1996 Saturn SW SW2 review from North America

New battery at 75,000 miles.

Brake pads, shoes and rotors replaced at about 95,000 miles.

Replaced the alternator at 110,000 miles.

Replaced Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor at 115,000 miles.

The rubber seals around the door are shrinking and coming loose. Water will sometimes drip into the inside of the car because of this.

Has been extremely reliable for us, only leaving me stuck somewhere the one time the battery died.

The interior is small, but that's what you expect when you get a compact car like this. The wagon is nice because you can actually carry large objects/furniture in the car if you fold the back seat down.

The transmission is incredibly smooth, which is very refreshing for an automatic 4 cylinder. All of the other 4 cylinder cars we looked at felt like the engine would explode before the transmission shifted into the next gear.

I actually really enjoy that the car has plastic side panels. Someone ran into our bumper in a parking lot - scratched up the paint and broke the brake light. The body shop estimated $800 to fix (with ridiculous amounts of paint and clear-coat). We just took the money and ran, because we don't need to worry about rust. I replaced the rear light for $90.

Another thing to expect with the small car, the road noise is quite loud. I don't know if I'm just getting old, but the road noise seems to be getting louder as the miles get higher...?

Gets great gas mileage - We get around 28mpg city and have gotten 36mpg on the highway. Although the mileage is getting a little lower as the car's miles go up.

I do most of the maintenance on this car, and enjoy that Saturn seemed to design the car to allow home mechanics to work on it. For example - the transmission fluid is drained by removing one drain plug (bolt) and the filter is a screw off like an oil filter. On our truck, changing the transmission fluid/filter is a tricky and messy enough job I just took it to the shop.

After the car started running rough around 100,000 miles, I researched the issue on the Internet a little and found that replacement of the Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor is a common issue. After replacing it, the car runs very smoothly again.