1996 Saturn SL 2 review from North America

Nothing major has broken on this car in six years. It does have an appetite for mufflers, but I live in an area where the roads are heavily salted in the winter so this isn't necessarily a Saturn defect.

I'm still on the original battery and the car fires right up on the coldest days, though this is probably pushing my luck.

There is quite a bit of rust on the bottoms of the doors. Again this is from salt, but there should be better sealing here.

The passenger seat belt is jammed and needs to be replaced.

There are many annoying rattles inside from various plastic parts, which get worse in winter.

The syncro for first gear is going; it's increasingly difficult to shift into first and it requires several tries sometimes. Annoying, but livable.

Saturns are "known" (urban legend) for burning oil. Mine does not. I think people who have this problem did not maintain their cars properly.

This is not a sports sedan, but I tend to drive it like one. Handling is decent and the 24V engine pulls nicely through 4500rpm (dieselishly, there's no point in revving it higher as all you get is more engine noise). Speeds over 80mph are tiring and loud from engine and wind noise, but the car is very nice at 75mph.

Consistent 30-32mpg fuel economy on the highway with the manual trans running 87-octane cheap stuff.

The seats are decent and I have driven 12 hours at a stretch without too much discomfort. Interior materials are of high quality (not the case with new Saturns) and there is no wear of the carpet and upholstery. However the assorted plastics do buzz and rattle especially in the cold.

This is the most reliable car I've owned, but I am ready for something new. I chose "no" about buying another Saturn because the current models are 1) extremely ugly 2) are a poor value and 3) seem made of the cheapest materials.