FaultScore

2006 Saturn ION stability control problems

11 of the 1,537 complaints about the 2006 Saturn ION are about the stability control — 1% of everything reported for this model year. Half of the failures with a mileage on record happened before 74,000 miles.

A

11

Complaints

0

Crashes

0

Fires

0

Injuries

Exactly what failed

Electronic Stability Control (Esc) 11 100.0%

What owners said

Filed with NHTSA, in their own words.

at 72,401 miles Rhome, TX

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

KEY GETS STUCK IN IGNITION AND CAR WON'T START. UNABLE TO RETRIEVE KEY FROM IGNITION SWITCH. VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY.

NHTSA complaint #11241072 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Bristol, CT

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

I PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE AND THE PREVIOUS OWNER DID NOT TAKE IT FOR RECALLS.IT HAS 6 RECALLS..THE CAR SEEMS TO HAVE A LEAK BY GAS TANK,SMELLS LIKE GAS. I GOT TEMPORARY PLATES FOR NOW BUT CAR NEEDS TO GO TO EMISSIONS.

NHTSA complaint #11043272 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 134,000 miles Edgewater, FL

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

ENGINE REDUCTION, SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERN, WAS ALMOST HIT BY A SEMI, ENGINE REDUCTION LIGHT COMES ON, LOSE POWER AND CAR SLOWS AT A HIGH RATE CAUSING EXTREME SAFETY HAZARD IN TRAFFIC, MUST PULL OFF INTERSTATE TURN CAR OFF TO RESET, HAPPENING 2-3 TIMES A DAY, STRONG SMELL OF GAS, HAVE A LEAK AND IT IS NOT COVERED UNDER THE WARRANTY, SOONER OR LATER SOMEONE IS GOING TO BE CRUISING DOWN THE INTERSTATE AND THEIR SATURN IS GOING TO REDUCE ENGINE POWER AND THEY WILL NOT HAVE TIME TO GET OUT OF THE WAY, THEY WILL BE PLOWED DOWN BY A SEMI. ARE WE GOING TO CONTINUE TO ALLOW GM TO IGNORE THIS ISSUE LIKE THEY IGNORED THE IGNITION SWITCH PROBELMS UNTIL IT STARTS CAUSING DEATHS, WHY NOT SOLVE THE ISSUE BEFORE THE DEATHS START TO OCCUR, IT SEEMS THE OLDER THESE YEAR MODELS GET THE WORSE THIS PROBLEM BECOMES. I WAS FORCED TO PUT A DATE, BUT THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM THAT IS GETTING INCREASINGLY WORSE WITH THE FUEL LEAK, MAYBE ONE DAY THE ENGINE WILL REDUCE POWER AT THE SAME TIME I WILL GET RUN OVER BY A SEMI AND THE CAR WILL EXPLODE INTO FLAMES FROM THE FUEL LEAK THEY ARE NOT RECALLING FOR MY VEHICLE

NHTSA complaint #11040840 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Kings Mountain, NC

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

WHILE DRIVING AND COME TO A COMPLETE STOP CAR WILL JUST CUT OFF, ALOT OF JERKING, POWER STEERING COMES ON AND STEERING HARD,ELECTRICAL DISPLAY WILL AUTOMATIC START SHOWING UP.HAVE TAKEN CAR TO DEALERSHIP FOR RECALL REPAIRS AND STILL HAVE PROBLEMS WITH STEERING. WHEN I BROUGHT THE CAR HAD TAKEN IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAID IT WAS FIXED BUT GOT ON THE ROAD AND CAR STOPPED,THE DEALERSHIP HAD CAR TOWED TO FACILITY AND SAID IF WAS FIXED,IT WAS ELECTRICAL PROBLEM WHEN I TOOK BACK AND THE PROBLEM IS STILL ON GOING TO THIS DAY.

NHTSA complaint #10655364 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 111,000 miles Moreno Valley, CA

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

I WAS REAR ENDED ON THE FREEWAY ON 11/17/13. I WENT TO GET IT FIXED ABOUT A WEEK LATER. THEY HAD MY CAR FOR ABOUT 3 DAYS. WHEN I WENT TO PICK UP MY CAR, THERE WAS NO POWER STEERING. WHEN THE GENTLEMAN TRIED TO PUT POWER STEERING FLUID IN IT, HE NOTICED IT WAS ELECTRIC. HE SAID IT MUST HAVE GONE OUT. NOW I HAVE TO PAY TO FIX MY POWER STEERING AND I DIDN'T HAVE MY CAR WHEN IT WENT OUT!

NHTSA complaint #10558428 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 119,600 miles Lexington Park, MD

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

ON JUNE 21, 2013 PULLED INTO PARKING LOT AND ATTEMPTED TO TURN ENGINE OFF. KEY WAS STUCK IN THE ON POSITION. TRIED SEVERAL TIMES TO REMOVE KEY BUT COULD NOT. CAR WAS STILL RUNNING. IN ORDER TO TURN CAR OFF HAD TO REMOVE THE FUSE PLUG FROM THE FUSE BOX UNDER THE HOOD. ALSO HAD TO DISCONNECT BATTERY IN ORDER TO NOT HAVE EVERYTHING ELSE CONTINUE TO RUN AND KILL THE BATTERY. I TOOK IT TO MECHANIC WHO REPLACED THE KEY IGNITION BUT NOW THE CAR WILL NOT START. SEEMS LIKE ITS AN ELECTRICAL OR SECURITY PROBLEM WITHIN THE ENGINE. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD AND SHOULD BE A RECALL ITEM. CAR IS STILL IN SHOP WITH MECHANIC HOPING TO GET IT STARTED.

