2004 Saturn Ion: jerking or lurching

Filed Jan 17, 2018 · Brakes, Electrical · 60,000 miles · OH

I've had several times where my car wasn't as stable as it should be. The car itself rumbles and jerks a lot on city streets and as I get off the highway. In the past there's been a few issues with the breaks. During winter time, the car won't start up (I have a new battery now and it still happens). Acceleration is occasionally delayed. Lastly there's a clicking noise coming from the passenger side of the car which continues from the time the key is in the ignition until I take it out.

Filed Aug 27, 2008 · Transmission · 70,000 miles · MN

I have a 2004 saturn ion 2 automatic transmission. Any day that the temperature is less than 20 degrees it will not start. Sometimes after about half an hour of trying it will start, but not very often. Also it often idles at an extremely high RPM. It sounds terrible when it does this. Also when it idles high it seems to have trouble shifting gears. It's very twitchy and jerky.

Filed Dec 29, 2007 · Acceleration · 42,000 miles · NY

2004 saturn ion 1 the car revs it's engine to over 3000 rpms when you put the car into park and idle. If you shut off the car it is ok, but if you put it into gear the car the lurches forward unsafely.

Filed Dec 21, 2005 · Wheels · 16,500 miles · GA

I had my 2004 ion 3 in to replace a tire on 11/19, then on 11/30 had tires rotated complained to dealer about a rattle. Per dealer the heat shields were cracked and the parts had to be ordered. When I left the dealer on that day the rattle in the front sounded worse, but I was told heat shields were the problem and I knew they would be fixed soon. Rattle proceeded to get worse, contacted dealer about part informed them of rattle getting worse, got appointment to bring back since part was in (appt would have been 12/26). Driving home from work on the evening of 12/20, I was getting off the interstate and the steering wheel started jerking to the right, heard horrible clunking sound coming from front end. Pulled into gas station, did not notice anything, sound quieted. While leaving gas station I heard a horrible clunking sound pulled over in parking lot, thought maybe I had a blowout. When I looked at the front driver side tire, there was one lug nut left in it and one lug nut hanging off. Called roadside assistance, upon further examination the screws had snapped off the wheels, fortunately there were two screws left otherwise I don't think the tow truck could have towed it. When I addressed concerns with the service manager, he was very helpful and fixed the car for free, said the studs(screws) were probably defective. Was advised by him this is most likely scenario as opposed to someone not tightening the lug nuts on the 11/30 tire rotation (because according to him I would not have been able to drive 900 miles if that were the case). The dealership went out of their way to help, but worried if its a defect this could happen at any point to the other 3 tires.

Filed Dec 5, 2005 · Transmission · OH

2004 ion 3 quad purchased new in 2004 currently have 18k miles on it. So far we have had to replace front stabilizer bushing, heater blower motor and windshield wipers. All have been under warranty. The electric steering still doesn't seem correct. Sometimes the car pulls when you rapidly accelerate and is very touchy. I did read that gm made some changes to the electric steering for 2005 ion, but dealership will not (says can not) make the changes to the 2004. Now we have the loss of power problem. Has done it when car is cold and hot, usually when accelerating, but once just driving 35 MPH. It's not a stall just like a loss of power. Car doesn't shake or jerk. Almost like you took your foot off the gas for a second. I've taken it back to the dealer once for this and the dealer response is the same as others have reported "no computer codes, could not reproduce, no problem found". It's at the shop now because the check engine light came on 12/2 and we again complained that the car lost power after picking it up the last time. The last time it failed my wife was taking off from a red light and the guy behind almost hit her when the saturn lost power. Loosing faith in saturn's engineering.

