Has anyone else had this problem????

xeniba · 09-15-2003, 09:13 AM

On July 20 I purchased an Ion-2 Quad Coupe. A couple weeks later I noticed that the gas pedal felt loose. I took the car in to be looked at on August 29. The service consultants tightened my gas pedal and sent me on my way. Everything seemed okay until the afternoon of September 12. I was leaving school and had just turned a corner when I realized the brakes were not working. I was coming to a stop sign and was pushing the brake to slow down, but nothing was happening. I looked down and saw that the gas pedal was stuck all the way down to the floor. Upon glancing up, I saw the taillights of the car in front of me rapidly approaching. Luckily, I immediately reacted by putting the car into park and pulling up the emergency brake. At this point the gas pedal was still stuck and the engine sounded as if it was revving. I tried pushing on the brake again to release the gas pedal, but nothing happened. I restarted the car, hoping this might solve the problem. Upon restarting the car, the gas pedal was still stuck and the engine continued to rev. I restarted the car a few more times to no avail. I then reached down, made sure the floor mat was out of the way (which it was), and pulled on the gas pedal as hard as I could. I had to use all of my strength to get it unstuck. I called Saturn of Honolulu and informed them of the problem and they told me to have the car towed in to the service center the next morning.

I called the tow truck and got my car towed to the service center on the morning of September 13. My mother called Saturn of Honolulu and informed them that I would not be taking the car back until we were absolutely satisfied that the problem had been taken care of. A few hours later, I received a phone call from one of the service consultants at Saturn. He said that they had been unable to recreate the problem and figured that the gas pedal had probably just gotten stuck under the floor mat. He told me to come pick up the car whenever I was ready and advised me to make sure the floor mat was pulled back and to exercise caution while driving in case the problem reoccurred.

Can you believe that? I'm supposed to take my car back and just be cautious in case it happens again. The dealership here has not been helpful at all. My parents have actually hired a lawyer to show Saturn that we're serious. It would be really helpful to know if anybody else has had any problems similar to this. Thanks!

RiceRocket · 09-15-2003, 05:04 PM

Never heard of anyone with that exact problem, but I have heard that ION's in general are rolling problems.

monkeyracing · 09-15-2003, 06:17 PM

The thing is that you mentioned that the pedal was not stuck under the floormat, so they can't claim that's the issue.

Tell them that, forcefully if you have to, and tell them you want the car fixed. If they have to replace everything from the pedal assembly, to the cables, the the throttle body, then that's better than trying to replace a lost life.

Jim

RiceRocket · 09-16-2003, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monkeyracing

The thing is that you mentioned that the pedal was not stuck under the floormat, so they can't claim that's the issue.

Tell them that, forcefully if you have to, and tell them you want the car fixed. If they have to replace everything from the pedal assembly, to the cables, the the throttle body, then that's better than trying to replace a lost life.

Jim

Tell them they wouldn't want a repeat of the firestone law suit

z3r00n3 · 09-18-2003, 06:53 AM

I agree with Jim, the cable that runs from the throttle body can like a bicycle cable get jammed or kinked. Also there may be something in the engine bay by the throttle body that is getting in the way of the cables path. This would cause the cable to get stuck----i would with the car off or in neutral mash the pedal down a few times every once in a while and loosen up that problem wherever in the cable it may be. I hope for the best, heres a good side: if you get caught speeding, turn on your hazards and tell the cop your throttle was stuck, tell him to call the saturn dealership, you will have proof you were there---- i know "yeah right" I would do it though

DILLIGAF · 09-18-2003, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xeniba

Upon glancing up, I saw the taillights of the car in front of me rapidly approaching. Luckily, I immediately reacted by putting the car into park and pulling up the emergency brake.

So, you're still rolling, and you throw the car in park............THERES A BRILIANT IDEA....not only will you be taking our car in for pedal repairs, but tranny repairs also... What should you have done you ask? Put it in neutral and slowly pull the ebrake up one click at a time until you stopped. But its your car

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricerocket

Never heard of anyone with that exact problem, but I have heard that ION's in general are rolling problems.

Ive never had a problem with mine, neither have any of the other ion owners that I know. Aside from that, its the first year out, things are going to go wrong. Granted this **** should've been fixed b4 production.

RiceRocket · 09-18-2003, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DILLIGAF

Quote:

Originally Posted by xeniba

Upon glancing up, I saw the taillights of the car in front of me rapidly approaching. Luckily, I immediately reacted by putting the car into park and pulling up the emergency brake.

So, you're still rolling, and you throw the car in park............THERES A BRILIANT IDEA....not only will you be taking our car in for pedal repairs, but tranny repairs also... What should you have done you ask? Put it in neutral and slowly pull the ebrake up one click at a time until you stopped. But its your car

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricerocket

Never heard of anyone with that exact problem, but I have heard that ION's in general are rolling problems.

Ive never had a problem with mine, neither have any of the other ion owners that I know. Aside from that, its the first year out, things are going to go wrong. Granted this **** should've been fixed b4 production.

Yea throwing it into park wasn't the smartest thing. Your lucky that didn't lock up the front wheels and send you flying into a tree instead of that car.

And the thing about rolling problems was joke, laugh

. But I have heard that they have more problems that should have been fixed before production like you said.

SaturnGuru18 · 09-18-2003, 05:15 PM

MY gas pedal gets tight every once in a while, but its never stuck for me before

DILLIGAF · 09-19-2003, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RiceRocket

Quote:

Originally Posted by DILLIGAF

Quote:

Originally Posted by xeniba

Upon glancing up, I saw the taillights of the car in front of me rapidly approaching. Luckily, I immediately reacted by putting the car into park and pulling up the emergency brake.

So, you're still rolling, and you throw the car in park............THERES A BRILIANT IDEA....not only will you be taking our car in for pedal repairs, but tranny repairs also... What should you have done you ask? Put it in neutral and slowly pull the ebrake up one click at a time until you stopped. But its your car

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricerocket

Never heard of anyone with that exact problem, but I have heard that ION's in general are rolling problems.

Ive never had a problem with mine, neither have any of the other ion owners that I know. Aside from that, its the first year out, things are going to go wrong. Granted this **** should've been fixed b4 production.

Yea throwing it into park wasn't the smartest thing. Your lucky that didn't lock up the front wheels and send you flying into a tree instead of that car.

And the thing about rolling problems was joke, laugh

. But I have heard that they have more problems that should have been fixed before production like you said.

Actually, I have heard alot of problems with the ions from saturnfans but think about it, how many ions have sold already, and how many pple are complaining on saturnfans.....i believe the odds are in the good here. but still, there are too many problems that im hearing about.

xeniba · 09-19-2003, 09:12 AM

Quote:

So, you're still rolling, and you throw the car in park............THERES A BRILIANT IDEA....not only will you be taking our car in for pedal repairs, but tranny repairs also... What should you have done you ask? Put it in neutral and slowly pull the ebrake up one click at a time until you stopped. But its your car

Ok, I know that's what I should have done, but I just reacted with what came into my mind first. Yes, it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I didn't even realize I was doing it. It was one of those in the moment things...the car wasn't just rolling, it was accelerating towards the car in front of me. I just did whatever I could to stop it. Oh well.

As an update, my car is still at the Saturn dealership here in Honolulu...and they're still not sure what went wrong. This whole thing just sucks.