I have owned a lot of cars, and previous to owning my Ion I owned a different Saturn. I was in an accident and that car held up so well that I went out and bought the Ion. The Ion has gone beyond my expectations. I bought it brand new and have had it for just over 8 years now. It has held up to my high-mileage driving, with low maintenance requirements and has always gotten me safely to and from where I am going. I have always felt safe in the car and know it will start up every morning. I have also always enjoyed having the dashboard in the middle of the car as opposed to in front of me. As a short person, the dashboard often obstructs my view a bit.

I liked that it was different than the other cars in my price range at the time. For example, the battery is in the trunk and the speedometer and everything is in the middle of the dashboard. It's a deceptively quick car, I usually get to my destination with time to spare. I dislike that the paint has warped off of the hood of it.

I bought the car because it gets great gas mileage, but now that I've had it for about six months, I'm not so sure it was worth it. I live in a colder climate, and I can definitely tell that the car does not like the weather. It does handle a little better than my last vehicle though, which was a small SUV. It sits lower to the ground so that helps when the weather turns bad. I have had to replace the front tires on it. I put a lot of mileage on my cars, so I make sure to do the maintenance on them, but things are starting to go wrong with the car and I have not even had it for six months. The basics still are running well: alternator, engine, brakes, etc. but the smaller things have started to give out on me. The windshield sprayer does not work anymore, the plastic panels on the front have cracked, the hood does not like to release. All in all, I do not think I would purchase this car again.