While driving the car will automatically shut off. I can be on the freeway at 55 miles and the car will just die. I can be at a stop light and the car will die. I have taken it in and twice they said they found nothing however the problem still exist. I thought that with the recall repair of the ignition switch it might help but it hasn't and my key still gets stuck in the ignition at times and I don't even have anything hanging on the key only the remote. Basically once you feel the car losing power and all dash lights show up, you need to restart the car to proceed. Very dangerous especially on the road.
Saturn Ion warning lights comes on
26 of the 4,344 owner complaints about the Saturn Ion describe multiple warning lights, most of them for the 2004 model year.
- owner complaints
- 26
- worst model year
- 2004
- typical mileage
- 50,000
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Won't start 13Power steering loss 2Loss of power 2Headlights 2ABS 2Transmission failure 1Steering lock-up 1Check engine light 1
What owners say
About two years ago I started experiencing problems with the ignition switch on my 2006 saturn ion 2. The key would get stuck in there, or be hard to put it in all the way before starting the car. At times the engine would stay on even after key was out and all the instrument cluster lights would all come on even when the engine was off. Suddenly my instrument cluster stopped working all together (all gauges dead) with the exception of the warning lights. They would always stay on even when car was off and key was out. Later, just as sudden the cluster worked fine again, only to die a month later leaving all warning lights always on again. While all this was happening I was still having issues with the ignition. Mechanic told me that the ignition switch was causing the cluster to malfunction and eventually burned it out. Because of financial issues I was unable to replace the switch or the cluster at the time. When I received the ignition switch recall letter, I took it to get replaced and explained the cluster situation but dealership refused to replace the cluster and said it was a different issue. For months I have not been able to tell how much gas I have, how fast I'm driving or the temperature of the car. It's frustrating and expensive to repair. I have stayed stranded on the highway with my children several times, but gm will not help resolve the electrical issue.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 saturn ion. The contact stated that while driving 25 MPH, the transmission failed and was unable to shift gears. In addition, all of the warning lights illuminated. The failure occurred numerous times. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.
When I start my car I get a message that days power steering service vehicle. That I loose all dash lights occasionally radio and air I do not regain power steering or lights for about 5-10 minutes. I can hear a change in the engine when it is regained. Once it's done I can drive perfectly normal. My check engine light is on and off. When I turn my car off the lights are there during the fit and off when the car is on. All the codes thrown are electrical. Help!
While driving, complete electrical failure. All dash lights out. Gauges zero. Steering difficult. This continues to happen.
This vehicle was purchased brand new and driven very little. Protected in closed in garage. Drove to colorado springs for vacation and went to visit relatives. Parked vehicle in front of relative home and the key couldn't be turned to shut off the car. Fortunately there was a neighbor of my relatives that new how to shut it off by disconnecting the battery cables. To start the car the cables had to be hooked back up. Drove to ferguson buick gmc in colorado springs and they checked it. The tumbler came apart, won't turn off , replaced ignition lock. Was charged for housing kit (15857948), code cyl, cylinder kit (20869121), labor and cost of parts totalled $614.22. With only 16, 607 miles from 2006 to 2012 this should not have happened. Today, november 30, 2012, I went to drive my vehicle and when I started the engine all the lights on the dash and message about steering off trac keeps flashing and it said something about steering fluid, brakes and the lights were going crazy. I am afraid to drive it so I drove it back into my garage. Couldn't drive it like that. Now what is wrong. This vehilce has been paid for since 2008 and only has 19, 000 miles on it. My husband bought me this vehicle as a surprise and little did he know he would get pancreatic cancer the following year. He wanted me to have a dependable extra vehicle. I cannot keep paying money to fix a vehicle that I am afraid to drive. May get stranded somewhere. I wouldn't feel in good conscious to even sell it to anyone. Not worth what he paid for it.
My car is only 5 years old and now has 36,000 miles on it. Whenever it is cold outside my car does not start. All of the lights work and the car will make a click, but the car itself will not turn on. I have been stranded multiple times at night in the freezing cold with no way of getting home. Two times I have been stranded in a dark parking garage. This is constantly re-occurring problem and I see that hundreds of people have had the same issue. When I have taken my car to the shop I have been told it is electrical problems. This problem should be recalled as many people have the same problem. Also, I have had many issues with the fuel system. I have already had the fuel injector replaced,and the fuel tank replaced. It is in the shop again today because there were more issues with the fuel system. The fuel in my car was not heating up the right temperature, and I was getting about 30% less miles per tank than before. Over the few years I have had cords to the fuel system replaced, removed, adjusted, etv. I have spent thousands of dollars on repairs for a 5 year old car with 36,000 miles on it. And it is the same problems happening over and over.
