While driving, complete electrical failure. All dash lights out. Gauges zero. Steering difficult. This continues to happen.
2003 Saturn Ion electrical complaints
Page 5 of 14: complaints 101 to 130 of 383, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I received a letter from gm about the ignition switch recall either last week or the week before. It stated to drive my vehicle with the ignition key only, not even with the key fob. I was also told that the part is no longer made for my vehicle. The letter also stated that there is no risk of ignition failure as long as the driver uses the key only. I have faithfully followed that since receiving my letter. I am telling you that information is false. As I was driving home tonight, I noticed the engine sounded different. The steering became difficult to control, the battery light illuminated on the dash, and my brakes only responded to very heavy pressure. Basically I had little control of my vehicle. I was less than a mile away from home. I turned into a parking lot with great difficulty, turned off my vehicle and then back on. It was as if nothing happened. I am panicked now. Thank goodness this happened after I exited the highway and it was after rush hour. I'm not sure I would have been able to turn into that parking lot without incident if there was heavier traffic. I immediately called gm when I returned home and told them the car wasn't safe to drive, even with the ignition key only. Customer service didn't seem to understand the danger. We'll see if they follow up. I hope you follow up as well.
Letter from senator toomey on behalf of a constituent re gm recall ( attn: aubrey yanzito can be reached by email: [email protected], fax at 717‑782‑4920 or phone: 717‑782‑3951 or mail). *smd the dealer informed the consumer, they wouldn't be able to replace the defective part until april 2014. The consumer wanted to know if gm was responsible for paying for a rental vehicle, until the vehicle could be fixed.
I have been struggling for years with my car not wanting to start. I had this to many garages and even the saturn dealer and no one could find a problem. Finally the car just stopped starting, and then I replaced the ignition switch. This seemed to work for 2 days and then my car just died electrically on february 21st and on the 26th the garage repaired this which cost me $309.00. The very next day the recall for this problem was announced. Will you reimburse me for the cost of the repair? This seems appropriate since this was ultimately the fault of the faulty ignition switch and I am just fortunate that an accident was not involved since I have had this vehicle since 2005.
We do not feel safe driving our 2003 saturn ion we purchased the car through right way located in livonia, mi in april 2013. Since december 2013 the ignition turns off while we are driving and it has stopped on us five or six times. We have taken it to the mechanic unique auto repair located in detroit, mi to find out what the problem is...the mechanic could not find what the problem was. Also, a light keeps coming on the panel; don't know if this is the cause of the ignition. In order to start the car, my fiance would have to lift the hood of the car to start it and we don't know what this item is called. This is taking up our time and time off of work when the car does not start. It has also sparked several times on us; this is a safety hazard. Me and my fiance has made plans to travel to atlanta, ga in april of this year. We were going to use our car for transportation; but we do not trust the car at all. We need a loaner (vehicle) to travel as soon as possible.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 saturn ion. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle stalled with the illumination of the ABS warning indicator. The vehicle did restart after thirty minutes of waiting. The failure recurred six times over a period of three months. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign id number 14v047000 (air bags, electrical system). The vehicle was taken to independent mechanic, who could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 148,497.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 saturn ion. The contact stated that on multiple occasions she experienced difficulty in removing the key from the ignition switch. The contact also stated that while attempting to shut the engine off, she was unable to remove the key from the ignition switch. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the ignition switch was replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the defect. The failure mileage was 60,000.
The locked and couldn't get it to turn.
In early january my mother was involved in a serious car accident while driving a 2003 saturn iron. "I had no control over the car and it all happened so fast" my mother said. She hit a telephone pool then proceeded to roll down over a small hill and flipped, coming to a rest on a concrete divider. When responders arrived her ignition was off and the air bags did not deploy. She was hanging upside down for almost an hour until they were able to cut her out of the car. I have contacted gm and they confirmed that her car is part of the recent ignition switch recall. Please take the recall serious, it could save your l life, and others!
