2002 Saturn L200 review from North America

I got myself a 2002 Saturn L200 in 2003. The car was one year old with 11,000 miles. I like this car a lot, but it is another GM money pit. I will NEVER purchase another government owned GM product. Stuff that has gone wrong with this car... (from today back)

I have a new problem with the service light. It came on this week. Along with this light, the airbag light, fuel light (out of gas lt), and security light. The lights come on and go off at will.

The back drivers side window didn't work one night.

The A/C works and then stops, but if you turn the fan off and back on, it works for a few minutes again.

The doors re-lock while driving.

The fuel gauge and temp gauge don't work. I've read online that the BCM goes out in these all the time. I'm not looking to pay another $400 to $1000 to have this replaced.

The heater core was replaced due to a crack for $500, and took 1 hour to repair.

Previously at 65K miles I had to replace the engine. It cost me another $4,600. I had to take a loan out on the paid off car for this. This car only has 78k miles on it.

The speakers in this car do not work at all. Every speaker and the tweeter died one by one. I hear this is typical for Saturn cars.

The fuel gauge will leave you stranded when it shows 1/4 tank of gas. Seems to always work when checked by mechanics. Go figure huh?

The drivers side brake light had a factory recall on it. The dealership denied a recall till I paid for the new engine, and only due to me spending so much did they fix it for free. Let me clarify what I mean when I say new engine. It was pulled out of a salvaged car and dropped directly into mine in 5 hours. And all that for $4,600. It seems that Saturn doesn't rebuild engines. A new engine would have cost over $9,500. I only paid $12,400 for the car. The reason the engine was installed in 5 hours was that the dealership didn't want me to have the loaner car over a 3 day weekend.

The windshield washer went out right after I got the car.

So all in all, as long as this car is running it's great. This car has cost me almost $1,000 a year in maintenance if you average it out. It is reliable as long as running, but if anything needs repaired costs usually start at $400 on up.

This car has a great paint job that still looks like it rolled off the showroom floor. The dent resistant body parts work well.

The car is fun to drive and will peg out the speedometer (130+ I only tried that once when new). I hear the timing chains have a recall they never installed either. That will trash your motor at almost any speed when it breaks.

The city gas mileage sucks. Only 19 or 20 mpg vs the 24 mpg they claim. It doesn't matter how slow or fast you go. Always 19 to 20 mpg.