NHTSA Complaint #10453621 — 2007 SATURN ION

ON 9 MARCH 2012, AT APPROXIMATELY 0900 HOURS WHILE TRAVELING ON THE INTERSTATE, MY 2007 SATURN ION DISPLAYED THE WARNING MESSAGE/ERROR CODE "PWR STR" AND IMMEDIATELY LOST POWER STEERING ASSIST. I WAS FORCED TO REDUCE SPEED AND, USING ALL MY UPPER BODY STRENGTH TO WRENCH THE STEERING WHEEL TO THE RIGHT, PULLED THE CAR TO THE BREAKDOWN LANE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD. THIS WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT WITHOUT POWER STEERING. I TURNED THE CAR OFF, READ THROUGH MY OWNER'S MANUAL, AND RESTARTED THE VEHICLE. IT RAN WITHOUT ISSUE FOR APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES BEFORE THE CODE AGAIN APPEARED AND I AGAIN LOST POWER STEERING. THIS SITUATION HAS RAPIDLY PROGRESSED TO A NIGHTMARE; THE CAR RUNS FOR 15 TO 30 MINUTES AND THEN LOSES POWER STEERING. TURNING THE CAR OFF AND RESTARTING IT IS NO LONGER SUFFICIENT; ONCE IT FIRST LOSES THE POWER STEERING, IT WILL NOT RUN FOR MORE THAN 5 MINUTES WITHOUT LOSING POWER STEERING AGAIN. GM INFORMED ME THAT THERE IS NO OFFICIAL RECALL, AND THEREFORE I WOULD HAVE TO FUND THE REPAIRS MYSELF; THE ROUGH ESTIMATE WAS $1,000 IN PARTS AND LABOR. RESEARCH ONLINE SHOWS THAT GM ALLEGEDLY SENT OUT A NOTICE REGARDING THIS ISSUE, HOWEVER I CAN HONESTLY ATTEST THAT I NEVER RECEIVED ANY SUCH NOTIFICATION, AND HAD THE STEERING NOT FAILED ON MY VEHICLE, I WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN AWARE OF IT. CURRENTLY, I CANNOT USE THE CAR AT ALL BECAUSE IT POSES A SERIOUS DANGER TO MYSELF AND OTHERS. AS AN ACTIVE DUTY MEMBER OF THE ARMED FORCES, THIS IS JUST ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE AND JEOPARDIZES MY CAREER. *JS