NHTSA Complaint #10113990 — 2005 SATURN ION

ALL DASH GAUGES FAILED, INCLUDING GAS GAUGE, SPEEDOMETER, ODOMETER, ETC. ON AT LEAST TWO SEPARATE OCCAISIONS. CAR WAS TWO WEEKS OLD TO THE DAY. MY SON (THE OWNER/LESSEE) WAS ATTEMPTING TO TAKE IT FROM HIS WORK TO THE DEALER LESS THAN A HALF MILE AWAY FOR "ADVICE" WHEN HE WAS INVOLVED IN ACCIDENT THAT PROBABLY DIDN'T CONTRIBUTE TO THE ACCIDENT. HOWEVER, IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT WHEN I CALLED THE DEALER AND LET THEM KNOW THE SITUATION WITH THE DASH WAS THE REASON HE WAS RETURNING THE CAR, THE SALESMAN THEN INFORMED ME THAT "OH, YEAH, THOSE CARS SOMETIMES HAVE A SOFTWARE PROBLEM IN THEM, AND WHILE WE HAD TO WAIT A WHILE TO GET A "FIX", WE NOW HAVE ONE." SO IF THEY KNEW THERE WAS A PROBLEM, WHY DIDN'T THEY FIX IT DURING THE "DEALER PREP" STAGE? OR AT LEAST WARN THE CONSUMER OF THIS PROBLEM? WE NOW HAVE A 2 WEEK OLD CAR WITH BODY DAMAGE AND ARE AWAITING WORD FROM OUR INSURANCE ON WHICH BODY SHOP IT SHOULD GO TO. BUT, IN THE MEANTIME, WE STILL HAVE A CAR IN NEED OF A "SOFTWARE UPGRADE" EVEN AFTER IT'S FIXED. I WILL BE HORRIFIED TO EVER SET FOOT IN THAT CAR AGAIN, LET ALONE KNOW THAT THIS CAR IS THE PRIMARY TRANSPORTATION FOR MY COLLEGE-AGE SON. THE CAR HAS APPROX 500 MILES ON IT NOW, LESS THE MILEAGE IT HAD ON IT WHEN WE PURCHASED IT. *AK