1994 Saturn SL SL1 review from North America

I bought this car on Sept of 2006.

This 1994 SL1 had 123,448 miles on it.

Nothing major has gone wrong with this car, but have a few small problems.

- Brake line for the right front wheel rusted through, lost brakes, leaked fluid all over the road. 123,464 miles

- Muffler hanger strap rusted off. Like that when I bought the car.

- Muffler rusted and started falling apart. Got worse after I bought it.

- Factory speakers blown. Like that when I bought it.

- Rust from the inside on the metal between the two windows on the rear doors. Like that when I got it.

- Headliner started to fall. 134,800 miles.

- Sun visor fabric failing, 124,XXX miles.

- Tire are a little narrow.

- Rims rusted.

- Used a little oil 1QT ever 3K miles. But that's okay, the car still ran good.

Over all this was a really great car.. never had any problems mechanical.

This car had the traction control and ABS option.

Also had P/S and A/C.

Performance:

I would give this car a 5 or 6. The car does not weigh much, but it also does not have a lot of power. Just about 85HP. You will find yourself flooring the car to keep up with traffic from stop lights. It does have a "pref" and "norm" button, and all this button does is if you are in pref mode, it will hold the rpms a little higher before shifting to the next gear. In norm mode, the car seems to shift to soon, and you have very little acceleration power.

Engine:

I would give this car a 6. The 85HP was a little lacking in the power point of view. Have the A/C on, with 3 people on the car, and you were going nowhere fast.

Braking: I would give this car a 8. This car does stop well from 60. Stopping power is from 4 rotors. This car does not have back drum brakes. ABS does come on easy though.

Handling:

I would give this car a 6. This car does handle well, but could be much much better. This model does not have speed sensitive steering. The SL2 does. This car you can over correct easy, if you get in to a slide.

Winter:

I would give this car a 4 or 5 for winter driving. It was okay, but can get stuck really, and the car is so low to the ground, if you have any real snow fall, you will plow the slow. The traction control was a joke in the winter, and with it on, you would get stuck even easier.

Interior:

I would give a 6. The car did age okay, but started falling apart in the last month I had it. The plastic peaces inside the car creak, fall apart, break. the headliner failed. The seats were OK, but not great in the terms of comfort. The electric seat belts were annoying, but worked. The factory sound system was probably good for 1994, but in 2006, the speakers were blown, and does not have a cd player. I upgraded the speakers, and the head unit.

Exterior:

I would give this car a strong 9. This car that had 135K miles, aged very well. Still looked really good with a coat of wax, the paint still shined, but the black plastic bumpers turned in to a light gray over the years. The paint is very durable.

Hvac:

I would give this car a 8. The A/C worked really well, It would freeze you out of the car on a hot summer day. The heat also worked really well, and on a cold morning, the car would be heated up in 5 minutes.

Upkeep:

I would give this car a 8. It cost really nothing to keep this car going strong.

I would change the oil every 3K miles, I also changed out the ECTS, transmission fluid and filter, and brake fluid. Tires were cheap, about 250 for 4.

This it it for my review, I hope I have been able to help you.