roof plastic
 

Does anyone know how to remove the plastic rails from the area above the doors on 2003 Ion?

This is based on researching the FSM, and watching the Safelite guy replace my windshield four years ago, when I bought the car.
The FSM shows the front rail is held in by five screws going up from the top of the door frame. In the sedan, but not in the coupe, there is a sixth screw at a 90 degree angle toward the front of the rail, but I cannot see that one on my Ion, and wouldn't know how to get to it. The rear of the front rail is inserted into the front of the rear rail, which is held in by four screws on the sedan and two screws on the coupe. The rear of the rear rail has a block of plastic that is inserted into the roof frame before the rest is attached.
When the Safelite guy did my windshield, I saw that he removed all rails, even the rear ones, so maybe that's how he managed to get the front ones free. I'd refer you to the Charm online manual, but I don't even find diagrams there.