Filed May 18, 2005 · Transmission · 35,700 miles · SC

During braking, when gears should be downshifting, my automatic saturn ion 3 rpms would seem to be racing upwards by several 1000's. I complained on 2 prior occassions to dealer who could not "duplicate the problem". On 05/13/05 I was backing out of my garage, car seemed to lurch backwards. When I put it in drive it the rpms raced above 3000. It lurched me out of my driveway and into the road. Put in reverse and was able to stop and park. Turned ignition off and restarted. In park car was idling at 3500 rpms. Restarted several times with same result. Called roadside assistance b/c car is still under warranty. Tow guy had to brake entire time he was loading car onto steep incline of truck bed b/c he said car was quickly moving forward and up on it's own. Waited w/ service people at saturn to make sure they could "duplicate the problem". They did. Replaced the throttle position sensor. Complained harshly b/c this was 3rd time in. Car had to be towed in march b/c it wouldn't start in the a.m. Tow guy couldn't start either. Of course saturn could not duplicate that problem either and stated that it was probably the cold weather. Don't live in alaska... March in south carolina does not warrant a 1 yr old, garage kept car not starting. Dealership stated they could not duplicate problem of not starting or of rpms and they did nothing. Saturn made efforts, after the may incident, to compensate. Will update when all details are worked out.

Filed Jan 3, 2005 · Transmission · MA

I bought my 04 ion2 in january of last year. About one month after my purchase I noticed that my car would downshift while braking downhills, which would cause the rpms to accelerate extremely high. The car would the jerk itself back into the gear it was suppose to be in. This went on for months and is still occuring. I have brought my car to saturn of springfield countless times. At one point I was in there mutliple times in one week. Not only did is accelerate going downhill but it won't shift into the next gear going up hill, and to top it off when I enter the highway the car wont shift into 5 gear when I am accelerating, I have to remove my foot from the gas pedal to allow the car to shift. Saturn has told me countless times that there is nothing wrong with my car. I only average about 16 miles to the gallon no matter if it is the highway or city. I have gotten to the point were saturn calls me the next day after every service call. Oh and I just had to have my postive battery cable replaced because it wouldn't stay attached to the battery which would't allow the car to start.

Filed Jul 23, 2004 · Transmission · 2,674 miles · CA

I bought a saturn ion 2 in january since that day I have only got an average of 22.5 mpg that is 270 miles per 12 gallon tank (and it still continues). In march as I was driving down a back road, it lurched, the check engine light came on, it bogged down, and would not accelerate over 50mph and was extremely sluggish, felt like I was driving a golf cart. I had it towed to the dealer. The recalls on the fuel filter and computer system were completed. The dealer informed me that the car was "operating as designed" and the problem could not be repeated. June 10th, the car repeated the same problem. I took it in again, they did the 6,000 mile service on it. Per my records, everything "checked out". The problem could not be repeated. The car was "operating as designed. 3 weeks later, driving on the freeway, the car once again, lurched, the check engine light came on, and went from 65  40 MPH. Thankfully I did not get rear-ended. I exited the freeway, had to stop at a light, then during a left hand turn had difficulty getting the car to accelerate. The car finally corrected its problem, and I was able to drive home. I took the car to the dealership yet again, they could not replicate the problem. They replaced my valve body and now my car is running worse then it was before. I stopped by the dealership a day ago, and talked to the maintenance manager, and he stated that he hopes they replace the car, since there is nothing they can do about it. They have tried everything. My car is unsafe to me and others around. It is a safety issue. I am no longer comfortable driving my car. I have opened a case with saturn customer assistance. This problem that I have experienced and as I have read others too, is extremely unsafe!

Filed Jun 23, 2004 · Steering · 4,000 miles · WV · crash

Electronic assist steering system:ravaling at interstate speed - design flaw.esign flaw result - lost control of car due to sudden jerk of wheel to avoid collision with motorist coming into our lane. Did 270 deg spin in heavy traffic. Came to stop against median guardrail after crossing two lanes.peed 65 MPH with trafic flow. Misc. Notes: 1) car occupants = 3ea. 2) it is predicted that this design flaw is serious enough that the public will be exposed to news reels detailing flaw resulting in deaths, saturn will be forced to recall. Time to get busy to make recall effort reality.