Vehicle Data Hub

2003 Saturn Ion cruise control problems

38 complaints about cruise control have been filed for the 2003 Saturn Ion, which is 4% of all its NHTSA complaints.

At a glance

Complaints
38 4% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
80,000 miles 32 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
6 and 0
Injuries and deaths
6 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When cruise control problems show up

Cruise control complaints by mileage, 2003 Saturn Ion Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 80,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 8 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 3 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 1 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 3 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 6 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 3 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 3 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 1 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 3 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 1 complaints 200k+ miles: 0 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 80,000 miles
Based on 32 complaints that include mileage. 38% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.
View the numbers
MileageComplaints
0k to 20k miles8
20k to 40k miles3
40k to 60k miles1
60k to 80k miles3
80k to 100k miles6
100k to 120k miles3
120k to 140k miles3
140k to 160k miles1
160k to 180k miles3
180k to 200k miles1
200k+ miles0

What the data shows

Of the 32 cruise control complaints that report mileage, the median is about 80,000 miles, and 38% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 6 crashes, 6 injuries.

What owners wrote

Vehicle experienced sudden acceleration while in traffic, causing consumer's vehicle to crash into another vehicle. Driver sustained injuries. Taken for repair to the dealer for the second time, but the cause was undetermined even after the computer had been reset. Consumer stated the only way to stop the vehicle was when it hit the other car in front. Put foot on brake to stop the car and it surge forward.

Reported at 25,000 miles, October 2004 CrashInjury

I have owned this vehicle for 4 yrs and have has multiple instances of the vehicle revving and speeding up without ever hitting the gas. When this occurs I have reached speeds over 25MPH without ever hitting the gas pedal when taking off from a stopped position. Usually this happens when I start the vehicle initially but has occurred while driving also. The rpm's will go high and if I put in gear the car will just take off.

Reported at 163,000 miles, February 2014

Other problems reported for the 2003 Saturn Ion

Cruise control problems in other years

Cruise control problems across all Saturn models