Consumer Reports: "Disappointing ION"...

Hey group,
Just thumbed through a Consumer Reports Used Car Buying guide, and read
through the Saturn "S" series info. I recall when CR first reveiwed the SC
and accurately stated "the rear seats are not fit for any living creature"
but gave the car high marks elsewhere...but now, in this current issue, they
state "the S series was replaced by the disappointing ION".

Now, other than the squeaky and simple front seats (which looks like they'll
be corrected in 2005) I can't find the disappointments.

Objectively, other than the gripers who should never have bought one, what
do you think dislikes are that has made ION such a poor seller for Saturn?
Any ideas?

This review sums it up:

http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/...py?artid=24878

....Cars.com lists the retail price range from $10.4k to $20.4k (USD) however
the Saturn site shows the lowest price at $15.4k (USD) and I didn't have
much luck pricing the Red Line on the Saturn site. There's a lime green car
at my dealer that catches my eye too.


"Skid" > wrote in message
. ..
> This review sums it up:
>
> http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/...py?artid=24878
>
>

On Sat, 5 Jun 2004 07:23:10 -0400, "Skid" > wrote:

>This review sums it up:
>
>http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/...py?artid=24878
>

Another perspective:

http://tinyurl.com/2o9lj

In article >,
says...
> On Sat, 5 Jun 2004 07:23:10 -0400, "Skid" > wrote:
>
> >This review sums it up:
> >
> >http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/...py?artid=24878
> >
>
> Another perspective:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/2o9lj
>
>
Yeh,
It pays to listen to authorities.
My daughter recently purchased an Ion and I got the Civic.
I should have read the article.

My Honda gets 25 mpg at best.
It has zero,,,yes zero acceleration
It has no room
It doesn't even have a secondary 12v power plug in the back seat area.

My poor daughter got the Ion.
When ever she visits I drive her car for fun
--
jerry

In article > ,
Gerald Fay > wrote:

> My Honda gets 25 mpg at best.
> It has zero,,,yes zero acceleration
> It has no room
> It doesn't even have a secondary 12v power plug in the back seat area.

How Odd, NO DAMM ACCELERATION!!!

But it's got "The best 4 cylinder engine in the world" in it!

That's like saying you've got the best above ground pool. It really
isn't that impressive.

Interior? Well, it's designed for midgets. No power plug? The
Japanese, and even worse, the Europeans, really don't understand the
American desire for cupholders and 'features'

I had a dip in a riced up Civic pull next to me and blip the motor at a
light the other day. He really thought he could take my Harley. IIRC,
i had about a 500 foot lead on him before I scrubbed off some speed and
waited for him to catch up. 100 HP, 100 ft-lbs in a 800 lb bike will
not be beaten by the same numbers in a car 1500 lbs heavier and 2x as
many wheels. Sorry.

> My poor daughter got the Ion.
> When ever she visits I drive her car for fun

Take advantage of the ooo ahh feeling over Hondas and trade your's in.
My dad got an Odessy the other year (2003!) and is already talking about
it because:

* **** mileage.
* A transmission that can NOT make up it's mind what gear it's in.
* Dealers so arrogant they make BMW shops look friendly.
* **** mileage.

Oh yeah, the mileage sucks too.

I'm guessing it'll be his first / last Honda. This is the first car
he's actually hated, and he used to have a Vega (With the ****ty
aluminum 4!) when I was young...

The Chevy Vega (which I believe was first introduced in the 1970 or 1971
model year) was actually (just a bit too far) ahead of its time. The
aluminum alloy engine block was nice and light, but the cylinder walls
unfortunately did not hold up well over time and the under-designed cooling
system caused problems due to the differing coefficients of thermal
expansion with the steel head resulting in head gasket sealing problems,
coolant loss, overheating and warpage.

I rebuilt several of these engines when I was a lot younger. I eventually
learned to use a bored and (steel) sleeved remanufactured short block and
replaced the standard (smaller) radiator with the larger HD one used for the
AC equipped version. With these modifications and several others including
an Edelbrock manifold, Holley 4 barrel carburetor, and headers my tiny
little 140 cubic inch 2.3 L engine actually ran very well. And, when I got
rid of the car after 60K miles, it still burned almost no oil between 3K
changes.

