Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/22 for details.
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/22 for details.
Options
Comments
Hopefully Saturn addresses the dash for the 2005 refresh. I like it fine on our car, but some of the new models coming now like the 3 are nicer.
Both times I took extended test drives of the ION (I was shopping with two different friends) the cars creaked over bumps considerably. By comparison, we were also shopping Hyundai products, Accent and Elantra, drove them over the same patch of road and neither had squeaks or rattles.
That said, the new GM (non-Saturn)interiors look and feel much better. Although no one will ever mistake them for the best of the Japanese (Honda, Toyota, Mazda), they are comparable to the Mitsu, Hyundai and Nissan interiors, and better than Subarus or Suzukis. The new Malibus are very promising and the Cobalt/Pursuit are very nice.
I really like the Pontiac Pursuit - I saw it at the Toronto autoshow two days ago. Like last year, the Saturn stand was not too busy although they did have some nice ION coupes, which were the only Saturn product anyone was looking at. It was generally getting good reactions.
One VUE I drove had no rattles, but the Honda Equipped one I was in had plenty.
Going slightly off topic, Saturn announced they will be aquiring a "new" vechicle for 2005 - an extended hatchback based on the Epislon chassis. Guess what that is ?? - A malibu Maxx! It will be interesting to see if it ends up with Plastic door and fender panels.
Any and all car makers have at least occational problems much to the surprise of some people.
What year did they become better?
But in 2003 I examimed 6 Saturns at the dealer, all had interior and exterior trim flaws.
The two IONS I owned had incessent buzzes and rattles and badly fitting interior parts among other problems.
The wiring seemed poorer quality than the Toyotas I had owned previously.
My brother's Ion also has buzzes and required replacing its instrument cluster after 500 miles.
And a leading car magazine's comments about build quality ("shoddy") and I am convinced Saturn has build problems in 2003.
Hopefully in 2004 they are beginning to iron this nonsense out...
the new Honda VUE did not suggest they are, though.
As Saturn will be aquiring the Epislon platform in 2005 (as a small hatchback - MALIBU MAXX rework time!), it will be interesting to see how that fares.
Nuff said....thanks.
I see more and more Ions on the road but this forum remains very quiet. I guess it's selling to non-enthusiasts or maybe they all hang out at saturn fans.
Anyway, nothing much to report. Car still drives well and no issues to report. I saw a long term wrap up in one of the car mags that pretty much mirrors our experience. A competent little car, reliable and peppy.
I suspect Saturn had a bad batch of 2003 IONs which had unusually bad fit and finish. And both my brother and I got nailed by them.
Hopefully the 2005 ION, when it gets its new interior, and their Chevy MAXX derivative, will benefit from better build quality. As mentioned before, Saturn Sales is the best I know of....would hate to see that die out.
This board has gone dead, kind of like the sales of the mighty ION and L series;) And sadly, most of the new Saturn stuff is getting badge engineered from other GM models or non-GM engines.
If it makes anyone feel better, the sales of Canada's best selling car, the Civic, are dropping like a rock as well. The Mazda 3, is for now selling better. Tough market for compacts out there for sure.
The Daewoo GM models sold here, the subcompact Aveo and the compact Optra (sold in the US as the Suzuki Forenza) and the Epica (Suzuki Verona in the US)are selling really well, and the Pontiac versions of these vehicles are not out yet. I am sure they will sell just as well. More bad news for the ION.
The Optra is the less convincing vehicle of the bunch although it looks very Civic-like and fit and finish is good. Too bad it is not very strong in the powertrain department - it is very thirsty for a four compares with an ION, and the ION is thirstier than the Civic/Corolla et al. Still the Optra is stylish and you can get it serviced at Chevy dealers which significantly outnumber Saturn's network.
Any other news out there in ION land?
http://ww2.imagewiz.net/images/pramundo/43702_scc_redline_pg1.jpg
http://ww2.imagewiz.net/images/pramundo/43704_scc_redline_pg3.jpg
In answer to the prior query about the whereabouts of posters to this thread, I can only say, "I can't be posting to this discussion if I'm out driving and enjoying my Saturn ION!!!"
I check this thread every so often because I bought my ION2 at a time when EVERYONE (including the fine editors at this site) said the car was American, crappily put together and not worth spending money on; and thus, I check to see if those comments have been rescinded. They haven't been. I don't disagree with the experts on the build quality, but subjectively and for the price, I am still liking my little car after driving it 15,000 miles.
No mechanical problems. It was in the shop once for fender repair after a Chevy Tahoe rearended it at a stoplight. In cold weather the steering wheel squeaks when you turn it. When I get into the driver's seat and the car sinks down from my weight, I hear a creak from beneath. I would be mad if the car cost me $20K, but it didn't (about half of that actually). It's an econobox, but a very pretty one.
I have driven this car between Philadelphia and Washington DC; through the city and in the suburbs; on the highways and lots of backroads; and hiking/camping in Virginia, the Poconos and even Toronto, Canada. I haven't even owned the thing a year yet (bought it in July 2003). I think I will drive it to Boston this summer for a convention.
Also, car travel is more enjoyable because I bought my ION2 loaded with options. Finally, I want to add that I'm still in the poor-grad-student phase. I'm sure that once I make the big bucks, I'll move up in my choice of cars, e.g., Jaguar X-type - but for now, I really like driving my ION. Happy touring!
Have not been on in a while but all is well with our Ion 2. Nothing to report, it's a very reliable piece of machinery. I think if I was buying today I would likely get a Mazda 3, I can see why sales are so good.. Only issue I would have with it is the local dealer is not great.
I'll try and pop in more often, life has been busy lately with our new edition.
K
And yes, I also found the Ion seats small. Leather, though expensive, considerably improved their comfort. And apparently the Red Line has some Recardo style seats that are pretty nice. It would be nice if Saturn made those options for the other Ions out there.
BFS, does your ION have an auto or CVT? The CVT's were giving Saturn a fair bit of trouble at one time.
The Saturn has a 2.2 liter engine vice the Aveo's 1.6 liter. The highway mileage figures were very close, 34 for the Aveo and 32 for the Ion. Also, the Ion simply seemed like much more car for the money. The bottom line was, more car for less money, about $10/month less per car for the Saturn.
OBTW, before everyone starts flaming me for pampering my teens, they are paying half the payment, (about $100/month), plus 100% of the insurance and buying their own gas.
This is our fourth Saturn. We had a 1990 SC2 and we still have a 1995 SL2. The SL2 has 133000 miles on it and still runs and looks great!
When the kids get ready to go to college, we will give them the choice of taking over 100% of the payments on their Saturn's. If they decide that they aren't interested, we'll trade all three of the Saturns currently in our stable for something small for me to drive back and forth to work.
Joe Alferio
http://www.jdpower.com/news/releases/pressrelease.asp?ID=2004037
I would not let the radio affect the opinion of the mechanical reliability of the vehicle.
Saturn should have skipped the whole CVT thing. I don't think it sells any extra vehicles and it's a pain for the dealers.
Still not 1 issue with our Ion. Amazing little car. I saw them transform an Ion to a street car last night on Speedvision. Very cool!
If I'm not mistaken, Saturn needs the CVT for the hybrid VUE. They had to get them in the marketplace to see how they can do.