I presently own a 1997 Saturn SL and was interested in a new 2006 ION.
My question is: can you use an OBD II hand held scanner to capture the error codes off the ION's PCM or have they made the computer proprietary only. Meaning you have to bring the ION to a Saturn dealer in order to read and clear error codes. My 1997 Saturn SES light has gone on atleast 2 dozen times in 10 years. It's not a matter if the light will turn on , only a matter of when it will turn on again. Have been taking the car to Advanced Auto Parts, where the codes are read for free. Would have cost me $42 a pop at the Saturn dealer. That's over $800 in diagnostic fees. Only went twice to the Saturn dealer, until I read one of the threads on this Saturn forum.

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The ion has the GM CAN. A regular scantool will not be able to pull codes off it without the CANdi module. so you either would have to go to the dealer or to a shop that has a CANdi module along with the scantool.

Thanks for the information Chriscnl. It seems like Saturn has gone from being able to obtain error codes on the earlier models by using a set of jumper wires to having to us a OBD II scanner and now a GM CAN. I don't like the fact that they are making the cars less DIY friendly.