I'll 2nd the moog brand where ever you can get them. I got some Moog parts recently from O'Rielly's. Moog makes 1st class replacement parts. These particular ones were updated newly designed parts that historically fit Mustang II, Pinto, Capri and similar and for my purposes, AMC which has been out of production since 1988. And when out of production, it is a bit awkward to get parts form a non-existent dealer.

 

AMC is gone gone gone no dealer to turn to at all. The good thing about the ION evan over the S-CAR. Parts can be bought from most Chevy dealers. The ION was cloned and became the Pontiac G5 and the Cobalt. Thats good news for ION owners meaning parts will be around longer then non cloned Saturn's. To be honest with you, I like my ION more than any SL2/SW2 I had. Someone on this forum owns a few and after driving his I bought one. I got the 175hp 2.4L in an ION 3 and that engine is sweet as can be. I'd not worry about buying the Chevy or Pontiac but would miss the plastic body.

 

My point is and has been, when driving and owning an orphaned car that the dealer net work that supported it is gone as is Saturns, knowing what parts if any are interchangeable between it and any other manufactured automobile is an important portion of keeping said car operational.
The average owner of a late model used car that does not have a support dealer network also generally has little or no interest in running to a dealer some where to see if they have parts for it.
Their knowledge of what makes a car tick is some what limited to whether it will reliably and cosmetically present the passengers to a destination. And if it is broken it will be taken some where to fix it.
Those places that take them to fix them are not interested in spending their time cross referencing parts availability. That time spent by a mechanic is costing them money.
Either the customer is going to pay what ever that increased cost in chasing parts down OR the customer is going to off said car and buy one that is cost effective to own.
A hobbyist on the other hand will pursue the parts interchangeability if any in order to continue owning and take care of something that has become an object of interest rather than a vehicle of need.
GM while they are the parents of Saturns, allowed the marque to wither and die and present them instead as some form of badge engineered package created from the extensive parts bins of their international manufacturing with little more attention made to the end result than that of how to attach a badge that says Saturn rather than some other product name.
The same comparison can be said of AMC when it came to it's being purchased by Chrysler. up to a few years ago, mechanical parts and some unique to the brand parts were available through Chrysler dealerships. However as AMC dealers and those that handled the brand closed off their activities, those parts slowly disappeared OR were purchased by Brand Vendors to be offered as new old stock or aftermarket parts. Who kept track of those things? The hobbyists and those that represented the hobbyist. What happened to the late model cars? The ended up neglected and were junked. It cost too much in time and money for the owners to maintain them. And the owners did not care. Brand loyalty withered and died except for the Hobbiests. And as such their is a fairly large and some what profitable aftermarket hobby support for the brand with reproduction parts being manufactured at a cost for some of the more desirable collectable models. The rest? End up as parts cars or at $300.00 a ton as scrap iron.
And believe me there is not value is scrap plastic.
There are many Saturn Parts that are off the market now and if available are imported through a rather exhaustive GM dealer supply network with specific locations around the country side working with Saturn unique part numbers. As those slowly disappear cross referencing to something that might work is going to be lost unless maintained by the size of what ever the hobbyist class is. And that will be drive by what ever the popularity of any given model is. Not the uniqueness of it but the popularity. That and the desirability to pay what ever it costs to obtain the marque unique parts.
While that is a variable? The other side is if it is too expensive to maintain it will be replaced by something that is affordable and a Kia or a Hynudai will be purchased and the Used Car will be ending up here as a for cheap transportation with something wrong with it and some one looking for how to fix it on the cheap or where to buy parts for it on the cheap.
What will make the grade only time will tell, however when there it will be a small percentage of the total production. And those that are left with any knowledge of how to deal with it will also have to know what brand of cars will fit it, where the reproduction parts if any can be obtained and what if any replacement parts are problematic and need to be tweaked to make them work.
Dealing with my Saturn S car is not my first Rodeo. I have been there and done that and still am.
As to any other model of a Saturn? I never had enough interest in the Cloned models to actually buy another Saturn as a new or late model used car. With one exception and that was a Colbalt. And I still like SOME of those that were available. Why? Why any one likes anything and being new had something to do with it.
And there are no new Saturns, no dealers, people are less willing to work on them, and parts are disappearing. New buyers are no going to buy them they will buy something that they can take some where that parts and knowledge will prevail.
GM dealers will stop screwing with chasing parts and many have.
The term "Take it to a Dealer" does not work when there are no Dealers. And if you leave it to the owner to discover what dealer to take it to with out specific instructions as to how to go about doing that you will get the response I got from a Local Chevrolet dealer when I drove my Saturn down to pick up parts for the motor I am building.
You need to trade that because they don't make them any more.
And to some one who does not care?
That is all it takes to run another Saturn into the beater market and then junk.
A new or late model Something off of the used car lot is easier and less hassle to maintain.

