1999 Saturn SL SL1 4dr from North America - Comments

Engine consumes 2L to 3L of oil between changes.

Good:

My 4th of 5 cars/vans. I always liked this one best.

Great pickup / performance for its class, even at 280,000 KM.

All seasons tires in the snow still work quite reasonable.

Comparatively little service needed, in all 8 years, about 1/3 the price of the car for all except oil / gas / tires.

Never failed to start, even with a 6 year old battery in winter (but was close near the end when I replaced it).

Great mileage: 13 KM/L (37 Miles / Canadian/UK Gallon, or 31 Miles / US Gallon), measured each tank since day 1, using 2/3rd highway and 1/3 in-town main roads (but not stop/go), winter and summer (strictly in town or lots of AC got me 10% less).

Bad:

Non standard size tires made buying spare rims + winter tires not an option for me. Never needed them (used mostly as a commuter car, 90KM / day).

No arm rest on the right, and the left door based arm rest is not comfy either, but I got used to it.

Quieter than all my other vehicles, though now a little noisy with age as the window seals are out of place (a little bit of effort to put back, when I have a moment).

Trunk latch in the way if putting in boxes, etc... into the trunk. It should have been recessed.

Hey, good review, I have a 1998 Saturn SC2, these are great cars in my opinion, I have now 350,786 kms on it as of about 4 minutes ago, still going strong, I change the oil and filter every 5000 and it seems to use about 2 or less litres between changes, but it has for day 1. my car gets 42 mpg, I constantly run it at 120 km/h and the engine is singin a mer 3000 RPM. I never averaged under 30 mpg, and have seen as high as 49 mpg with bald tires in the summer, watching my speed limit. Great car, doesn't rust, parts aren't too expensive, easy to work on, no timing belt, I love it. I will keep it till it doesn't run anymore, I have replaced prety much everything with ACdelco parts which are lifetime warranty as long as I own the car. I don't see this car giving up, and if it does, ill just keep on fixing it after all it wouldn't be worth paying the tax on a new car, or doing car payments not for the commuting I do.

I had a 1998 Saturn Sc2 until about 3 weeks ago, when an idiot hit me from behind and the car was totaled.

The SC2 was my first car and what a joy. I had NO problems from this car. The transmission on Saturns are great! The engine was excellent. However, I did have to replace the tensioner which only ran about 250.00 for parts and labor. Other than that I had oil changes every 3 to 5K and replace the tires and brakes as expected.

The 98 SC2 is a great first car, I would recommend this car to anyone buying a first car or a second car. Also the car was great on gas; 40.00 filled me up and lasted me the whole week. I live in Atlanta and did tons of driving, but only filled up once a week.