iTimmy

I drive a lot of cars pretty much every day, in the neighborhood of 20 different cars 5-6 days a week for 9-12 hours a day and have done so for 9 years(I have been in the automotive business since I was 13 but not driving them on public roads at that time). And everytime I get behind the wheel of a Saturn Ion I am blown away by how big a piece of shit it is, the steering is HORRIBLE, the ride is incredibly soft, yet it rides bushel of dirty assholes. The overall feel of the car is with out a doubt in my mind, the worst car on the road today by a large margin. In fact I can't think of a car made in the last 15 years that stands out in such a negative way about how it rides/drives. What really boggles my mind is that nothing is particularly weird about it the car, everything is more or less normal by today's standard.

Anyone else drive one of this things and feel the same way? Anyone actually like a regular(non-redline) Ion?

Dan Martin

When I said that my friends Ion was a POS I was told by several people on this forum that I was wrong and that his car must have been a lemon. Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks this car could be the worst car on the road today.

Deity711

I drive my friend's Ion quite a bit. I even helped her buy it. It sure as hell isn't a Civic or Corolla, but for what it is I think it's pretty nice. I agree the steering is really pretty bad, but what really impressed me is how quiet it is, and the power seems to be above average. It's certainly more quiet and more powerful than my ex-gf's new Sentra.

I hate the styling, again hate the steering (even the wheel itself sort of sucks), but for a low-end compact sedan I think it's good. Dealership was great too.

Oh, and really don't like the center dash. I guess they put it there because their target buyer probably never looks at it.

Trojanman750

i hate saturns with a passion, my dad had an old wagon and that thing was such a POS....it rattled like crazy, every saturn ive ridden in has that same rattly dash that vibrates to no end

iTimmy

I am not trying to come across as a snob, I feel that there are plenty of inexpensive quality vehicles available today, that ride and drive great. I just am always taken back as to how bad the Ion is in the current car market, anyone who buys one is completely unaware or doesn't test drive anything else.

Dan Martin

My thoughts exactly.

How could anyone drive an Ion and a Civic and decide the Ion is the better car.

The Saturn is only $1300 less here in Canada ($15700 vs. $17000) and considering it has the worst resale value in the segment, the price difference is negligible. My friend's Ion has had so many repairs in it's short history that he could have bought a Civic SI for about the same money. The total cost of ownership of a Civic would be far less than an Ion, so really, Ion drivers have decided that they're not only driving the best car in the segment, but they're actually willing to pay a premium for it.

uu

when my CLS was at the dealer for tranny for two weeks, they got me an Saturn Ion from Enterprise. I remember it only had like 300 miles on it. I was supposed to be two long trips on each weekend, so I had to drive the the Ion. One trip to Rhode Island, and another one to Maine. Well, I was doing 85/90 all the way, the engine was buzzing like crazy, make me wonder if the 4 banger were a 2 stroke 2 banger

And, I can't never get used to the stupid centered speedo/tacho meters.

Anyway, I won't say it is POS car, but just a cheap car, maybe overpriced MSRP, but I am sure people can get Ion for much much lower than MSRP.

One good thing about the Ion (well, for all GM new cars), the extra jack input for your portable stereos!! Ipod/PSP all the way!

bz268

I went to test drive a ION and a AURA the other day. I really like the car. The price is right -- $16K for the pretty much loaded ION and $22K for the AURA.

The AURA is great. The interior is crap but there is nothing you don't need. It comes with a year of On Star. On Star is WOOOWWW!!! It will run a safe test on your car automatically every month. Comes with a cell phone service ($16.99 for 100 mins) and NAV and some sort GPS LoJack thing. And it is all voice control. If you crash and die, the On Star will call the police and ask them to pick up your remain all by itself.

The radio can play MP3 and it has a aux plug for your ipod. And the sound is much better than the Pioneer in my TSX.

The engine is big with 260 hp and torque. There is no power steering or brake pump. They are all run by electric motors. So, all the juice goes to the wheels. You don't even need to change the transmission oil because it is "life time". No need to change it. And the brake pad can last for 80k miles rather than the regular 40k mile pad.

If I were shopping for a new car, I would buy the Aura.

AcuraFan

So when did this turn from a "bash Ion" thread to an Aura commercial?

Don't get me wrong, I have high hopes for the Aura. I think it has a lot of potential to make some inroads into the mid-sized sedan market but it's kinda getting of the subject of how much of a POS the Ion is.

agranado

hopefully the new redesigned ion will turn heads like most of the rest of the new saturn lineup..

SodaLuvr

Hate to bump this, but this is usually caused by the infamous motor mount failures. Saturns usually go through an upper mount every 50-75k...when they fail, the entire dash, rear end, and fenders will vibrate.