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.
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.
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.
If your engine is over heating that's not good!! By driving it you can blow the head gasket and/or crack the cylinder head. Of course you probably have already done this and that's part of the oil problem.
The thing with these junk cars is the motors were designed to run hot. The fan will not kick in until you are in the red zone. But if you run your air conditioner the fan will come on.
I have a 1995 SL2 WITH 80,000 MILES. Periodically I spend a lot of money getting parts replaced. I'm on my 3 motor mount. Saturn said it was a design flaw, but they do not replace for free. I understand the replacement of parts is normal as the car ages. The one good thing is that mileage is still like a new car and the engine runs perfect. Its just that replacing parts, its the labor that gouges you. I always have my work done by Saturn. With a Saturn you must get the car serviced and oil changed every 3 months. The customer service is excellent. But I would not buy another, reason is the reliability issue. Also the 1995 SL2 has transmission flaws, of which I still pay for. Back to the reliability issue.
My Saturn performed great until about 90000 miles. Then everything started falling apart. The oil pan was cracked at around 70000 by some idiot kid at jiffy lube. They never were able to properly fix it as the leak kept recuring. So I have to constantly put fresh oil in one end as it slowly leaks out another. Then came the transmission. It also cracked. We couldn't afford to replace the transmission so we had that patched. That leak keeps reoccuring so I had to put transmission fluid in regularly. The car blew a rod at around 95000 miles and the engine was replaced. That's when all kinds of problems started to occur. The car would shake at idle so we brought it back to adjust. They couldn't do that and claimed that there was nothing wrong with car. So the problem continued. A couple thousand miles later the fuel pump fails and needs replacing. Does that fix the problem. Nope. Still shaky at idle. Eventually the car stopped doing that. I don't know why. Overheating started. They said we were out of radiator fluid, but the car kept overheating at idle especially, even after we replaced the fluid. A traffic jam is my worst nightmare because stopped for ten minutes and my car overheats. After 45 minutes of driving on the highway I have to stop because the engine is overheating. I could go on and on, but its depressing trying to think of all of the problems that occurred after 90000 miles. At 108000 miles I thank god that I had that accident. How often do you hear people say that? That car was sucking away at my income. I should have bought a new car the second the engine died.
I own a 1993 Saturn and it now has 120,000 miles and every single problem listed above and in the other comments I have had with this car. I feel your pain about the traffic jam/worst nightmare scenario. Unless I can go fast the engine overheats. The fan doesn't kick on. But when I take it in to have it serviced and hooked up to all their computers they say there is nothing wrong with it. Yeah can I have a guarantee on that so that when my engine explodes, I can bring it to you?
But this car is going bye bye in 2 weeks and I get my new Infiniti G20- yeah me!
My 1994 Saturn's radiator cracked so I replaced it with a new one. OK. Now a day later I am having severe overheating problems now worse than before. My mechanic said it can be the thermostat or I need to flush the radiator. I just don't understand how it can run worse than before. I am fed up with it. I am going to sell it fast.
I bought a Saturn SL2 (1992) and found it to be a total piece of crap. After 5 years, the engine totally blew while I was driving on the highway. Apparently, it burned the motor oil way too fast, the warning indicator turned on for a millisecond before the engine blew and caught the engine on fire! I saw the warning light flash for just a second. The engine temp. gauge didn't warn me either. I tried to have the Saturn dealership replace it, since I've heard stories about this happening to other people. They were total jerks and gave me some bull about it not being under warranty and that it was MY POOR MAINTENANCE! I've changed the oil regularly, but at other places and sometimes by myself. What a bunch of garbage. They couldn't even replace the engine with a new one. Apparently, I had to get a USED engine installed. This cost a ton of $, I should have just cut my loses and junked that piece of crap. I was very disappointed with their poor customer service and total lack of caring. What a major let down from a company reportedly to have "great customer service".
I recommend that if you are thinking of getting any Saturn,
DON'T DO IT!!!
My 1993 Saturn SL2 runs strong, but goes through a quart of oil every 1500-2000 miles. It has 189000 plus on it and just recently made two 15 hour non-stop cross country trips. Love the mileage and am getting ready to start modifying it. Planning on rebuilding the engine. I would recommend buying a Saturn with careful shopping.
