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

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

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.

Lyle wrote:

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.

toa wrote:

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.

toa wrote:

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.