2003 ION 3 Report

Well,I've had mine for just over a year now,overall,I'm happy with it,it's miles of improvement over my former Ford Contour-I kept that for 7 years,but,that's no reason for something to go bad on it every 3-4 months towards the end of ownership.I'm hoping this Ion will last a good 5 years,I'll see how well this one is built.

 

In the same boat, except for the Contour (was a civic, then a passat, then a maxima, then a jetta, then a skyhawk, then an accord, then an audi...). Overall, I am very happy also - I love the power, styling, and features-for-the-money.

Some curious things, though - did these happen to anyone else?

- I have the tan interior. The steering wheel was impossible to keep clean - it quickly developed several smoothed-out worn-out spots from cleaning and handling - so I had it leather-wrapped. Fixed. (go for the stitch-it-yourself real leather. It's worth it.)

- The horn cover on the steering wheel cracked in the winter. Replaced under warranty.

- The center armrest developed some sort of recurring black slimy goo on the rubbery surface. Wrapped that too. (Looks pretty cool). Fixed.

- DRL sockets melted. Replaced under warranty (with "upgraded" parts - they acknowledged the failure, so what out! It could happen to you too, if you have a 1st gen production!)

- Strange rattle/thunkety-clunkety noises from the suspension when slapping some bumps, like turning into my driveway. Sounds like a bad bushing or something. Waiting for this to get worse and more easily reproduceable for the tech.

- Tires. Oh man. The tires have GOT to go! Unless you like driving on banana peels if there's anything more than a *hint* of dampness on the road - look out! I have survivied so far, because I don't have the cash to throw $500 into tires. Plus, they're ok in dry hot summer weather, like I have now.

- Brake calipers and drums quickly oxydized and rusted in a most horrificly offensive way. They just looked TERRIBLE - given that you can see them through the funky ION.3 rims. Ack. Grabbed a power-grinder with a wire attachment and a can of the high-end ceramic black 1200° high heat spray paint (black - painting your drums red is just dumb, guys...). Fixed. I'm a bit obsessive, so I also stripped and painted the little "X" lug covers on the rims to black to match the car instead of that dark grey, which I felt threw off the visual appeal of the car.


So - everything has been or can be very easily fixed, and overall I still love the car! Very fun to drive.

-e
Well,I've had mine for just over a year now,overall,I'm happy with it,it's miles of improvement over my former Ford Contour-I kept that for 7 years,but,that's no reason for something to go bad on it every 3-4 months towards the end of ownership.I'm hoping this Ion will last a good 5 years,I'll see how well this one is built.