I bought a Saturn Ion 3 10 months ago. The day I drove off the lot, I noticed that the parking break had a small tear in the cover. I called the dealer and he said they would look at it. I haven't had time to persue this, as my car has been in the shop for much more serious issues.

Another problem with the parking break is that it doesn't work. I parked on a hill in San Francisco and it made this terrible sqeaking noise and the car slid (while in park) until it rested on the transmission's parking pall. The reason you use a parking break is because the transmission's parking pall is not meant to be used as the parking break. If these two issues were the only problems with the car, I would be OK.

Another minor problem is that the fan stops working intermittantly, and I need to jostle the control a few times to get it working. Not a biggie, but it just shows the shoddy workmanship and design flaws with this car. When you buy a brand new car, these issues are annoying.

Now for the serious issue -- the transmission problems. Saturn issued a TSB (03-07-30-052) for this problem, but I don't think they have a solution. What happens is that when I start the car, let it warm up, and then put it in reverse, the transmission makes a loud noise and the car jerks. The "service engine soon" light becomes illuminated. When I put the transmission in D, the car has very little power and drives at 3 mph. It can't even go up a hill. If I let the car rest for a while, it will work again, but when I brought it in the first time the service technician said it could have broken down on the road.

The first time this happened, I took it in and they were very nice. They gave me a rental car even though I didn't have the extended warranty. They had to order a new valve body for the transmission and reprogram it. I got the car back quite a few hours later than I had been told. It was a big inconvenience, as I was leaving on a trip and had to change plans.

Three weeks elapse and the problem occurs again. I bring it in again, and they explain this is some software problem and if the transmission gets data outside of it's parameters, this can happen. This time it's taking 3 days to fix the problem, and they provide no free rental car. I think if they didn't fix it the first time, I should at least get a free rental. They don't agree. They seem a lot more flexible on their commercials, but they have rigid policies that aren't consumer friendly, just like any other car company.

I bought a new car, because I need a reliable vehicle. If I knew this was going to be in the shop for 5 days in the past 3 weeks, I would have been better off with a used car.

This transmission problem is pretty serious. This isn't a parking light or minor electrical issue. This thing won't drive!

I decided to buy a Saturn because I owned an SC-2 for 8 years, and didn't have many problems with it. I put 150k miles on it, and the only problems were a broken alternator after 5 years, and rusted electrical wiring after 6 years. But this Ion is a LEMON. They obviously put this out on the market before testing it sufficiently. I'm a beta tester for Saturn. I'm testing this product out, and future models will probably be better. But why should I pay $19,000 for a car, only to have it in the shop for 5 days in the past 3 weeks?

In sum, this car is not reliable, and I'm going to try to get them to buy it back. Under California's Lemon Law, if this problem happens 2 more times in the next 3 months, they will HAVE to buy it back. I don't know if this problem will ever really be fixed. The bottom line is I bought a new car to have reliable transportation. This car is not reliable, and I can't get a free rental when I bring it in. I'm stuck without a car after paying $19,000 for this. Don't buy this car. If you are enamoured by Saturn, I suggest waiting 2-3 years until they've let people like me test the car and they fix all the bugs. But you'd be better off spending the extra $2000 on a comparably equipped Honda Civic, and you'll most likely have less problems. The Civic will also be worth more when you sell it.

I toyed with the idea of selling the Ion and getting something else. Unfortunately, in 10 months this car is now worth HALF of what I paid for it. It doesn't hold it's value very well at all.

You'd have to REALLY love Saturn to buy this car. They haven't adequately tested and fixed the bugs with this car. Some of these problems are serious, and prevent the car from driving. This is not of the same quality as the S series Saturns.
Amount Paid (US$): 19,000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: ION 3 leather, moonroof, cruise control