1997 Saturn SC SC2 review from North America

I've had two Saturn SCs. The first one was a 1994 SC2 twin cam with a five speed. I bought it from Goodwill for 500. It was ugly and dirty, the interior was trashed, the leather was nonexistent. the sunroof leaked and there was no carpet.

I put a battery, water pump, and a tune-up and I drove that car est 40,000 (the odometer was broken at 146,174) miles problem free. It did burn oil but it had well over 200k on the motor, and it never left me stranded.

I always checked the oil and coolant at least once a week, and only added 1/2 a quart every 600-800 miles.

I drove it like a race car at every red light, and wouldn't shift till 6500 rpms, and it never died and I never changed the oil either.

I now have a 1997 SC with the twin cam motor and I bought this one for $460 with 185k. Now it's got 205k, cold air and runs good. I would buy a Saturn, only a stick and only a twin cam, and I wouldn't pay a lot but run it hard.

They're good little cars, but you have to check the oil and coolant (91-95), and hot wire the fan so they don't run hot, or change to an electric EGR; they will last a lot longer.

The 94 twin cam loves to spike the temp to 3/4, then the fan comes on, then back to 1/4, but if you go to an electric EGR, it fixes that problem.