I can not provide exact dates as this has gone on for years. I bought the car in 2006. It started out, in freezing temps, the car would not start. I would have to try jumping it or wait till 10 minutes had passed and try again. This happened a lot through winter months. I eventually had to change out my starter and ignition switch back in 2012. I also have noticed the key will not turn to off completely sometimes and sometimes the key wont turn at all. This is also after changing out the switch. I am a mother of two young children and after seeing the other problems with the switch I don't feel safe driving my family down the street a block. The recall says to not drive on jarring roads, but I live in a tiny town of nothing but jarring roads. Sigh. I feel the not starting is also a safety issue because it can leave people stranded in bad weather and unable to get to where you need to go in emergencies. All anyone needs to do is search the internet about saturn's not starting and there is hours of reading on the subject. The company knew all along. Thank you
After my car wouldn't start I called carr chevrolet to ask questions and they were very rude. I call the dealership where I bought the car and was told that there is a recall on that problem. However I bought the car in california but I live in oregon. The car is still not running and I'm still paying on it. If this is a problem on a recall I need help. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 saturn ion. The contact stated that while parked, the ignition key was removed however, the engine continued to operate. In addition, the ignition switch turned into the off position when the key was jarred. The failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer. There was a recall under the federal safety agency campaign id number 14v047000 (electrical system) and the VIN was not included. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 128,101.
When driving car shuts off completely. Happened twice in the past and didn't think anything about it. Heard about gm's recall with vehicles shutting off. My car last night shut off on me and again this morning. There's plenty of gas in the tank it just shuts down and won't let me start.
To formally add this incident to your records, on 2/22/13, at about 9am, I was starting to brake upon approaching a traffic light on a highway near my home in icy conditions, only to find that I apparently had no braking capability, (at least all efforts short of standing on the brake, which would lock up the wheels), and the dash lights seemed to indicate the engine had stopped. After sliding into the pick-up truck ahead of me at the light, the collision was at a high enough speed to enough to crumple the front half of the engine compartment, but the air bag did not deploy, (I thought my speed at point of impact was about 25mph, but the trooper taking the accident report felt that it had to be faster than that). I was wearing my seat belt, and have suffered only bruising and pulled muscles. Only after reading last week of the expansion of the recall regarding gm cars, including my saturn, did I connect the pieces regarding why my car behaved as it did.
My wife was having problems with her saturn just before the date of 12/24/07, the car would shut off for no reason or she would have a hard time starting it. We made an appointment with, at the time, saturn of eatontown, nj, and they told us that the ignition switch would have to be replaced. It cost $324.30 to replace the part. There was a recent delayed recall about the ignition switch from gm, 13 people were killed due to this defect, I feel gm should refund this money to me since they knew there was a problem with it back then. I have the receipt for this repair if you need copy.
While driving noticed increase of speed. Checked accelerator pedal, not stuck. Tapped accelerator with no change. Depressed the brake and slowed down and stopped. Shut vehicle off and verified the throttle body was in idle position. Restarted car and vehicle RPM went up to 4000 and starved for air and surged up and down at that level. Shut vehicle off again and contacted gm. Same vehicle also has passlock problems.
My car wouldn't shut off. The key was stuck and it would not turn. I took it to a local mechanic to fix and they had to replace it. I've had a total of 3 new ones done since then. I just found out that gm are recalling some cars because of the ignition problem. I have not heard a thing about it and they knew about this for years. I've had my car for 11 years now and had to pay for all the repairs myself, but I didn't know how dangerous this could be since I've learned about 7 people have died because the air bag didn't deploy because of this malfunction. So I'm very upset that I had this car for all this time and I didn't know how dangerous my car really is.
On multiple occasions this vehicle has accelerated without pushing the gas pedal, with no cruise control option, it's unsolved by multiple mechanics. Sometimes the brake works while it's happening, sometimes it doesn't, the most recent time I pulled into a parking lot where I had to hold the brake down to shut the car off, I could smell the transmission, I turned vehicle off, turned it back on and it went to over 5 RPM still, turned back off, sat and waited, it was 2am so I couldn't call anyone. After 10 minutes it finally went back to normal. That was the most severe, it's had slightly similar issues at least 4 times. First mechanic said it was a cruise control issue, then I told him I was leaving since the vehicle doesn't have cruise control at all. Don't want him working on it. 2nd one ran computer check, no issue found. Hopefully gm recalls this before it kills someone. This car has had many issues me and my father could fix, ignition switch, wiper blade transmission, coolant light but this one isn't easy.
