2004 Saturn Ion Body and structure Problems
- Complaints
- 16about this part
- Share
- 2%of 898 total for the year
- Median mileage
- 61,000miles
- Trend
- StableComplaints filed in the last 3 full calendar years are within 25% of the 3 years before.
NHTSA recorded 16 complaints about the body and structure of the 2004 Saturn Ion, 2% of the 898 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 61,000 miles. 2 of these say a crash was involved, according to the filers. 1 recall campaign on record is filed under a similar system.
Example complaints
Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
“Driver side door starting in june '13, I noticed my driver side window panel and door lock not working properly. The driver door lock is now not working at all july '14 and the window panel is intermittent. I'm noticing the panel is getting warm!”
NHTSA complaint #10607396, filed 2014-07, 64,000 miles“Was traveling at approx 35mph power steering assist was lost, turned into manual steering. I am a fairly new driver, 21, so I didn't really know how to react. It happened very quickly. Hit a center island, for a lack of a better term. Called GM, they had someone inspect the car. Said there was no DTC codes detected. So there for they are calling me a liar. My parents also had this experience with this same vehicle shortly before I purchased the car. Gm refuse to make damage repairs. Only do recall repairs. I only bought the car one week before all this happened.”
NHTSA complaint #10704222, filed 2015-04, 130,000 miles“My trunk has started to get water in it. This caused my battery to fail on several occasions. Now that it is winter I had to replace my battery because it froze . The entire inside of my trunk is damaged.”
NHTSA complaint #10212048, filed 2007-12, 40,000 miles“I was traveling north on I-95 going about 65 MPH in the center lane. All of a sudden I heard a loud boom and I see out of my left sideview mirror, the left side of my bumper flip up into the air. I lost control of my vehicle and it started swerving left and right. My car crossed over the right lane and I was able to pull off onto the shoulder and into a grassy area just north of the glades road exit. When I got out of my vehicle to check the damage, right away I see large pieces of my tire tread laying in the road about 20 feet back. …”
NHTSA complaint #10200121, filed 2007-08, 47,000 miles“I purchased my 2004 Saturn ION in april, 2004. In june, 2004 my right turn signal stopped working, causing my running light on that side not to work either. In july, 2004 when opening up the hood to refill windshield wiper fluid, the hood latch inside the car came off in my hand. On dec 22, 2004, the brakes on my 2004 Saturn ION failed to work cause me to go through a stop sign, which resulted in a accident with another car. Both cars were only moving about 15 - 20 MPH, but on impact the whole right (passenger side) side bumper broke up and was on the ground. …”
NHTSA complaint #10112773, filed 2005-03, 6,537 milesRelated recalls
- 04V002000Jan 6, 2004On certain passenger vehicles, some welds between the passenger's side motor rail and the front bumper bracket do not meet engineering specifications.Covers: Saturn Ion 2004
Related service bulletins
- 10213818May 31, 2022This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have an unusual noise and is difficult to identify, isolate or pinpoint…
- 10197294May 12, 2021This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have an unusual noise and is difficult to identify, isolate or pinpoint…
- 10123211Oct 2, 2017This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have a loud tick or rattle noise under the hood at all operating conditions…
- 10114894Oct 14, 2015This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vibration complaints that are one of the most challenging complaints to accurately…
Body and structure: other model years
Other parts of the 2004 Saturn Ion
345 complaintsElectrical system
331 complaintsTransmission and drivetrain
60 complaintsAir bags
52 complaintsFuel system
52 complaintsEngine cooling
33 complaintsVehicle speed control
27 complaintsExterior lighting
25 complaintsEngine
23 complaintsOther or unknown
21 complaintsVisibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)
20 complaintsBrakes
19 complaints
← All problems reported for the 2004 Saturn Ion
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 27, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.
To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology