THE PROBLEMS WITH THE STEERING MOTOR (WARNING LIGHT COMES ON - LOSS OF POWER STEERING) AND HAD THE STEERING MOTOR REPLACED. I HAVE REPLACED THE SWAY BAR, CONTROL ARMS, LINK, AND MUCH MORE. AND, I STILL HAVE DIFFICULTIES STEERING - HAVE A CONSTANT CLUNCKING NOISE FROM THE FRONT END AND NOW HAVE BEEN TOLD I NEED THE RACK & PINION REPLACED - ESTIMATED COST $550. THE VEHICLE CURRENTLY HAS 82,000 MILES. THE STEERING & SUSPENSION PROBLEMS BEGAN IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE VEHICLE HIT 50,000 MILES. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 SATURN ION. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 70 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITH THE ILLUMINATION OF ALL OF THE WARNING GAUGES. THE VEHICLE WAS MOVED TO THE SHOULDER WHERE IT WAS RESTARTED AND FUNCTIONED NORMALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR DIAGNOSIS AND REPAIR. THE BATTERY WAS REPLACED BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT FURTHER REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED ABOUT THE INCIDENT. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 52,000.