NHTSA complaint #10522015 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 41,400 miles Aurora, CO

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

BOUGHT MY SATURN ION 2 2006 IN 2005 OBVIOUSLY BRAND NEW AND WAS TALKED INTO PURCHASING A $1500 BUMPER TO BUMPER WARRANTY. I IMMEDIATELY HAD PROBLEMS BUT WAS TOLD BY SATURN MECHANICS NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH MY CAR. IN 2009 AS I WAS GETTING HOME THE KEY GOT STUCK IN THE IGNITION AND WOULDN'T TURN OFF, I COULDN'T TURN OFF THE CAR AT ALL. I WAS LUCKY THAT THE DEALERSHIP WAS OPEN AND ABLE TO UNPLUG THE BATTERY. THEY FIXED IT BUT THE WARRANTY WOULDN'T PAY, SO I PAID OUT OF POCKET TO FIX IT. WELL, LAST SUNDAY IT HAPPENED AGAIN, IN 105 DEGREE HEAT. I HAD NO WHERE TO TAKE IT SINCE DEALERSHIPS ARE CLOSED SUNDAYS. MY CAR RAN FOR OVER 5 HOURS BECAUSE NO ONE COULD FIGURE OUT HOW TO UNPLUG THE BATTERY. ONLY A PROFESSIONAL KNOWS HOW TO TURN OFF THE CAR SAFELY, YET MANY PEOPLE RISKED TURNING IT OFF. I AM SURE SOME PEOPLE WOULD FIND IT EASY TO TURN OFF THE CAR BY DISCONNECTING THE BATTERY BUT STILL IT NOT SAFE. MY CAR WAS SO HOT NO ONE COULD TOUCH IT, I WAS AFRAID IT WAS GOING TO START ON FIRE. THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM AND NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED AND RECALLED. WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO TURN OFF AN ENGINE. PLEASE INVESTIGATE THIS ISSUE, SATURN NOR GM WILL TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS DEFECT, EVEN THOUGH WHEN YOU GOOGLE SATURN ION 2 2006 ALL THE REVIEWS SAY THE SAME THING ABOUT THE IGNITION CYLINDER.

NHTSA complaint #10463509 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 130,000 miles Atlanta, GA

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

I OWN A 2006 SATURN ION 2 4D SEDAN. I AM THE SOLE OWNER OF MY VEHICLE. VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED NEW AND CURRENTLY HAS APPROXIMATELY 130,000 MILES. TRAVELING HOME ON A BUSY HIGHWAY, I HEARD MY NOTIFICATION SOUND GO OFF AND MY MESSAGE INDICATOR READ "PWR STR" AND MY STEERING WHEEL IMMEDIATELY BEGAN TO STALL. TRYING NOT TO PANIC, I ASSUMED THAT THE STEERING WHEEL WOULD STILL BE OPERATIONAL BUT I NOTICED IT WAS BECOMING INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO MANEUVER. I MANAGED TO EXIT THE BUSY INTERSTATE AND ONCE I GOT TO THE STOP LIGHT I NOTICED I COULD NO LONGER MOVE THE WHEEL. I TURNED MY CAR OFF AND TURNED IT BACK ON AND IT SEEMED TO WORK SO I WAS ABLE TO GET HOME. UNACCEPTABLE!! THIS WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO HAPPEN ON A BUSY INTERSTATE OR ANYWHERE FOR THAT MATTER. I AM SCARED TO DEATH TO DRIVE THIS CAR IN FEAR THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN AGAIN. WHAT IF I WAS NOT ABLE TO GET OFF THE HIGHWAY? THIS WAS A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE AND SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT THIS!!!!!

NHTSA complaint #10451897 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 19,052 miles Bethesda, MD

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

CONTINUAL COMPUTER/ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS BEGINNING - 1/12/10 + 1/14/10 + 12/29/10 + 6/21/11 + CURRENT PROBLEM 6/25/11 DEALERSHIP CHARGED $120 FOR DIAGNOSIS EACH INCIDENCE SINCE 12/19/10. CURRENT MILEAGE 22,170.

NHTSA complaint #10412818 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 74,000 miles Bowie, MD

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

I HAVE 2 SATURN IONS. ONE IS A 2004, AND THE OTHER IS A 2006. BOTH ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE POWER STEERING MODULE WHICH TURNS OFF WHILE DRIVING, THEN RESETS WHEN VEHICLES TURNED OFF AND RESTARTED, ONLY TO TURN OFF AGAIN WHILE DRIVING. THIS IS A MINOR PROBLEM @ SPEEDS OVER ABOUT 20MPH, BUT @ LOWER SPEEDS THE WHEEL BECOMES DIFFICULT TO TURN.

NHTSA complaint #10324186 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

at 57,000 miles Brookville, IN

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

2006 SATURN ION-3 AUTOMATIC 2.4L 1. POWER STEERING: POWER STEERING GOES OUT NEARLY EVERY TIME I DRIVE THE VEHICLE. SATURN DEALERSHIP CHANGED A SENSOR I THE STEERING COLUMN, BUT PROBLEM PERSISTS. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS TO BE DRIVING IN THE CITY WITHOUT POWER STEERING. 2. IGNITION: CAR REFUSES TO START WHEN TEMPERATURE IS BELOW 15-20 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. I HAVE BEEN STRANDED IN BELOW FREEZING WEATHER FOR ALMOST AN HOUR BECAUSE OF THIS COMMON SATURN FAILURE.

NHTSA complaint #10294575 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Other 2006 Saturn ION problems

← Full 2006 Saturn ION report