Tl* the contact owns a 2006 saturn ion 3. The contact stated that while waiting at a stop sign, the engine stalled and the check engine warning indicator was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to dealer or independent mechanic. The contact received a recall the federal safety agency campaign number: 14e021000 (electrical system). The vehicle was taken to dealer. The vehicle was repaired but the problem recurred. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was unknown.
2006 Saturn Ion engine complaints
Page 2 of 4: complaints 11 to 40 of 71, newest first, as owners wrote them.
It was about 32 degrees in the morning. I started my car and warmed it up for about 5 minutes or so. Long enough to defrost both the front and rear windows. I drove a little over mile going about the city speed limit of 45. The vehicle started shaking from the engine area. I pulled off the road into a parking lot and the vehicle began to lose power. I was able to coast into a parking space. The check engine light came on at some point. I turned the vehicle off, I waited a few minutes and turned the vehicle back on. It started fine I drove it the 10 miles to the dealership with no problems, check engine light was still on. The dealership advised that the ice had formed on the throttle body and when it melted water got into the throttle body. He could put a piece on it that would cost about $900.00 but he could not guarantee that it would keep this from happening again. I didn't think about it at the time but the same thing happened last year and since the vehicle starts right back up I didn't really think about it. But the fact that the vehicle loses power while I am driving is a concern.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 saturn ion. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired by the authorized dealer for the federal safety agency campaign numbers: 09v419000 (fuel system, gasoline) and14e021000 (electrical system). The service engine sensor illuminated before and after both recall repairs. The contact indicated that the dealer replaced the ignition switch and the fuel pump, but the failure recurred. The contact indicated that the service engine sensor continued to illuminate and the vehicle stalled repeatedly. The two recall repairs did not remedy the vehicle and the failures were happening intermittently. The vehicle was towed to the authorized dealer for further inspection. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 saturn ion. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 18,900.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 saturn ion. While driving 65 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the spark plugs needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 64,000.
Just entered onto a highway and suddenly could not accelerate. When hitting the gas pedal, car would not accelerate. The car was in drive and had been moving for 10 minutes prior with no issues. No prior issues before this. Pulled off the side of the highway and turned off car. When turned on again, would not crank. Lights worked fine but car just wouldn't turn on. Mechanic is not sure why car won't start still.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 saturn ion. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the engine stalled without warning. The contact then shifted the vehicle into neutral and restarted the vehicle. The problem recurred multiple times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to diagnose the failure. The contact received a notice for the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v047000 air bags , electrical system) and the dealer stated that the parts were unavailable. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unavailable.
Lost power/control while driving, felt like the bottom of the car was falling out, upon repair was informed a bad ignition coil.
I purchased my 2006 saturn ion 3 in 2008 from a dealership. I have had all the recall issues happen to my vehicle. 1) I have replaced the ignition switch and cylinder twice due to the car being unable to shut off. This happened in 2008 and again in 2012. Both times it was covered under warranty and repairs were done by gm dealership. Even though these have been replaced I was told they need to be replaced again under the recall because those parts are faulty as well. I have been in contact with the dealership and was told they do not have the parts yet and will let me know when they are available. 2) in november 2013 my vehicle smelled of gas and was making me and my children sick. I had it checked out at the dealership and it was the fuel module. This was covered by a ntsb warranty extension. 3) my vehicle will intermittently shut off or lose power steering. When I took it into the dealership in 2013 they told me they would not touch it if they could not replicate the problem. It has not been fixed. 4) this issue is not mentioned in any of the complaints I have read here, but I have seen others complain on the internet. Beginning in january of 2014 there is a strong odor of exhaust fumes in my vehicle. My personal mechanic said there is a leak that is going into the cabin. My vehicle is slow to accelerate and feels shaky. There is also a loud noise coming from the engine compartment. I have to drive with the windows down at all times. I have had nothing but problems with this vehicle since right after I purchased it. I do not have a second vehicle nor the means to buy one. I rely on it to get me to work and to transport my family. It is very disappointing to have to deal with these issues over and over again.
