2003 Saturn Ion: seat belt won't latch or retract

Filed Mar 25, 2009 · Acceleration, Electrical · 00

There are no events leading up to the failure. From everything I've read from other saturn ion owners this is a frequent and seemingly random problem. At any given time if it is cold outside the car won't start. Everything lights up, the engine turns over and catches, only to stall. Upon repeated attempts to start the car there will be no response whatsoever. The engine does not turn over. After waiting several minutes it will eventually start. This problem has occurred 4 times in the last month; twice causing me to be late for particularly important engagements. Upon reporting the problem to the saturn dealership where I bought the car I was told that they have many complaints of the same problem, but that their staff haven't been able to resolve it. This has been their general attitude towards several issues I've had with my car. I took it to another garage and they can't find a thing wrong with it. Saturn seems to be turning a blind eye to a problem that is clearly the result of a poor design somewhere on their part. I have also had to replace control arm bushings when I was at about 80 000 km, and now need to replace struts. I am hesitant to do this though, as the general consensus among saturn ion owners is that bushings and struts are in perpetual need of replacement on these cars. After replacing the parts most people find that they have to make the same repairs again within 2 years. Further problems I have with my car are: trunk will not open with key, replaced wires on both front turn signals and one headlight, key would not release from ignition, erratic transmission behavior (I was told that this is a common problem and that I just have to deal with it), seat belt guides broken (front, both sides), rear seat belt "female" component falls into crevice in seat, paint peeling from front bumper without being chipped prior, and a faulty cruise control switch. Every single one of these problems has turned up again and again in the ion owners community.

Filed Nov 10, 2008 · Seat belts · 56,000 miles · NV

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 saturn ion. When the contact arrived home and parked the vehicle, the seat belt failed to unlock. This was the first time the failure occurred. After several attempts to unfasten the seat belt, someone had to cut it in order to free the contact from the vehicle. She took the vehicle to get repaired and was informed that she would have to pay for the repair. She felt that the failure was due to a manufacturer defect; therefore, the repair should be free. The current and failure mileages were 56,000. Updated 12/1/08 *cn the dealer replaced the set belt and buckle. Updated 12/05/08.

Filed Feb 23, 2006 · Transmission · 37,000 miles · IN

I have a 2003 saturn ion that is having shifting problems. The car has 52,000 miles on it, and it is out of warranty, my daughter originally had the car, and drove it, without me knowing she was having problems with it shifting. Also there seems to be a vibration in the front end. I am taking it in for evaluation. I have had it in several times for the transmission, but they couldn't find anything wrong. I don't understand gm not doing something about these transmission problems. Also the seat belt locks and you can't get out of it. This is a real safety issue and I hope the address it. You literally have to crawl out of the belt.

Filed Jun 6, 2003 · Seat belts · HI

While traveling on the highway and without prior warning seat belt retractor fell apart. *ak the bolt that connects the webbing to the floor was not fully screwed in at the plant. The bolt backed out and the lower portion of the seatbelt webbing became unattached. This is not a buckle issue or a retractor issue. Manufacturing defect from the plant because the bolt was not fully torqued. Dealer fixed by tightening the bolt. Cw

Filed Jun 2, 2003 · Seat belts · HI

While placing seat belt on the bolt broke from the bottom of the seat.