I beseech thee, impart Saturn Ion nollij.

Found an '03 Saturn Ion with ~130k miles, it's a 2.2 A/T making it an Ecotec. I can get it pretty damn cheap, but as always need to get a handle on possible problems. IIRC this year is hard on timing chains? Anything else I should look for?

First year of that body and still a Saturn w/ plastic panels - good. Went on to be the mechanical underpinnings for the Chevy Cobalt. If it is a car for your teen, it is likely a good, solid choice.
Center style dash seems just unique for the sake of being unique. Fit and finish is typical low Saturn but cheap.

Yep, it's for the kiddo. It seems that Saturn used CVT transmissions in some of them and those had a high failure rate, the 5 speed automatic hangs together OK. Other than that, there's a cold weather no start condition I'm still looking into.

Saturn Vue's of similar vintage used a CVT with 2.2L that is dismal. I did not realize the Ion had same/similar.

I had an Ion as a rental car in the past. Looking under the hood, I was surprised that it is designed to be able to remove the entire headlight assembly w/o the use of any tools. Mine was a 2.4L and I got a 98mph speeding ticket by airplane while in that darn thing. Who knew...?

In reply to JohnRW1621:

FWIW, the balt ran on ion underpinnings......

Edit: that 5sp auto should be the asin one....decent, by the other option, but I believe it was only around for 1 or 2 model years

www.fueleconomy.gov says that all '03 Ion's were 2.2L and they they were offered both CVT and 5speed style automatics. There was a 5 speed manual as well.

A little more digging says the 4 door (which this is) got the 5 speed Aisin AW55, the CVT was in the coupes. Either could have the Getrag 5 speed. This one's an Ion3 which was top of the line. It's cheap enough that if it's definitely a 5 speed auto trans and doesn't have the Ecotec timing chain death rattle I will probably go ahead and grab it.

Oh, the cold start problem? Seems it's a Passkey problem dealing with old/hard grease fouling the contacts. There's a couple of 'bypass' kits which are nothing more than a remote antenna, you stick a Passkey in the bypass box then teach the PCM that this one is OK. Voila, no more Passkey problem.

I've seen enough ecotec timing chains explode with no warning that if you do end up with it, I would figure on changing that IMMEDIATELY. Other than that, it sounds like you have it figured out. As long as it's not an automatic coupe (time bomb CVT), it should be cheap, reliable (boring) transportation, as long as the timing chain doesn't break. Oh, and sometimes the ignition lock cylinder likes to stick on them.

16vCorey wrote: Oh, and sometimes the ignition lock cylinder likes to stick on them.

With this it's usually the cover for the tumblers that pops off and wedges in the housing. If you can catch it before it is totally stuck you can epoxy it back on and forget about it.

In reply to EvanB:

Or the ignition tumbler wears out so you can pull the key from the ignition with it running......I did this often at gas stations so the car would autolock itself and I could get back in(I only had one key)

That was an '05 IRL though....Edit: Check the vin through GM to see if it has had the power steering recall done to it....they finally extended it to Ions 9 or 10 months after mine went bad.

Is that recall the electric power steering pump recall?

In reply to Curmudgeon:

Yes.....the electric steering assist motor is just under the dash on the column.

I had an 04 ION 3 coupe for 6 years. It was ok, but boring. There are several issues that you need to watch out for:

Cold start issue (you know about this one already)

Deteriorating front sway bar bushings - VERY common. Check for clunking noise when going over slow bumps.

Idle air control valve issue - It will get stuck open and the thing will idle at 2000 rpm. Easy to fix by cleaning it, but I don't think there is a permanent solution.

Easily warped brake rotors. When doing brakes, just replace the damned things, don't resurface.

5 speed auto flare during upshifts - I had a manual box, but I heard that the 5-speed autos would allow the engine to surge between gears. Not sure if there was a permanent fix.

I think that is it. My car suffered from all of the above (except the auto trans thingy) and also developed a bad starter. Just make sure to inspect the thing.

I think the later cars (05+?) had a bit nicer interior. Other wise a good appliance. I will be looking into them in another year or so when my SC2 passes 200K

I read about the A/T flare issue. It seems to be more of a characteristic, not a problem which needs repair and if I read it right it happens on downhills. If so, that's the transmission freewheeling for better gas mileage and was a common complaint on 4T60's way back when, you crest a hill with the cruise on and the car would pick up speed on the downhill slope meaning you'd have to brake and reset the cruise. Or if you tried to accelerate the engine would rev till its speed caused the freewheel to end. Irritating but not dangerous etc.

if you find a deal on a good one that's something, but the earlier S-series was just so much better in my opinion.

more crude, yes. but much more efficient, and just so darn simple.

way back when the ION was coming out, they flew our sales force to an event and spent all day training us on the car. including an autocross (i got FTD, which the event staff did not seem to appreciate). i was really trying to stay positive at the time, but in the back of my mind i remember thinking "this car is an improvement on paper only".

The earlier cars are just plain worn out, or at least the ones I see around here are. This one's in pretty decent shape other than being just plain filthy (it belonged to a college girl). The sales monkey lost the keys, once they get one cut and programmed I'm gonna take this one for a buzz and make damn sure it's not a CVT, if it's not I'll most likely pull the trigger.

Yeah, everybody, I know CVT's are great and efficient and bleeding edge and etc, but for my kid todrive I care more about reliability and longevity than all that other stuff.

I can confirm CVT's where coupe body only. the only surprises where when coupes would occasionally showed up with normal planetary boxes, never the other way around.

Finally got some keys and drove it, it's an Ion3 (top line package with power windows/locks/alloy wheels), 150k miles, paint is good except one small clearcoat peeling area 3" or so across on the rear bumper, definitely has the 5 speed slushbox, so-so tires, will need front pads soon, oil/coolant clean and full, no leaks of any sort, exhaust soot is a dry grey, suspension and steering are tight, runs like a top, trans shifts great and the ABS works perfectly as does the A/C and heat etc. The only down side: the interior is dirty like only a teenage girl can accomplish. KBB says private party sale price is $3500, I can get it for $2k. I believe it's a done deal. Don't tell the Curmudgeonling.

Sounds like a decent deal. I never understood how it took me forever to sell my Redline with 101k on it for $5k.....