Vehicle Data Hub

2005 Saturn Ion steering problems

Owners reported steering problems in 270 complaints for the 2005 Saturn Ion, 36% of the complaints on file. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.

At a glance

Complaints
270 36% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
69,000 miles 240 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
9 and 0
Injuries and deaths
5 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When steering problems show up

Steering complaints by mileage, 2005 Saturn Ion Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 69,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 11 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 33 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 50 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 56 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 33 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 26 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 13 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 8 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 6 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 2 complaints 200k+ miles: 2 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 69,000 miles
Based on 240 complaints that include mileage. 39% 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 miles11
20k to 40k miles33
40k to 60k miles50
60k to 80k miles56
80k to 100k miles33
100k to 120k miles26
120k to 140k miles13
140k to 160k miles8
160k to 180k miles6
180k to 200k miles2
200k+ miles2

What the data shows

Of the 240 steering complaints that report mileage, the median is about 68,000 miles, and 39% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 9 crashes, 5 injuries.

What owners wrote

I was attempting to change lines on md I-97 north bound from the slow right lane to the fast lane left lane. When a car in the fast lane speed up which never allowed me to change lanes, I continued to travel in the same slow right lane. Within 1 minute after that action of the attempted lane change, I experienced the steering wheel shaking erratically and trying to pull to the right. Although the car was going straight, the steering wheel kept pulling to the right.

Reported at 16,000 miles, August 2005 CrashInjury

I was turning into sam's club and the power steering quit working. The car was very hard to steer and, because I was turning a corner and this happened unexpectedly, I almost hit the car that was waiting to exit the sam's club lot. I then parked the car after struggling with the steering wheel to turn into a parking spot. I went shopping, came back and, when the car was restarted, I had my power steering.

Reported at 66,240 miles, March 2010

Other problems reported for the 2005 Saturn Ion

Steering problems in other years

Steering problems across all Saturn models