Key gets stuck in ignition and vehicle will not shut off. Have had to replace ignition switch twice first in 2005 with approx 12,000 miles and again in 2010 with approx 52,000 miles. Now vehicle has 73,000 miles and is having same issue,which drains down battery. No other keys are on key ring. This needs to be fixed immediately and included in gm recall as my VIN is not showing as affected, and this should not be an out of pocket expense to me again as it is a known issue.
Wife and children riding down road when car turns itself off and looses all power. She was luckily enough to merge across 2 lanes at a coast with no brakes or power steering to bring the car to a stop. Then it took up to 30 min of sitting on the side of very busy I-16 till the security light stopped flashing and she could continue her way home with my 2 and 8 year old kids in the car. Now all the car will do is flash that passlock light after I have replaced the ignition switch,starter,battery,alternator and many fuses also following the relearn procedure each time.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 saturn ion. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start until after numerous attempts. The failure would only recur during colder weather. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for inspection where the ignition switch assembly was replaced and the anti-theft security system was re-wired. The failure continued after the repairs were performed. The manufacturer was notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 15,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 saturn ion. The contact stated when the key was placed in the ignition the theft system activated and the engine failed to start. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer stated that the vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency campaign number 03v231000 (electrical system). The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 142,710.
Saturn ion 2 model year 2003 was serviced for 2004 turn signal recall back in 2005; in the past 16 months I have had the driver side turn signal bulb changed 4 times because it stops working, and have changed it 2 more times before the most recent series of incidents. As of today I changed it a 5th time and it still does not work. This is a hazardous condition particularly since it fails repeatedly. Now I have been told that the body control module might have a problem may need to be replaced. This is an issue for hundreds of saturn owners; the recall should have fixed the re-occurence of the original problem but has not.
My switch will not turn back to release my keys. At times trying to start the car the switch will not turn, as well. Eventually it will turn, for now.
The electric power steering went out luckily in a parking lot at a shopping center in october 2012 the motors were replaced previously before saturn went defunct back in approximately 2006 and at approximately 40,000 miles. These are exactly the same motors that a recall was proposed on the chevy cruz and gm says they are not covered or no covered under the saturn program. Now over the past 6 months the ignition switch which gm knows has problems has shut the engine off while driving and now it's to the point where it locks intermittently not allowing the disengaging of the engine transmission when attempting to turn off and park. Again gm says there is no recall but they have recalls on other gm vehicles. I have spent upwards of $700 dollars for repairs and batteries and enough is enough. I've read of the many nightmare on the internet and wonder if your bureau can do anything to remedy the situations. Thanks.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 saturn ion l3. The contact stated that the vehicle would not start. The contact placed the key into the ignition and the engine did not start, but the service vehicle light illuminated on the instrument. The contact stated that they had to wait several minutes to get the vehicle to start. The contact stated that the key also became stuck in the ignition. The contact spoke with the manufacturer in regard to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 42,000 and the current mileage was 55,000. Updated 4/24/13 *cn the consumer stated the vehicle needs a new wire harness for the alarm system and a new ignition lock tumbler with the dielectric grease in it. This failure across more often when cold. Upon making short errands, the vehicle must be left running in order to avoid sitting for 10 minutes. Updated 06/3/2013
2003 saturn ion. Consumer writes in regards to malfunction of the air bag light and door locks. *smd the consumer stated all of a sudden the doors un-locked, the flasher started to flash and the air light illuminated. She immediately pulled into a nearby garage and asked for assistance. The solution at that time was to turn off the engine and then re-start it. The second incident occurred on november 16th. The consumer was informed the part required was a sensor diagnostic module, at a cost of $ 399.99. However, the part was no longer available. It was recommended by the mechanic, that a part try to be located at a junk yard.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 saturn ion. The contact stated that the key became lodged in the ignition and the contact was unable to power the vehicle off. In addition, the contact stated that the key could intermittently be removed but the vehicle would remain powered on. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the ignition cylinder was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 60,000 and the current mileage was 130,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 saturn ion. While parked, the contact turned the key in the ignition to shut the engine off but the key could not be turned pass the accessory mode. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The mechanic advised the contact that the ignition switch would have to be repaired. The contact stated that the ignition was previously replaced for the same failure. The vehicle was not repaired for the recent failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 saturn ion ii. The contact stated that the key would become stuck in the ignition switch. The contact had to call a locksmith to remove the key from the ignition. The contact did not take the vehicle to the dealer to have the ignition switch replaced. The failure mileage was 83,000.
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