Faults:

Door lock.

Ignition controller.

Clutch slave cylinder.

Right axle.

Ignition coil, catalytic converter, muffler, plugs.

General Comments:

When it runs it's great, looks good, comfortable. Nice power with the 5 speed, nice torque curve. Michelin tires reduce the cabin noise nicely.

Broke down too many times. Disappointed with quality. Can't they make a coil that lasts the life of the car?

Faults:

I have had a few reasons to return to the dealer because of "service" lights coming on. This doesn't count the three? (I think) recalls on this car, so far.

The latest repair was the Body Control Module. (Car wouldn't start and could not change gears.) Ironically, my battery died at the same time. The Saturn dealership I went to charged $169 for the battery - this was supposedly including labor to take it out, put it in and the part itself.

(After picking up the car, the remote keys don't work, won't lock or unlock the car. I should feel GOOD about the work? No one informed me this might happen, so at this point, I'm feeling like something could still be wrong.)

The fact that ANYTHING is going wrong with the car is MORE than a nuisance to me, considering it is just under 4 years old and ONLY has 33000 miles on it. You can guess it means I take very good care of the car. At this point, with 33,000 miles, my tires are nearly bald! And the brakes are bad. Maybe they make Saturn parts cheaper and crappier than they make/made Toyota parts, I don't know. But it seems peculiar to me that the car is in such bad shape, given it's "youth" and lack of heavy mileage. Am I wrong for thinking this? Am I NOT living in a real world?

General Comments:

The car feels smooth when it drives, but I swear, after having to take it back 4 months after I bought it because water (rain) was leaking in it, I have not been very happy with my decision to purchase the car. Often, I find myself saying, "I should have stuck with the Toyota." Sorry to say that, but it's true.

Faults:

Within 1 week of purchasing the Saturn LW300, we had to bring the car in for a front wind shield replacement. There were "air holes" or bubbles in the glass. This was not noticed by Saturn before shipping the vehicle to the dealer.

At 5000 miles the leather cover over the hand brake started unhooking from the base, exposing wiring. I have taken the car in several times to have this part repaired or replaced and with a matter of days, it breaks again.

9500 miles: One night while driving my Saturn, my dashboard lights and rear lights suddenly went out. I took the car in for repair; the dealer said it was a fuse.

At 14000 miles my air conditioning went out, while we were on vacation in Arizona. I contacted Saturn and they told me to take it to the nearest dealer. However, the dealer in the area could not fit us in for another 4 days. We had no choice, but to drive our Saturn home without air conditioning, in the middle of summer!

At 20000 miles, my rear lights went out again. I took it back for another fuse replacement.

At 22000 miles, my car would not start. I was parked on an incline with the nose of the car pointed up. The car was trying to turn over and was showing my gas tank was empty. I decided to roll the car back to a level surface. After doing this, the gas gage read 1/4 of a tank, then the car started.

At 24000 miles my rear lights went out for a third time. Saturn finally discovered the "real" problem and had to replace the light system completely.

At 27700 my car was once again parked on an incline. The car would not start on the 1/4 tank of gas. I rolled the car back to a level surface, then it started. I took the car into Saturn for this problem yesterday and they said that they could find nothing wrong. They stated that it was most likely because of the gas tank design. The Saturn representative actually told me "Well, then don't let the gas gage get below a quarter of a tank..." We all know that this is not practical or feasible for most busy families.

General Comments:

I thoroughly researched this car and Saturn in general, before making my vehicle purchase. We paid $28,000 for this car in 2002. We opted for the leather seats, alloy wheels and the DVD system. This car has not been a good investment for us. We will never purchase another Saturn and are currently exploring our options under our states lemon law.