Overview & Reviews

After 12 long years in production, Saturn is finally retiring its aging S-Series sedan and coupe in favor of the all-new Saturn Ion sedan and innovative quad coupe.

• Innovative rear-access doors on coupe, customer-focused dealers, numerous personalization options, great cargo capacity.

• Build quality not up to segment standards, unusual styling, lack of established service and repair history.

User Reviews:

Showing 1 through 10 of 280.00

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  I wanted to like it, really I did. - 2003 Saturn ION
  By may-queen - May 23 - 12:26 pm

  Ive had my ION3 for a little over 3 years, after owning an SL2 for 4 years. Honestly, I am not very happy with the car. The SL2 was a much better car. Most notably, the ION gets terrible gas mileage. I get about 16 city and 22 highway. My father has the same model ION3 that I do and his mileage is even worse than mine: 12 city, 19 highway. This is unacceptable. Also, there is nearly no leg room in the back seat. Its extremely uncomfortable back there. The novelty of having the instrument panel in the middle of the dash, rather than behind the steering wheel wears off rather quickly. I find myself wishing it were behind the wheel. And as with most Saturns, the car is too loud.

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  Worst Model Yet - 2003 Saturn ION
  By adida5796 - July 17 - 10:00 am

  Ive had my saturn ion for a little over a year. Its been in the shop 7 times now, the 7th tommorow. Its had a leaky motor, a broken cd player, a recall, the transmission slips and the RPMs race and the car jerks forwards, the brakes are terrible as they are going in tommorow because the car makes a creeking sound when stopping and maneuvering. I wouldnt recommend this car to anyone who wants reliability and comfort unless you like roadtrips cause you will be taking many of those back to the dealership to get repairs! The car has a lot of problems with noises and they are very annoying. Id get a Civic or Toyota! Too bad im suck in the lease!

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  Nightmare Car - 2003 Saturn ION
  By Lindsay - May 4 - 7:36 am

  I bought the car used in February 09. The car had the "no start" issue from the get go and no one could replicate the problem. I worked at 6am and the car would not start when it was below 40 degrees outside. Also the trasmission would "surge" every once and a while when I was driving. The gas mileage was disappointing as well. The seats stained easily, the interior bubble plastic was awful to clean and the AC fan would buzz. I just had the last strw with the no start issue and traded it on a corolla.

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  Saturn blow-on - 2003 Saturn ION
  By aidamahn - April 3 - 2:00 am

  Have had all kinds of problems with this car, from day 1. The 5-speed transmission shifts sloppy, the gears tend to be hard to shift into sometimes, or theyll pop out. The construction seams to be cheaper than usual. The internals of my driver side door literally fell apart, window popped off track and the lock/hondle stopped working. Traction Control and ABS conflict with shifting (IE: you cant put it in gear while the abs is going off, or breifly after). Traction Control makes car shake violently at lower speeds.

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  Caution in buying this car - 2003 Saturn ION
  By Toots - January 31 - 2:00 am

  I owned this car for 2 weeks, and returned it. Beware, the dashboard is designed as a multi-piece, multi- colored, multi-textured dash, which reflects up into the front window, right into the drivers primary view of the road. Every other car I have ever seen has a one piece, one texture dash, that does not reflect like this. The side mirrors reflect the interior side dash peices, such as the vents. It was too hazardous to keep this car, despite other positive features. Also, the vents do not close off, so all passengers must agree on the vent setting. If you try to close one off, it whistles horribly. There is too much play in the steering wheel.

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  Would Not Recommend - 2003 Saturn ION
  By taergreat - December 1 - 5:16 am

  Overall, I wish I hadnt purchased this vehicle. The ride is decent but not impressed with the gas mileage (all I can get is about 24MPG highway). The car has a very cheapy plastic feel to it. Build is below average and seats stain very easily. My Saturn has been fairly reliable until recently when a problem all-to common to Saturns cropped up. I cant turn the key to the off position in the ignition. It just locks up. This, in turn, drains the all to expensive battery.

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  So many better vehicles for the money - 2003 Saturn ION
  By RuddigerPez - May 26 - 1:23 pm

  Chose an ION because I was trading in an SL2 and wanted the best value. Unfortunately, this car disappointed at every turn. Poor performance, with a loud engine, horrible road noise and terrible mileage (currently at about 26 hwy with driver only). Interior layout looked innovative but in all practicality it just doesnt work. Drivers seat is the most uncomfortable Ive ever experienced. And the GM passlock issue has reared its ugly head with my model, though no recall has been issued. I made a horrible decision considering the Corolla, Civic, or Sentra were all much better vehicles for the same price at the time of purchase. It is a mistake I will not make again.

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  My Last Saturn - 2003 Saturn ION
  By EW - March 8 - 4:03 pm

  At the time I got this car - the "college grad" deal made it the most affordable car around. Now all I want to do is get rid of it. It is not a sporty car. It is an economy coupe, and that is it.

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  Saturn ION is awful - 2003 Saturn ION
  By Tim - December 1 - 10:23 pm

  Well my car is great......oh wait I have an ION. Lets see, the blinker went when I first got it. Also the little thing called the valve body inside the transmission went bad. Oh you ask what is a valve body? Its the little thing that helps the transmission shift properly. Brain of the tranny. Ive had the valve body looked at 6 times since Ive had it. At first it was fun going back to the dealership but now its not so fun. Also, at 50 grand the left axle went which is ok seeing how the warranty covered it. The lack of testing with this new transmission was evident and I believe they should have sticked with the 4 spd automatic. I wont buy another and the Trade value is AWFUL!

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  Piece of Crap - 2003 Saturn ION
  By NotVeryHappyJulie - January 13 - 10:00 am

  It’s been in the shop more times than months I have owned it. The cigarette plug has come out of the console, the back one window works sporadically and one of our heated leather seats has quit working for the 7th time!!! We had a complete electrical circuit meltdown which involved the cruise control malfunctioning and our brake light not shutting off. The car ended up locking us out and we were unable to drive it. Had to be towed and was in service for over a week. Other problems include the transmission, interior parts just falling off including the dashboard (the first week). This is literally a piece of crap!