how do you owners of 2006 saturn ion feel about them.

[Lyle]

I'm seriously thinking about getting a 2006 saturn, im 6' and it has
plenty of room so i dont feel cramped, And you get quite a bit for
what you pay for. What i'm interested in is what you owners of the
2006 saturn feel about it?
thanks
Lyle

 

[BE]

Ion 3 here with sun and sound package and travel package. No leather and no
anti-lock brakes. 2,500 miles bought in November. Just today had my 1st
problem, key stuck in ignition - called dealer and they told me to make sure
the shifter (automatic stick) was pushed forward firmly, I did that and the
key did release.

Aside from that, I like the car a lot in spite of what I consider to be
undersized side view mirrors and large gaps in the panels, doors etc. If it
rains or after a car wash, there is a large amount of water pooling at
bottom of step in door runner (lower painted part). I've been wiping it out
as I don't want water sitting anywhere for any length of time and I plan on
keeping that painted surface well waxed; I'll have to see how this plays out
over time.

Stock all season (good for no season) tires I've swapped out for the winter
with Nokian WR stud-less snows; I'll put the hard all seasons on for the
summer months.

Let's see what else, sure it a fair amount of car for the money; I paid
$17,000 and if its anything like the SL2 I traded in, I'll be happy. No
real maintenance except oil changes before 100,000 miles.

Time will tell though...

 

[Michael Halliwell]

Ion 3 here with sun and sound package and travel package. No leather and no
anti-lock brakes. 2,500 miles bought in November. Just today had my 1st
problem, key stuck in ignition - called dealer and they told me to make sure
the shifter (automatic stick) was pushed forward firmly, I did that and the
key did release.

Aside from that, I like the car a lot in spite of what I consider to be
undersized side view mirrors and large gaps in the panels, doors etc. If it
rains or after a car wash, there is a large amount of water pooling at
bottom of step in door runner (lower painted part). I've been wiping it out
as I don't want water sitting anywhere for any length of time and I plan on
keeping that painted surface well waxed; I'll have to see how this plays out
over time.

Stock all season (good for no season) tires I've swapped out for the winter
with Nokian WR stud-less snows; I'll put the hard all seasons on for the
summer months.

Let's see what else, sure it a fair amount of car for the money; I paid
$17,000 and if its anything like the SL2 I traded in, I'll be happy. No
real maintenance except oil changes before 100,000 miles.

Time will tell though...

Well, I don't have an '06, but my '03 has done well. I'm 6' as well and
have had no problems with room. It can be cramped for someone behind me
in the back seat, but then again this isn't a large car...it's going
happen to the poor soul behind me in almost any vehicle I'm driving.

I've had regualr maintenance done and a couple of the service bullettin
things done. The only "problem" was a piece of weather stripping on the
rear door that liked to pull away and let in wind noise and the
occasional drip of water...it was taken care of under warranty.

Hope that helps,

Michael H

 

[toa]

See what "consumer reports" magazine says about this car. I wish I had
done that when I bought my 04 Saturn ION. I bought my car brand new a
year and half ago. I have probably done 12 repairs on the car so far.
I had to pay for some of them since not everything is covered by
Warranty (read brakes).
I am taking the car to shop next week for more repairs. Beside all the
mechanical problems that I have had with this car, I have problem with
the 5-speed automatic transmission of my car. The transmission is
rough, it kicks, and there is a delay when it upshifts from gear one to
two and from two to three. I complained few times to the dealer, but
they can not fix the problem. They updated the TCM couple of times but
the problem has not gone away.
I also hear squeaks and buzzing noise inside the car, which can get
annoying.
If for some reason you do not want to buy Japanese cars like Honda and
Toyota, and you prefer American, then you might be better off with a
Ford Focus.

 

[brawnylad]

This is the first Saturn I've owned. I am 6'3" and I fit in there OK...
I'm not sure what others are talking about when they say the tires are not
good.
I have the Ion-3 with the larger wheels and the performance package which
includes
traction control and anti-lock brakes. I have driven this in the snow a few
times and
all I can say is that it is GREAT! It has the 5-speed, and with other cars
I've driven
that have a manual transmission, getting started in the snow was a bear,
especially
with a more powerful engine such as the 2.4L in the Ion-3. That's not the
case with
this car, you can just floor it, and it goes!

I am hoping that Saturn has taken care of the problems that people had in the
previous model years such as bad transmission (discontinued the variable
trans)
and security system preventing key removal and starting of the engine.

I was looking for a cheap new car and I believe I got a great value.
I may be a little partial because I got the car at a discount, but it seems
to be a very
nice car for around $15,000. I originally wanted a Cobalt or G6 GTP, but
those would
be $5,000 to $10,000 more than the Ion-3 respectively, with the same features.

 

[brawnylad]

This is the first Saturn I've owned. I am 6'3" and I fit in there OK...I'm
not sure what others are talking about when they say the tires are not good.
I have the Ion-3 with the larger wheels and the performance package which
includes traction control and anti-lock brakes. I have driven this in the
snow a few times and all I can say is that it is GREAT! It has the 5-speed,
and with other cars I've driven that have a manual transmission, getting
started in the snow was a bear, especially with a more powerful engine such
as the 2.4L in the Ion-3. That's not the case with this car, you can just
floor it, and it goes!

I am hoping that Saturn has taken care of the problems that people had in the
previous model years such as bad transmission (discontinued the variable
trans) and security system preventing key removal and starting of the engine.

I was looking for a cheap new car and I believe I got a great value. I may
be a little partial because I got the car at a discount, but it seems to be a
very nice car for around $15,000. I originally wanted a Cobalt or G6 GTP,
but those would be $5,000 to $10,000 more than the Ion-3 respectively, with
the same features.

 

[David T. Johnson]

See what "consumer reports" magazine says about this car. I wish I had
done that when I bought my 04 Saturn ION.

I like Consumer Reports and they provide a great service but...their
recommendations and reliability indications are a little skewed towards
a certain kind of car and a certain kind of owner, probably because
that's who their members are. For example, I have a 2001 Chrysler Town
and Country Van that I am up to 84K on with no problems of any kind
though the Consumer Reports reliability records suggest that I should
have expected lots of problems. My 92 Saturn SL2 that I bought brand
new for $10,500 is up to 189K with no problems other than wear items
such as clutch, brakes, tires, etc. even though the Consumer Reports
recommendations were to not buy the car. The Saturn 4-cylinder engine
is a super little engine. In contrast, I bought a 1982 Toyota Tercel
SR5 new that was very highly rated by Consumer Reports and it WAS a very
reliable and sturdy car until it hit about 100k and then everything kind
of fell apart on it at the same time which was probably a typical
experience since I noticed that most of them disappeared from the road
at about the same time. I haven't seen one of those in running
condition in the last 10 years. I'm not saying that Consumer Reports is
wrong but only that you should take what they say with a grain of salt
and use your own judgment as well.