2004 Saturn Ion: Good Buy?

So I'm looking at buying a 2004 Saturn Ion for $9800. Its a 4door, AT, 24k miles, and a good number of extras. My friend works at the place where I getting it and it still has about 12k miles and 12 months left on the warranty. I'm taking it for the weekend to test drive it. I'm curious what experience others have had with the Ion. I know its a relatively new model, but have there been any real negatives to the vehicle? I drive a lot between work and school so feul economy is one of my big concerns as well. Just hoping I could get some input from some people more familiar with the Saturn itself.

I used to own a 2004 Saturn Ion 2. It was a great car but I needed something bigger for the 3 Rottys and the Family so I traded it for a Suburban. My wife still has her 2006 Ion 2. One think I do recommend is replace the tires if they are the stock ones. These came stock with Firestone Firehawk GTA's, these tires suck in the snow. Check to see if they have been replaced already. Other then that this car rocks. The critics reviews give it a fair rating while all the consumer reviews give it excellent ratings.

So far, I have no complaints. It’s running very well,I have driven it 4.500 miles now. The parts are tough. I make it a point to check every single part so as to avoid any problem in the road. Hopefully, I haven’t had any trouble with it during rush. I got to replace its Saturn ignition coil (http://www.satpartswholesale.com/saturn-ignition-coil/) last week and I’m fortunately enough that it’s only the part that I needed to purchase for it this month.

Wow, the original post is super old, but yes. An Ion is a super buy right now. I would have preferred a new Ion over the 2007 Cobalt I recently purchased, but the deal was better on the Cobalt. The plastic body panels will be a thing of the past in 2008+, and you absolutely cannot beat the 2.2L & 4T45E AT as a proven drivetrain. My biggest gripe with Saturn over the years is; They are totally ridiculous with trade-in allowances. Not even competitive. You can't have a no haggle sticker price AND no trade allowance. That's why they flounder IMO.

Joel

This is kinda an old original post, but anyway, last year i bought My ION 2. Its an ION 2 yet had every extra added to it that the ION 3's have. The only reason I know its a 2 is the VIN #. Its a 5 speed and had 32k miles on it when i got it.
Its a great car, speed, power, great mileage (about 31mpg average city and highway) The car doesnt run like a 4 cylinder at all. It actually has balls. and the handling is great. Not that I'm a madman, but at 100mph it drives smooth and you dont even realize you're going that fast.
In short, I love it.