On sunday, september 25th, 2011, I was driving on a familiar road in town when all of the warning lights on my vehicle suddenly illuminated and began blinking. The speedometer, fuel gage, temperature gage, and RPM indicator all went down to zero and the message center began saying "trac off" and "pwr str." as this happened, my power steering went out. I pulled over and turned my car off. My car would not turn back on. After about one minute, I was able to start my car again and resume driving as normal. This has happened on four other occasions since the first time, three days ago. The last time it happened I was going around a curve and I almost went into the ditch. In addition, it is also important to note that at 40,000 miles, the vehicle began having the same issue (message center occasionally flashing "trac off" and "pwr str", and the ABS and emergency break lights going on). The dealer found that the steering column was shorting out and had to replace the steering column in the vehicle. This leads me to believe that this is an electrical problem...
2005 saturn ion. Front and back blinkers will not blink. I have replaced all bulbs and entire light assemblies. The vehicle is not inspectable because it has to have all lights working. This has been an intermittent problem and the cause of the light failure is unknown. The vehicle has been with an auto mechanic/electrician for over 2 weeks now and is very frustrating and unacceptable. Saturn has to find a way to repair the problem at their cost. It should not be the responsibility of the customer to have the problem repaired, because it is obviously an internal malfunction. Not only have I heard several complaints regarding the saturn and the difficulty in finding repair parts, but to find someone willing to work on them is not easy either. This has been an ongoing expense that appears to be never ending . These vehicles should be taken off the roads for the safety of the drivers and their passengers, as well as other drivers on the road, due to the unexpected and unknowing events of when and what will malfunction at any given time. I also feel that the value of the vehicle should be refunded to each customer as an "allowance" to put towards the purchase of a safer vehicle. This is a serious situation and should be investigated to the fullest by the federal safety agency immediately.
Without notice, the car will not start. The car will start and run like it was designed too, but after the car has been turned off, there have been instants where the car will not start again. The battery is not dead, all the lights, gauges and horn will work, but no power goes to the starter. After a extended period of time, ten minutes or more, the car will start. This is a random condition, there are no warning signs of when it will not start. I have been told that there is either a glitch in the security program or there is a problem with the grease in the started switch.
Related recalls
Electrical system: ignition
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt, 2006-2011 Chevrolet HHR, 2007-2010 Pontiac G5, 2006-2010 Pontiac Solstice, 2003-2007 Saturn Ion, and 2007-2010 Saturn Sky vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the key can be removed from the ignition when the ignition is not in the "Off" position.
- Risk
- If the key can be removed from the ignition when the ignition is not in the "off" position, the vehicle could roll away: (a) for an automatic transmission, if the transmission is not in the "Park" position; or (b) for a manual transmission, if the parking brake is not engaged and the transmission is not in the "Reverse" position. This potential for rollaway increases the risk for a crash and occupant or pedestrian injuries.
- Remedy
- General Motors will notify owners, and for vehicles that were built with the defective ignition cylinder and have not previously had the ignition cylinder replaced with the redesigned part, dealers will replace the ignition cylinder and cut and, if necessary, re-learn two ignition/door keys for each vehicle. For vehicles that were built with the redesigned ignition cylinder or had the ignition cylinder replaced with the redesigned part, dealers will cut and, if necessary, re-learn two ignition/door keys for each vehicle. The recall began on April 18, 2014. Chevrolet owners may contact General Motors at 1‑800‑222‑1020, Pontiac owners at 1‑800‑762‑2737, and Saturn owners at 1‑800‑553‑6000. General Motors' number for this recall is 14113 for the ignition lock cylinder and key replacement, and 14133 for only key replacements. Note: Until a vehicle has been remedied, owners and operators are advised that when exiting, to be sure that the vehicle is in "Park," or in the case of a manual transmission, that the vehicle is in the "Reverse" position and the parking brake is engaged.
Recall number 14V171000 · Recall details
Questions about the Saturn Ion warning lights
Why does the warning lights come on in the Saturn Ion?
Owners who report it most often also describe won't start, loss of power steering and sudden loss of power.
Which Saturn Ion years have multiple warning lights problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2004 (9 complaints), 2006 (8 complaints) and 2003 (4 complaints).
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used Saturn Ion?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history