 

My ION is still under extended warranty as is my Daughters. We'll take them to the dealer, ie Chevrolet.

 

That you know a dealer that will work on them AND are in the position to afford that dealer vs a local mechanic or do it your self is to your benefit.

That does not mean the next Saturn buyer as a used car will know that information or how to go about finding one or which ones will actually work on them. And from reading posts here some people are aware that they can go to a dealer, others have indicated that it took some time to find one that would mess with the car and others are obvious that going to a dealer is not an option. They are priced out of reach.

I live close to a number of dealers on used car row on West Bell and only one GM dealer indicated in an obvious location on their building they would service Saturns. Otherwise I really don't know what other dealers if any are able to sell me parts that I can only get through dealer networks. And they are not that many for my purposes anyway. I depend on aftermarket and autoparts stores for most general repair parts and as of this date have not had a major problem in finding and purchasing them.
However as I am a hobbyist I have an interest in keeping the car in pretty fair shape and when dealer unique parts are available I find them for repairs.
However the local Saturn dealer (now closed) is the one that ruined the interior head liner by washing the car with out protecting the leaking sun roof from water damage when I took it there for an estimate, and then when I returned for the repair, informed me that I needed $3500.00 in repairs before I should take the car home rather than honoring the estimate they made and fixing the sunroof which is why it was there. A value that was 10 times the estimate and included $80.00 worth of windshield wiper blades. There was a differing of opinion as to what needed repair vs what was going to get repaired.
It is regular attendance on forums such as this that keeps me aware of aftermarket parts that may not work well.
But it depends on regular attendance to be aware of that.
A casual visitor would never know that some part just flat do not work well. Or have a clue that a GM dealer might be able to supply parts of any kind.
The car is an orphan and the dealers are gone. As are Pontiac and Oldsmobile and others.
And as I have close friends in the repair field, any Saturn part unique to some of the supposed platform form of building them is getting extremely hard to find parts for.
On some models, the clock is ticking on any kind of availability of obtaining replacement parts.

 

Thats true with everything. Some people need someone else to show them every step of the way. When it comes to the car they drive some are not evan smart enough to open the owners manual for the most basic information. One might ask who do I take my Saturn to work on it. Well open your owners manual and you'll find a number and that will lead you in getting the location. Use the search engine on your computor and that'll lead you to the information you so desire. If the next person to buy a Saturn can not figure out what to do. I'll say they are a dumb ***. The information highway is all around us, GET ON IT.

 

Hello everybody. i still plan to post back on my Ion's sway bar bushings. life been rough December, but will let everyone know when i get to the job.

actually working my wife's van - PS pump is going out. will either replace or rebuild.

Happy New Year!
dennis

 

Did you get those replaced yet?

 

Hello All, Thanks for the patience with this post ... January was not much easier for me than December; but i managed to purchase parts from Honda & rebuild power steering pump on my wife's Odyssey. Now, I'm pricing sway bar bushings on my Ion. VIN = 1G8AL52F35Z130815. I called a local Chevy dealership and gave them the VIN to make sure i get the right bushings. Also following sw2cam's advice to get the modified / improved straps (bushing clamps). Prices from dealership: CLAMP - GM P/N 22722387 = $18.89. BUSHING - GM P/N 15820162 = $7.96. I need 2 of each, so including tax i should pay ~ $58 for the parts.

But, i probly will go with SaturnParts.com. i called them too, and they were helpful with verifying parts. The prices are much cheaper for same parts, and if i throw in a couple of turn signal bulbs i need & oil filters it justifies the shipping/handling costs. If i bought identical parts at dealer including bulbs / filters i'd pay ~ $24 more with tax than i would at the online site. Having to scrape $$ together for this over next week or so ... then will post back.

Another thing i'm looking for is a legal electronic copy of an Ion Factory Service Manual. Hard paper copy is fine too, if anyone has some leads on this. I am not a fan of the generic manuals i've bought at local parts stores. I recently bought a CD version of Honda Odyssey Helms manual & having the factory manual makes a big difference. Best to all!

 

When you find something on a service manual please post it. I am sure there are some who are willing to pay the price of one.
I know I would. I am not against the generic manuals, they are what they are and some times the only thing available.
I know when the Saturn I have was purchased from the Saturn Dealer in 1996 a service manual was requested and the generic manual was what was offered. It has proven to be useful over time. So an issue was never raised. But to be honest when the car was bought 17 years ago the actual owner, my lady and partner in life did not expect to still own the thing 17 years later. I prefer a factory manual and am willing to pay what i takes to get one.
Although many factory manuals are being reproduced to day so I will take a reproduction legal or not.