How Reliable is the Saturn Ion?

Front 3/4 view of a Saturn Ion

Ion owners have made 330 complaints over 5 model years. It ranks 20th in reliability out of 22 eligible Saturn models.

Our reliability rank is based on our PainRank™ system. A higher number means you can expect more significant problems. The average Saturn score is 4.43 while the Ion comes in at 13.44.

The 2 Most Common Ion Problems

We've pulled together a list of the problems Ion owners.

  1. Saturn VTi Transmission Failure

    GM debuted a continuously variable transmission (CVT) in some 2003 Saturn models. The transmission, branded VTi, presented an interesting technological gamble for the manufacturer, one that quickly spiraled out of control with numerous comp…

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  2. Saturn Ignition Switch Recall

    In February, 2014, General Motors recalled 1.6 million vehicles because of a faulty ignition switch that has been linked to the deaths of 13 people. To make matters worse, the company may have known about the defect for over a decade.

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What Ion Owners Complain About

Sometimes it helps just to tally up the complaints and see where the biggest stacks are. Use this information to learn about troublespots or to run for the hills.

Worst Issues

What Breaks

Years to Avoid

Full Lists on CarComplaints.com

Ion Generations

Generations are groups of model years where few, if any, changes were made to the vehicle which means their model years tend to break in similar ways. The Ion has 1 generation available in North American markets.

  1. 1st Generation Ion

    Years
    2003–2007
    Reliability
    31st of 34
    PainRank™
    12.28
    Complaints
    330
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Ion Key Numbers

  1. 330 complaints

    Running tally of owner grievances filed to CarComplaints.com.

  2. 852 service bulletins

    Documenting the process of troubleshooting common problems.

  3. 12 recall campaigns

    Time-sensitive, free repairs for widespread safety problems.

Recent Ion News

There's a lot of news out there, but not all of it matters. We try to boil down it to the most important bits about things that actually help you with your car problem. Interested in getting these stories in an email? Signup for free email alerts over at CarComplaints.com.

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