That said when my daughter climbed into the rear seat and closed the door it didn't sound solid, but rather shuddered in an unusual fashion that I've never heard before. I had her do it again to make sure she had closed it correctly, and it repeated the process. Just in case it was a fault of that particular passenger side rear door I had her try the driver's side rear, which continued the same pattern. While unsettling there's no indication the sound should be a safety concern. Most of us are just conditioned to relating a solid thunk during closure to good build quality. When it comes right down to it Saturn has previously shown above average crash tests, results that bode well for the new car.
This, of course, is good news for all those inside. So is the attractive dash and console layout that includes a cool center-mounted instrument cluster. I'm getting used to these now that they're coming into vogue, and therefore don't find myself looking straight forward onto an empty dashboard as much as I used too.
To be clear though, while improved over the old car the ION's general interior fit and finish and materials used, including hard plastic surfaces, aren't quite up to the build quality standards set by Ford's Focus or the Dodge SX 2.0. Unfortunately for Saturn, compared to the latest Toyota Corolla or Volkswagen Golf interiors it's not even close. Little items such as the ION's instrument dimmer switch feel so cheap that I wouldn't expect them to last if they were attached to my 2-year-old's Little Tykes toy - of course the ION's dash probably won't be thrown across the playroom anytime soon. But I digress.