NHTSA Complaint #10321200 — 2007 SATURN ION

MY 2007 SATURN ION OCCASIONALLY LOSES POWER STEERING. WHEN IT DOES, THE CAR CHIMES 3 TIMES AND DISPLAYS PWR STR ON THE ODOMETER DISPLAY. THIS HAPPENED ONCE LAST MONTH, ONCE YESTERDAY, AND 3 TIMES TODAY. IT SEEMS TO BE TRULY RANDOM, AS I DROVE 80 MILES BEFORE THE FIRST INCIDENT TODAY, ONLY A COUPLE OF MINUTES THE OTHER THREE TIMES, AND 90 MILES WITHOUT INCIDENT AFTER THE FINAL OCCURRENCE TODAY. POWER STEERING REMAINS OUT UNTIL I CYCLE THE IGNITION SWITCH. I FOUND THAT I COULD SWITCH TO OFF AND BACK ON QUICKLY ENOUGH TO KEEP THE ENGINE RUNNING, AND EVEN THIS BRIEF INTERRUPTION IN POWER WAS ENOUGH TO RESET THE FAULT. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM, AS THE CAR IS VERY HARD TO STEER WITHOUT POWER STEERING. I FEAR THAT MY WIFE MAY NOT BE STRONG ENOUGH TO "MUSCLE" THE CAR IN THIS CONDITION. A QUICK INTERNET SCAN INDICATES THAT THIS HAS BEEN A COMMON PROBLEM FOR SEVERAL MODEL YEARS, AND OTHER GM CARS WITH IDENTICAL COMPONENTS HAVE BEEN RECALLED, BUT NOT SATURN. PLEASE INSTIGATE A PROMPT INVESTIGATION AND GET THE RECALL GOING FOR THESE SATURN DEFECTS. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A CONTROL MODULE PROBLEM SINCE IT IS SO EASY TO RESET, AND IS NOT RELATED TO THE MOTOR ITSELF OR OVERHEATING, SINCE NO COOLDOWN PERIOD IS REQUIRED TO RESTORE OPERATION. THE GM SOLUTION SEEMS TO BE REPLACING THE ENTIRE STEERING COLUMN FOR $1200! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. *TR