On or about 9/12/2012, I was driving in my saturn ion going 45 miles an hour, in heavy morning traffic, when in an instant my car decelerated and was at a slow crawl. I could not get any acceleration even when pressing the gas. I was only a couple blocks away from work, so I coasted until I got there. I was almost hit. But I could not go any faster. I was afraid to turn off the car for fear that it would not start up again. I was afraid to drive it and I called to have it towed to the dealership to have it looked at. Henderson chevrolet looked at it and said that it was the computer motherboard of the car. This was replaced at a cost to me of $800.00+. It happened again on 11/20/12. The car went from 30 to 5 miles per hour in a split second! No warnings. I took it back to the dealership. They said that they had no idea what want going on with it nor why it was doing this. Their suggestion to me was to get another vehicle. What my saturn did is the same thing described in the ignition recall. When this happened to me , there was no recall. No one thought of looking at the ignition. When I lost power, my thought was not gee, maybe my keys are too heavy & my car turned off! Me see if my ignition turned off when I went over that bump. Had the recall ignition problem had been something that gm was aware of at the time and notice was received, the mechanic would have known that this was the problem. But I replaced the brain of my car at $800 when it was not needed. Not wanting it to happen again (say on the freeway), I traded in the car. I feel that I should be reimbursed for the costs I paid to repair my vehiclewhen it should have been taken care of by the recall. My experience happened before anyone knew about this kind of thing happening to these vehicles. The consumer has since traded the vehicle. Updated 07/28/14
I first bought my 2006 saturn ion in march of 2013. Three days later I notice that when I would get on the highway my car would sway extremely bad. Our hwy speed is 75. Going 70mph was too much and it would sway a lot. Mind you I was pregnant at the time. The car spun out as I was exiting the highway. I was terrified because cars were right behind me. Thank god I got out of the way before I got hit. You can understand how upset I was due to the fact that I was 4months pregnant at the time. Since then my husband has spun out 5 times driving our car. We've taking it to the mechanics multiple times and they don't even know what to do with it. Our wheel alignments are fine. Also, our key gets stuck in the ignition a lot upon turning it off. So we have to use the button which is in the steering wheel just to get them out. Also, lately the car picks and chooses when it wants to accelerate. Lately I can floor it and the car will still be going 30mph. Also, lately when we go to turn on the car, it takes awhile and makes a sound as if the battery is dead, but then it soon comes on. I have had nothing but problems with this car from the start. I thought this was a good buy, but everyday I regret it and I fear for me, my husband, and my child's safety. Please do something about this issue. Matter of fact just take our cars. We don't need them fixed. Just take them please!
2006 saturn ion. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle electrical system issues. *smd recently, the emergency brake the consumer stated the check engine light illuminated twice and finally, the fuel injectors were replaced. Recently, the emergency brake light illuminated and stayed on without the emergency brake being pulled. Also, when she pushed the shifter knob, there was a noise in the steering column. There was an issue with the electrical power steering. It would go out and resume normal operation, while driving. *jb the consumer stated she heard a knocking noise, when she drove over a bump and the check engine light illuminated again. Updated 08/06/14
I was driving the 2006 saturn ion in my neighborhood. I reached the intersection at the end of my street and came to a stop/yield. As I took my foot off the brake to shift to the gas and began steering to turn left, the engine suddenly turned off. The battery light on the dash appeared. I was able to put the car in park, turn off the vehicle, and restart it. I returned home instead of continuing my trip. My vehicle is affected by the recall with campaign id number 14v‑047. I had removed all additional keys from my keyring as recommended in the three recall letters I received, but I still believe that this issue was related to the issue the ignition switch. I have chosen to file this complaint because one of the letters I received from [xxx]of gm asserted that the vehicle was safe to drive as long as there were no additional keys on the keyring. A link to the letter in question is: http://www-odi.the federal safety agency.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/download/doc/ucm454782/rcorrd-14v047-1697.pdf information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Vehicle doesn't turn on in below freezing temperatures. Has happened on multiple occasions. Electrical works, but engine won't turn over, just makes a clicking noise. After temperature warms, vehicle will start.
