One car out of six changes your opinion?
That's a good question. I was definitely irrational in the level of
anger I felt and continue to feel about this turn signal issue, but no
it's not the only reason that I'm going to move away from buying
Saturns.
I bought my Ion due to the car I had before it. I had leased my
previous car, an SL2, during the big leasing boom in 1999, and my
lease was due to expire. I was receiving mail almost weekly telling me
to come in to my local dealer, who would let me out of my lease early
and into a new car. Since I had heard horror stories about people
paying exorbitant fees on lease returns, I was anxious to get that
weight off my shoulders and also have a new car.
I was told that the Ion was the new version of the SL2, test drove it
and liked it, and happily ended up buying it. Within 1000 miles I
noticed some small but irritating problems: the turn signal problem,
the radio would sometimes for no apparent reason get very staticky (a
problem that spontaneously went away), the car seemed to have a lot of
road noise, and the engine seemed to idle loud. Still, I was happy
enough with the other features of the car - fun styling, a deep trunk,
the offset dash, good power on the freeways - that I didn't exercise
my return privileges.
Within the first 1000 miles of owning the car, I began having problems
with my turn signal. I went to two different dealers several times in
the first few months of owning the car to get the turn signal issue
dealt with; both times it was kind of a hassle. The first time I was
given a bulb and it was explained to me how to change it; the second
time at a different dealer, I stopped by, requested they change it,
and ended up sitting for an hour and a half waiting for this repair.
Granted it was a Saturday afternoon and I didn't have an appointment,
but regardless I decided the issue was just not worth the hassle, that
I would just live with having a car with no turn signal.
Finally, after a near-miss accident one day when merging on the
freeway, I decided to ask for this to be fixed. Yesterday was the
third and hopefully final fix necessary to get this working but
frankly I have no faith that the problem won't come back.
The signal light problem isn't the only reason this will be my last
Saturn. The service I received will also be a reason - everyone has
been friendly and professional, but it took forever to get this
resolved. There are a ton of other reasons: I'd like to drive a
hybrid, not just due to high fuel costs but because cars are bad for
the environment; the car interior is too loud; my kids are almost
teenagers and the back seat gets crammed with three kids in the back;
wish for something different to drive; even the fact that the dealer's
waiting room is cold and uncomfortable.
I didn't mean to write a whole dissertation on this, but clearly I
felt the need to really vent. Thanks.
