The nightmare with this car is finally over.. It was a 2002 Z24 with the 2.4 engine. I traded it in for an 05 Saturn Ion-3 Coupe.. I love this car, much better than the cavalier ever was. I'll list all the problems I had with the Z24..

After 1 week of owning it.. The BCM and entire cluster had to be replaced.
Drivers side power window stopped working.
All 4 strut mounts had to be replaced within 1 year
They tried 3 times to fix the buzzing clutch pedal, it was never fixed right.
Shift linkage cables were messed up, I didn't have 2nd gear..
Headlight switch was replaced
Right foglight burned out 3 times in the 3 years I owned the car
The car overheated constantly.. Found out it was a faulty rad cap.. The car still would overheat in drive thru's
Fuel pump died in my driveway after 1 year of owning the car.
The car would burn or leak? about 1.5 quarts of oil between oil changes.. Did this since day 1! GM said this is normal?
In 2004 both rocker panels were rusted out and had to be replaced! They started to rust again this year!! I didn't think a new car should rust in 2 years?

I'm sure there's more I could think of if I racked my brain enough.. I'm just glad it's finally gone.. It was the worst car I have ever owned, and before that car I owned a 97 Hyundai Accent..

I won't be leaving the JBO though, I love it here.









Red 2005 Saturn Ion-3 Coupe

Good luck with the saturn, my folks have an ion-2 sedan and they love it!

why didnt you get the redline?



happy happy joy joy

Or even a Cobalt which is much better quality...




__________________________________________________________________
Performance cars do not win car shows and show cars do not win races.
It's up to you to decide which you'd rather win.

Don't like the looks of the cobalt at all.. Ion looks much better imho.. Didn't get the redline cause I can't afford the $450+ car payment right now.. I just bought a house also.





Red 2005 Saturn Ion-3 Coupe

congrats on the new car and new house. damn looks like somebody got a raise!!!
did you buy the cav. new or used? if it was new dont they have a lemon law where you are? i work for a chevy dealer and in the 2 1/2 i,ve been there i've seen 2 cars and 1
truck returned under the lemon law. the people got new cars and a new truck, the old ones were junked. thats right junked. our shop re-moved the vin #s from the dash and they were sold to area junkyards. i was told the vins were needed to prove to g.m. the cars were destroyed and to get the money back on them.

anyway good luck with your new car.




Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.

You had so many problems with the Z24, yet it didn't strike you as to take it back and complain when all the problems happend? Hell, I would've been snapping after the first problem happend.

I don't really like the look of the Ion's, but congrats on the new car

Congrats man on the new car. I love the look of the Ion Quad Coupe, it's very smooth...the only thing that would keep me from getting an Ion is the center dash cluster. Now if it was in a more traditional position, I would consider it greatly. So any plans for the Ion?

I did complain to GM.. Several times.. Through the phone and email. Kept saying the same thing, if they resolve the solution on the first time, then it's not a lemon? Which is true, each time something broke, they managed to fix it, till something else broke.. That's why it wasn't considered a lemon I guess? Even though the car has spent weeks in their shops.. Anyways, I'm just glad to be rid of the car finally..

For the ION.. It took me 10 mins to get used to the center IP.. Took another 10 mins to prefer it. I drive my gf's cavalier, and I hate looking through the steering wheel.. And I love the rear suicide doors.. No real plans for the car, yet anyways.. Been focusing my time and money on getting the house ready to move in..





Red 2005 Saturn Ion-3 Coupe

my borther has the same cavy, and hasnt had 1 major problem...... loves the car to death

My gf drives an 02 2.2 ohv, and hasn't had a problem with hers either.. I know lots of people that drive J's and hardly have any problems.. But mine was a POS that was very unreliable.. I don't know how many times it left me stranded and I had to call for a tow..





Red 2005 Saturn Ion-3 Coupe

if the clutch buzz was never corrected , and it was in more than 3 times , thats lemon


the clutch pipe replacement on my g/fs 02 ls sport , corrected her pedal buzz , and i think hers went in on the 1st or 2nd revision of the bulliten for it


atleast with the ion you wont see the rust through the plastic panels , itll just be hidden , LOL


ida gotten a redline or ss if i coulda afforded it also , oh well

Ian Lacey: How exactly do you figure a cobalt is better quality than an ION, unless you are just being biased which is just plain stupid.

lone-worf: Congrats on the ION, I got my 2005 in march and I love it, has much better ride,comfort, trim than my cavy ever did. Unfortunately there is not a forum near as good as this one for info.



Read, then process the info, think logically, than if you don't have a headache afterwards, post your response

yeah it sounds like you screwed yourself. you should have been complaining to GM more.

Read, then process the info, think logically, than if you don't have a headache afterwards, post your response

lone_wolf wrote:l..The car would burn or leak? about 1.5 quarts of oil between oil changes.. Did this since day 1! GM said this is normal? ...

That reeks of typical dealership BS. Some dealers are blatant crooks & will say just about anything to avoid doing an expensive repair (unless you're paying for it, then the opposite is true).

Was it actually leaking oil, or just burning it?

To put things into perspective, my Cav is now 6 years old and I've never had to top up my oil inbetween changes. Every time I've checked, the level has been right on the mark.

Anyways, congratz on the new car.
Glad to hear that your nightmare is over (knocks on wood).





"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." -- Steven Wright

Grizbone wrote:Ian Lacey: How exactly do you figure a cobalt is better quality than an ION, unless you are just being biased which is just plain stupid.

You know me, always speaking out of my ass...

The Ion and Cobalt are built on the same platform, but that is about the end of the similarities. When GM developed the Cobalt, they refined a lot more of the fit and finish issues as well as the quality of component issues from the Ion that got the car blasted by all credible auto athorities that reviewed the Ion when it was released.



__________________________________________________________________
Performance cars do not win car shows and show cars do not win races.
It's up to you to decide which you'd rather win.

Yea, but you have to consider this. For the first 2 years the ION was basically a guinea pig for them. In 2005 they revamped the whole car. Resolving most of the issues. Nobody noticed though because they just compared the release of the ION to the release of the Cobalt, which isn't fair since the cobalt got to benefit from 2 years of research on the ION. The cobalt is a great car, but so is the ION now. I test drove both of them and desided I liked the center gauge pod better



Read, then process the info, think logically, than if you don't have a headache afterwards, post your response