Vehicle's engine shut off while operating, however electrical remains on. Usually happens going over speed bumps at low speeds. Had to turn off and restart engine to operate. Incident occurred 2 times in 2009. Didn't give much thought until it started to recur in 2012. Has happened 3-4 times since. Also key gets stuck when trying to shut vehicle off. The key getting stuck when trying to shut off has occurred almost daily for the past 4 months. Didn't realize the incidents were related until I heard about the saturn recall on ignition switches and heard about similar problems.
The car will occasionally start right up or it sometimes take anywhere from 2 minutes to 10 minutes to get started. Have had the alternator looked at and that is fine. Cars lights and everything turns on and tested the battery that is fine. Car simply won't go into the run position. Maybe the new fix will change this with the recall but just another problem that I have seen documented online and have experienced constantly.
My daughter was going to work - she backed out of our driveway - put the car in drive - started forward and the car engine cut off - she could not steer the car and ran into two other cars on our street - hit one in the side and the other vehicle in the front on its driver side - we called saturn and notified them of the issue - they sent a tow truck and took it 70 miles to the nearest dealership - they said that they had to call in a special representative to check it out - he called us back and said that he could not find anything in the computer that would have caused the issue and told us to come back and get the car (about a 140 mile trip to pick up a car we were afraid of which we paid over $15000.00 for) this caused over $2000.00 of damage to her car it caused our insurance company to pay out a unknown amount for the damage to the other 2 vehicles the issue also went on her driving record as her fault (which it was not) and caused my insurance to go up - we are afraid to drive this car - always wait until there is no one coming before we use it to go anywhere because it hesitates - later the car started smelling like gas - and a message (pwr str) would come up on the dash - the key would not come out of the ignition and you could not get it to turn off - also on cold mornings it would not even start - any help or information on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks .
A new ign lock cylinder was replaced at firestone in dubuque, iowa, because the car would not turn off even with the key extracted from the ignitgion. The car had been shutting down while our daughter was driving the car for about a week. Repair cost $374.26 our daughter being at college did not drive the car much the rest of the month and came home to decorah, iowa, and on the way home and while home the car continued to shut itself off, with the last time being on a hill she was able to coast into a parking space, but the car had to be towed to the dealership in decorah, where report shows: checked for codes b1443 devise ignition off, run and crank, b2957; security system sensor circuit low voltage, b2958 security system; data high, b1441, checked fuses and wiring( all worked at this time);removed and replaced body control module, programmed module, and relearned theft deterent, cleared coades and test drove, $852.50 cost of repair.
While traveling between 70-75mph on I-35 southbound between 2nd st. Merge and 15th street exit in edmond ok, we went to change lanes (middle lane to right lane) and there was a sudden boom, the car lost control, began to spin out of control (numerous slides and 2-360 deg turns and being flung in a backwards motion). As we attempted to get to the side of the road, our car began to spin out of control - we spun into a 360 degree turn, car caught fire as the oil was dumped from my car and sprayed all along the underneath of my car and tires, we slid sideways towards concrete barrier separating n-s bound traffic, went into a second 360 degree turn, slid sideways - as we started heading once again forward towards oncoming traffic the vehicle suddenly started going backwards (even though car was in drive)... We finally stopped facing oncoming traffic in sideways motion. Tow/mechanic inspected the car and found 3-4inch hole in the engine block - diagnosis - that push pin broke without warning and blew the hole. No warning was given of any kind of engine malfunction issue - no warning lights, nothing. We could of / should of been killed (per the eye witnesses who stopped to help us), our only saving grace was the oil which sprayed the road and our tires keeping us upright and not rolling. This needs to be investigated, recalled and fixed before someone is not as lucky as us.
On friday we got our 2006 saturn ion out of the gm service department after having a frozen air compressor and ripped serpentine belt replaced ($1400), along with a transmission line. After driving and stopping throughout the day on the following monday, I was unable to turn the vehicle engine off after I put the car in park in the driveway of my home. I tried several times to turn the key to the off position, but it was locked. I put the car in reverse and it moved fine, but when I drove back into place and tried to shut it off again, the key wouldn't budge so the engine continued to run. We drove it back to the dealer who wanted to charge us again to have the vehicle serviced. We also noticed the coolant light came on, even though we had all the fluids checked two weeks prior when getting an oil change. The dealer said to disconnect the battery to shut the engine off. This didn't work. Another reliable source instructed us to disconnect the distributor cap to avoid the engine running on the alternator. After several attempts to find a distributor cap, we realized there was none. A neighbor came and disconnected a fuse. The key is still lodged in the ignition. We have had multiple problems with this vehicle, beyond what would be considered normal wear and tear maintenance: power steering replaced and the gas tank replaced because of a crack in the nipple. I am petitioning that this vehicle be recalled as it was in certain "hot" states. The extreme temperatures experienced in mid-east states, coupled by inadequate service and materials have created circumstances which are no less than those experienced in the initial states where recalls happened. What also should be noted is that consumer report document 491 complaints regarding these issues.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 saturn ion. The contact was driving 65 MPH when the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact merged off road and restarted the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken for inspection or repairs. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 115,000.
Tl* the contact submitted an email complaint and requested to have the complaint submitted verbatim to the email submission.re: 2006 saturn ion general motors case number: 71-1262884818 dear ms. Davis: I am writing this letter to express my extreme dissatisfaction with a recent repair that was done on my 2006 saturn ion. On saturday, january 4, 2014, my son arrived home with my car and said he could not turn the car off. Finding this strange, I went outside to try, and could not remove the key from the ignition or turn off the car. I called emergency road assistance to see if they could assist me. Upon their arrival, they could not get the key out, so I had the technician to follow me to the nearest auto repair shop. Once there, the emergency road technician received instructions over the phone on how to at least turn the car off by removing a fuse. I locked my car, with the key still in the ignition. Between the time I dropped my car off, until the shop was scheduled to open on monday, the temperatures plummeted to a record low of at least 45 degrees below zero. I was informed that my locks were frozen and my car was not accessible. The extremely cold temperatures did not allow merlin access to the inside of my car. Merlin?s was able to determine what the problem was, and that they had already verified it could only be fixed by the manufacturer of the car. The vehicle was towed to a dealer. The dealer told me the iginition switch needed to be replace. Next, I contacted the general motors customer service center to report what had happened.gm informed me that the ignition switch has been redesigned to avoid the nature of repairs such as mine, from happening in the future.the ignition switch should definitely be classified as a recall.
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.
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.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 saturn ion. The contact stated that while traveling 68 MPH, the vehicle suddenly stalled. The vehicle was moved to the shoulder where it was restarted. The vehicle functioned normally and was able to be driven to the contact's residence. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
The ignition wouldnt turn off, the key came out, leaving the car running. I tried wiggling the key, checking the shifter, everything, this is the 2nd time this has happened. Ive seen an extreme amount of complaints about this, and feel something should be done, gm is loosing a lot of business due to not solving this issue.
On and off for the past year my car has had moments when it would shut off while I am driving. At first it would happen when I may accelerate out of a parking space. One day I'm just driving down a parkway at about 40mph, and the car just shut off. The radio stayed on but the engine just shut off. Luckily no other cars were near me at that point. I took my car to several mechanics and they all said it may be the battery. We changed the battery and that didn't stop the problem. Most recently, I pulled out into on coming traffic. I couldn't have been, at that moment, more than 10mph and the car shut off again with cars rapidly speeding up on me and my car not moving. It was terrifying and I no longer feel safe driving this vehicle.
I started smelling gas when was stopped. I figured there may be a leak. I took it to a shop and they said I have one. I researched online and found that there was a recall on parts of the fuel system but that it doesn't apply in my state. So now im going to have to pay the $600 or so to get it fixed.
I am not able to turn off the car. The key will not turn to shut off the car. I had to find the fuse for the ignition in order to be able to turn off the car. I have read that there are many people having this issue and this could have been a disaster if I were out of town. I can't believe there is not a recall for this issue. This also happened to my son who has the same model and year that I have. I don't know how I am going to get gas as you have to turn the car off to do this, as it is a federal regulation.
I was going down road, steering because hard, transmission became stuck, pwr str light came up on mileage screen and the engine light came on. I was reading that others have had problem with steering column. Please let me know. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
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