After approx. 20 starts, my 2003 ion will not start and it takes about 10 min. for it to start. This happens in the cold weather. I have not had the problem in the summer.

First of all your service light came on so give it a service then have the service light reset then check the thermastac, water levels and the choke is working properly and all the elecric working parts are good

cold weather seriously weakens the battery. Chemical reactions in the battery simply can't happen with the same efficiency at colder temps. Try charging the battery overnight with a 2amp "trickle charger" before a cold morning start.

Hi France , I have the same car and had the same problem two years ago : by
changing the ignition switch , this problem will be solved ( cost :around
175$ ) . Its is due to the type of grease used in the original switch which was too thick or inappropriate . Good luck !
Louis

sounds like a plugged fuel filter,,,changed it lately?? what might be occurring is,,after turning the engine over for a few minutes,,it just cant get the fuel,,,then after sitting the fuel slowly goes threw the filter,, and you get enough for the engine to start,,,clean filters are a must,,,give this some thought,,,their about 10 bucks if you change it yourself.

my car does the same thing.... i dont think there really anything you can do

I have 2003 Saturn Ion. I had this problem over and over 2006 - 2008. IT IS THE IGNITION SWITCH. IT IS DEFECTIVE IN ALL ION'S.The replacement may be defective also, not sure. Mine was driving fine, went ino store for 1 hr came out stone cold dead, would not start and key **** in. Had to have towed to Saturn. They said it was battery and replaced battery.I said this did not make sense. 6 yr battery only 3 yr old , never weak start, never run down, in summer? It happened again 2 mo later. They tried to say battery , I said no. They checked battery. It was fine. Could not find problem. They did total electrical check. It happened again 1 mo later. drove into feed store. Went in came out it happened again. I got jump from someone 30 min later and started right up. 2 wks later same, I got jump 20 min later started. 1 mo late same. Sometimes it would just start up. Took to another Saturn place. They said Ignition switch, saturn was having big problem with this on Ions. Got changed and no problems for 1 yr. I was talking to repesentative at Saturn Headquarters. I told the problem. They said the ignition switch has an electrical component, or it is hooked to electrical component. THEY SAID IF I HAD JUST SAT THERE 20 MIN WITH KEY OFF, THE COMPUTER CHIP FOR IT WOULD HAVE RESET ITSELF WHEN IT COOLED DOWN AND I COULD HAVE STARTED IT EACH TIME. IT WAS BEST TO GET REPLACED AND NOT WORRY, BUT THIS WILL HELP YOU IN A STRESSFUL PINCH, UNTIL YOU CAN GET THE IGNITION SWITCH REPLACED. NOTE: Go to Auto Zone , O 'Reilleys, Pep Boys etc, get a repair manuel , CHILTON $ 23- $ 25 , for your year , make, model car. CHILTON IS MUCH BETTER THAN HAYES MANUEL. It is wonderful and many things you can do yourself.

take some baking soda or coke mix with water and pour over the top of the battery to remove the acid content created by over charging! once that is cleaned and removed then change your! plug wires too!!

saturn has a TSB#04-08-45-005D the ignition switches go bad usually when its cold outside and they dont let the car start,common ion issue,,you need a new ignition switch,,not the lock cylinder the switch its a little electric box on the end of the cylinder housing you need to replace that and reprogram the new one to the car,switch is like $40

The fix for this problem is well known, so is the cause. GM needs to step up in my opinion. You can fix it yourself if you're willing

http://moontaj.com/passlock

Google Saturn Ignition Lock and you'll see that this is a major problem with these cars. I bought a 2003 Ion in May 2008 and have had it in the shop 3 times for starting problems. I just had the entire ignition lock system replaced last month and so far it's been okay. Saturn will acknowledge that this is a problem, but there is no recall or true fix for it.