NHTSA Complaint #10318576 — 2007 SATURN ION

INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) WE HAVE OWNED A 2007 SATURN ION 4 DOOR FOR ABOUT 2 1/2 YEARS. WE BOUGHT IT NEW. THE CAR HAS ABOUT 54,000 MILES ON IT NOW. IN THE MID 40,000 MILE RANGE, WHENEVER WE WOULD MAKE MANY TURNS (WE LIVE IN THE MOUNTAINS--FEW STRAIGHTAWAYS), THE ELECTRIC POWER STEERING STARTED GOING OUT. THE CAR CAN STILL BE STEERED, BUT WITH DIFFICULTY. THIS PROBLEM IS ONLY GRADUALLY GETTING WORSE. UPON TURNING THE IGNITION OFF AND RESTARTING, THE POWER STEERING WORKS AGAIN, ALTHOUGH A FEW TURNS MORE, THE STEERING WILL GO OUT YET AGAIN UNTIL THE MOTOR (OR WHATEVER??) COOLS OFF. RECENTLY, THERE WAS A MASSIVE RECALL RE THIS PROBLEM WITH CHEVY COBALTS AND OTHER NEAR SATURNS. I UNDERSTAND THE SATURN ION IS BASICALLY THE SAME AND USED THE SAME STEERING MECHANISM THAT HAS FAILED WITH THE COBALTS AND CLONES. WITH THE ABOVE, IT WOULD SEEM REASONABLE TO INCLUDE THE IONS IN THE RECALL. THIS IS NOT AN UNCOMMON PROBLEM WITH THE IONS AS INTERNET TRAFFIC CONFIRMS. PLEASE INCLUDE THE IONS WITH THIS RECALL. THE PARTS INVOLVED ARE THE SAME AND THE CHANCES OF ACCIDENTS, OR WORSE, NO DIFFERENT. THANK-YOU, [XXX] PS SATURN CUSTOMER SERVICE STATES THAT THEY ARE NOT AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM AND THAT THEY ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL. IT SEEMS SATURNS HAVE BEEN OVERLOOKED. *TR