1997 Saturn SC 2 review from North America

An axle boot was thorn and had to be changed at 81,000 miles.

Replaced clutch at around 82,000 miles. The spring was gone, I suspect because of the faulty driving style of the previous owner.

The seat belt on the driver side does not retract well, I guess I should clean it...

The door seals are kind of gone and there is some draft, which is pretty bad in the winter.

Anyways, these are not "real" problems...

The car drives well and overall I'm satisfied with it. It corners like a sports car and I enjoy the "go-cart" feeling. The seats are remarkably comfortable for long trips. The funny thing is that I often do the same trip (around 300 miles), either with my Saturn or with rental cars; with a Ford Taurus or a Lincoln Town-car my back is aching, but not with the Saturn, despite my 6'2.

The engine doesn't burn oil almost at all. I run with synthetic oil, so I change oil less frequently (6,000 miles) ; in the meantime I lose only about 1/4 of a quart, while driving pretty hard. I read other people comments about their oil-thirsty engines, but apparently I was lucky.

The ABS and traction control are extremely useful here in North of US. The traction control helped me quite a few times this winter, otherwise I would have gotten stuck in the snow.

This car would have been much better and quieter on the interstate if it had a 6th gear. Like this the engine revs at 3,300 rpm at about 75 mph.

My experience with Saturn dealership was good. Service was fine and reasonably priced.

I am happy with this small coupe and it's worth every penny I paid for it. And at an average 34mpg the gas prices don't kill me.