1993 Saturn SL SL2 1.9 double cam from North America

Summary:

An absolutely useless piece of junk

Faults:

Where do I begin!

New alternator, front brakes twice, catalytic converter, the windows are hard to wind up due to shoddy Saturn workmanship and materials!

The car burns a quart of oil each 600 miles!

The seats are uncomfortable and way too small, I am a big lad.

The windshield cost $800!

It is now in the garage because there is a horrendous knocking noise coming from the front suspension!

The motor mount needed replacing - this I was informed by the dealer was a design fault by Saturn! The Saturn dealer even sold me the wrong size bolts for the mount!

This car had a full service history when I got it/I wish I had read these reviews prior to my purchase!

I baby my cars and have followed all the maintenance schedules, yet it is still an unreliable heap of junk. It is the kind of car that is in the garage every other month for something major.

The transmission also pops out of 2nd and 3rd gears from time to time!

General Comments:

These cars are junk/stay away, warn all your friends.

The air conditioning is very poor and the automatic seat belts have locked and tried to strangle me on many occasions. The car is too low and very awkward to get in and out of.

The dealers are totally useless. I have my emergency repair work, lots, done by a decent mechanic who does not rip anyone off. Luckily he is quite reasonably priced although even he scowls when he sees me returning the Saturn for further work!

These cars are pure junk, stay away.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 30th September, 2001

24th Oct 2001, 23:53

Too true. Everyone knows these cars are absolute junk.

22nd Nov 2001, 19:16

I agree with the review and indeed the above comment. These cars are horrendous.

9th Feb 2002, 00:33

That's so weird... I had an SL1 for over 5 years and 100000km, and it has been the most reliable car I ever had (I reviewed it here).

Maybe it's because it's a "plain" SL1 and not a "loaded" SL2?

Very odd.

1993 Saturn SL SL2 1.9 Liter from North America

Summary:

Best car I ever bought

Faults:

At 120,000 miles, the alternator went out.

General Comments:

This car is wonderful. It does consume a good bit of gas, but the car itself is a lifesaver. My other car was a Mitsubishi Eclipse which never ran.

The Saturn could outrun any car. It is still going strong.

The seats aren't too comfortable, and the interior rattles a little, but a tiny bit of glue can fix that.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th April, 2001

1993 Saturn SL SL2 from North America

Summary:

Don't ever, ever, buy a Saturn

Faults:

This car has ruined my life. Even with regular servicing, the engine died shortly after I purchased it. The people at Saturn claimed that the cooling fan wasn't working properly and that's what caused it. Then why didn't they notice the fan in the first place??? Probably because this was just a lie.

2nd engine now runs hot - although the fan was fixed, the car overheats and consumes lots and lots of oil. Now they say it's the radiator... after extensive repairs and many thousands (no exaggeration) of dollars later, this car still overheats. Basically, this piece of crap put me in the poor house for awhile.

General Comments:

The good thing about this car is that the paint and body still look great, and when it runs... it's great to drive.

Saturn finally fessed-up that the earlier models had lots of engine problems... why didn't they tell me this upon purchase??? I guess they just like to see people suffer.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 20th April, 2001

8th Jul 2001, 13:19

I currently own a 1993 SL 1 Saturn. I purchased the car in the Spring of 1998 and I am the 2nd owner. I noticed in the summer time that the car would sometimes jerk instead of shift and it seemed to heat up quick. I spent 1,000.00 last year to get it fixed. They changed the spark plugs, the whole power steering system, the gas line, checked the cooling system and a few other things. It still jerks in the summer. The car runs great the rest of the year.