The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has closed a four-year probe into power steering issues with 2004-2007 Saturn Ions. This is unrelated to the current Ion recall involving ignition switch issues, which includes several other General Motors vehicles.
The NHTSA opened its inquiry to the issue over four years ago but, subsequent to General Motors’ recall of the Ion plus other vehicles included in the ignition switch recall, has decided to end the probe.
About 335,000 Ions were among the 1.5 million cars General Motors recalled on March 31, 2014 for loss of power steering. At the time, GM global vehicle safety chief Jeff Boyer acknowledged the company “did not do enough” in recalling vehicles with the same issues.
In recent weeks, the NHTSA has come under fire for its response on possible ignition switch issues. According to NHTSA documents, there were 12 crashes related to the Ion steering issue, with two resulting in injuries to the drivers.
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The power steering on our 2007 ION with 70K miles on it failed the other day as it had several years ago. GM replaced the failed power steering motor when it failed several years ago. But the dealer refused to replace the steering column (where the PSCM is located) when it failed just the other day. I showed them the posting from this web site “General Motors Recalls Yet Another 1.3 Million Vehicles Over Power Steering Issues” by Sam McEachern — Mar 31, 2014 where our vehicle was listed and it was stated “No matter the model, GM will replace either the power steering motor, the steering column, the power steering motor control unit or both the steering column and the power steering motor control unit free of charge.”…and both GM and the dealer said that our vehicle’s VIN was “not on the list” of vehicles where steering column replacement was covered under the recall. What total hog wash! I will never buy another GM automobile if this is the way they treat us!