Bob

"Philip Nasadowski" > wrote in message
...

> I'm guessing it'll be his first / last Honda. This is the first car
> he's actually hated, and he used to have a Vega (With the ****ty
> aluminum 4!) when I was young...

> Interior? Well, it's designed for midgets. No power plug? The
> Japanese, and even worse, the Europeans, really don't understand the
> American desire for cupholders and 'features'
>
> I had a dip in a riced up Civic pull next to me and blip the motor at a
> light the other day. He really thought he could take my Harley. IIRC,
> i had about a 500 foot lead on him before I scrubbed off some speed and
> waited for him to catch up. 100 HP, 100 ft-lbs in a 800 lb bike will
> not be beaten by the same numbers in a car 1500 lbs heavier and 2x as
> many wheels. Sorry.
>

I need to get me one of those evo create motors... The funny thing is
those honda kiddies want their cars to sound like a big bad hardly sooo
bad with all that exhaust crap they throw on there. It aint gonna happen
kids. I've seen people do the same to saturns... Sad sad sad. When I see
cars like that at auctions of any make I stay away from them. You
couldnt pay me to take something owned by some punk kid who has no idea
how to spend his money.

Philip Nasadowski > wrote:
> I had a dip in a riced up Civic pull next to me and blip the motor at a
> light the other day. He really thought he could take my Harley. IIRC,
> i had about a 500 foot lead on him before I scrubbed off some speed and
> waited for him to catch up. 100 HP, 100 ft-lbs in a 800 lb bike will
> not be beaten by the same numbers in a car 1500 lbs heavier and 2x as
> many wheels. Sorry.

It doesn't take a motorcycle to beat a riced out Honda. Those dumb
schmucks almost never spend any money on performance mods. It's
all about flash. The drivers never have much driving experience
or skill and they always buy automatics. I smoke them all the
time in my stock Saturn station wagon (1998 SW2) with a manual.
I only do it to the ones that ask for it by blipping the throttle.
The ones that actually put money under the hood don't usually blip
the throttle, so it works out.

-DanD

--
# Dan Duncan (kd4igw) http://pcisys.net/~dand
# "Qui rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur." (Who are you to laugh?
# Change the name, and the story is told of you.) -Horace

Honda dealers are funny (odd). Waaaaay too much attitude in general.

"Philip Nasadowski" > wrote in message
...
> In article > ,
> Gerald Fay > wrote:
>
> > My Honda gets 25 mpg at best.
> > It has zero,,,yes zero acceleration
> > It has no room
> > It doesn't even have a secondary 12v power plug in the back seat area.
>
> How Odd, NO DAMM ACCELERATION!!!
>
> But it's got "The best 4 cylinder engine in the world" in it!
>
> That's like saying you've got the best above ground pool. It really
> isn't that impressive.
>
> Interior? Well, it's designed for midgets. No power plug? The
> Japanese, and even worse, the Europeans, really don't understand the
> American desire for cupholders and 'features'
>
> I had a dip in a riced up Civic pull next to me and blip the motor at a
> light the other day. He really thought he could take my Harley. IIRC,
> i had about a 500 foot lead on him before I scrubbed off some speed and
> waited for him to catch up. 100 HP, 100 ft-lbs in a 800 lb bike will
> not be beaten by the same numbers in a car 1500 lbs heavier and 2x as
> many wheels. Sorry.
>
> > My poor daughter got the Ion.
> > When ever she visits I drive her car for fun
>
> Take advantage of the ooo ahh feeling over Hondas and trade your's in.
> My dad got an Odessy the other year (2003!) and is already talking about
> it because:
>
> * **** mileage.
> * A transmission that can NOT make up it's mind what gear it's in.
> * Dealers so arrogant they make BMW shops look friendly.
> * **** mileage.
>
> Oh yeah, the mileage sucks too.
>
> I'm guessing it'll be his first / last Honda. This is the first car
> he's actually hated, and he used to have a Vega (With the ****ty
> aluminum 4!) when I was young...