2001 Saturn L300

Summary:

I really like it

Faults:

First (two years ago) the transmission had problems and it cost me over $600.00. Now the car stalled 2 weeks ago, but started back up. Today, however, it started making a weird rubbing sound and smelled like burning rubber. Took it to friend mechanic and he said the compressor on the air conditioning was rubbing together, hence the smell, and that it should turn freely in his hand, but it was fused together. Two years ago I had him put freon in the car as the A/C did not work. The freon has run out again. He called the local Saturn dealership and the price for the part is $600 plus his labor. He can't buy the part anywhere else because it is not an after market product. But he said he could buy a re-manufactured part at Schrams for about $150 plus his $400 in labor. But no guarantee. I don't know what to do. Would the above cause my car to stall? Will this fix the problem? Should I spend approximately $600 on a repair job that is not guaranteed as opposed to a $1,000+ guaranteed repair. My car is sitting at his garage and I have to have a car to work. Help!

General Comments:

Should I get rid of this car?

Should I spend the $600 or $1,000?

What should I do?

Yeah, I'm a woman.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 11th March, 2008

2001 Saturn L300

Summary:

I will never buy a Saturn again!

Faults:

Headlights flicker constantly since I bought the car. It's been in the shop (Saturn) three times and each time they say they have fixed the problem.

When headlights are on at night it will occasionally start smoking at my steering column and steering column gets very hot.

Car ran out of gas in two days time-frame. Thought I was just being silly and not watching the gas meter, but car will be out of gas at a quarter of a tank.

Car has a bad wheel bearing (or however it's spelled). Tire keeps getting warped and wears down really fast because of this.

I have had other various electrical problems, mostly all relating to the headlights.

I have a sunroof. The driver's side window has always rattled and you can feel air coming through it. I have taken it back to Saturn every time and they say it's just "normal" because I have a sunroof, though the sunroof is closed and the window is completely up.

The paint is seriously peeling off the exterior of my car. The paint job was horrible!

General Comments:

I would never buy a Saturn again. I have had problems with it since they day I bought it and while it was still under warranty. While it was under warranty I had to keep taking it back to Saturn to fix the headlights. Now that the warranty is up I STILL have problems with the headlights and smoking at the steering column.

I am happy with the interior of my car. I love my black leather heated seats, sun roof and wood grain paneling. The interior of the car is quite nice. I would love this interior in a different car because I really hate Saturn at this point.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 14th November, 2007

8th Aug 2008, 11:54

Well, this comment is just a general observation based on all the negative comments I have read. I have a lot of experience with a Ford product. Man-made things break. It's just going to happen. So to say that it's a bad design is foolish. It's just an individual dealership's inability, or unwillingness to repair the issue at hand. To generalize an entire brand based on one vehicle is close-mindedness. After you've owned several models of the same brand or driven fleet vehicles of a brand, THEN you can positively say with authority that something is not up to snuff. I've owned a total of 4 Ford trucks, either by the Mazda moniker or Ford emblem. They are as good as the owner or dealer maintains them to be. And a piece of advice to all out there... never buy the first model year of a brand new car or redesign. There are going to be issues and you can avoid it or buy it and accept the issues. I have owned 3 Saturns and driven the heck out of all of them and loved ever second. I haven't had the bad luck that some have. And that's all it is, bad luck. Not poor reliability, quality or design.

3rd May 2009, 13:38

I had the same problems 1 1995 Saturn L series. I have heard of others. I also had similar problems with a 200 Chevy Malibu and Impala. As a teenager I was a Chevy GM guy all the way, but no more. Seems the quality and reliability of their products is gone. Good luck to any one who doesn't believe it... buy one...YOU WILL!!!