My 1993 Saturn does over heat sometimes. So to avoid that I just drive at a steady pace, keep the oil clean and stay off of crowded freeways. I guess you can say I'm like my Saturn, I never want to be on a freeway that's not moving. I recently upgraded the wheels to "17"inch crome low-profile tires and plan to do more as I find the right parts. Yeah, the motor mount did go out on me, but that was no biggie, I replaced that myself in a matter of minutes and was back on the road like it never happened. Soon I'll be replacing the intake and that should take care of the sometimes over-heating that other Saturn owners speak of. So yes, if you're a freeway driver that getting stuck in traffic, yeah get another type of car. But if you want a sporty little get around that's easy to fix up and look nice, i'd say get a 1993 Saturn SL.
Yours truely: Oconda Farod.
I have generally LOVED my '94 Saturn SL2. It was the first (and only) new car I've ever bought. Got it with 150 miles and now it's got 210,000 on it! Easily the best investment I've ever made, as it's paid for itself at least 3 times over.
Yes, it does require a lot of routine maintenance, but what car doesn't these days. I spent the first 75,000 miles going strictly to the dealer, but I have done most of my own work ever since. On;y problems I've had with it are replacing the valve cover gaskets, replaced alternator/generator -twice- motor mount here and there, batteries, brakes and oil -every 3K miles. I did have to replace the clutch once about 3 years ago. but even with that it was nothing that doesn't eventually wear out anyway.
It currently goes through a lot of oil, partly due to age and partly due to the fact that it is an aluminum engine. No big whoop. I have had some problem with it overheating a lot lately (which seems to be a common theme here) but I am confident I will track the problem down and it will be fine. Most likely the thermostat.
I've always liked Saturn. How they do business, how they treat people and the honest approach they take toward selling cars. They set the bar for all those other 'no-hassle' dealers you see pop up now-a-days. Even if the car was a piece of crap, I would still buy another. OK, perhaps I exaggerated a little there...
Dave B.
Last year I bought my daughter a 93 SL2. Engine was a bit noisy, but other wise ran good. Until I got a desperate phone call at work; "my car just died in the middle of the highway" Anyway I pick her up and after checking the car over (oil) I started and made it back home. I took it to the local shop for an engine analysis. The shop said because of the engine noise they were not able to pinpoint the problem and recommended I took it to the dealer. And I thought...Cha-ching! So I decided to replace the timing chain myself following a Haynes manual (great book). Spent about a Saturday afternoon and about $230.00 in parts. Local shop had given me a quote of $800.00.
I have a saturn 98 sl2.The engine continues to overheat if left running for more than ten minutes.I have put a new thermostat on it, a new water pump and a new fan that will not even come on! Currently I am still trying to fix it. Any ideas?
Reading all your comments about overheating...well, if you share a little of your heat with me, I'll share you the woes of my engine not heating up! My temperature gauge rarely goes above the lowest line and I don't get much heat :) I guess I won't try to change the Thermostat or it might overheat. I bought my 93 SL1 used and have since put about 20,000 KM on it in 1 year for a total of 260,000KM I drove it across the US last year. The only problems I've encountered are the stupid little water leaks around the windows and doors... and my poor mother sat in the back seat the other day and apparently there's a leak back there too.
Other than that, problems I've had?...I replaced 8 light bulbs in the dash and radio... cleaned out the EGR valve... new brake pads... And let's just say, I'm not easy on my car... did you know they can squawk in 2nd gear? :)
I guess it's a great car... if you buy the right one.
Steve.
I recently purchased a 93 SL2 to get my can out of debt. I paid $900 for the car and had to rebuild the engine to be on the safe side. GM has updated a few things. If you ever buy a front timing chain cover you get a new and improved oil pump cover at no charge. This cover has a pinhole in it which squirts oil onto the chain.
This is the first GM product that I ever owned. Since 1985 I have always owned Ford products. I see that just about all of you have complained about oil consumption. Well now that it is too late... I know what your problem was. I plan to change this on my engine so that I keep this baby running for at least three years. I will be debt free in 13 months as long as the trans does not go out or some jerk runs into me. Anyhow... your oil consumption was due to the PCV vacuum line. After rebuilding the engine and running it three times (breaking-in), I had to replace the heater core. $50 heater core, dealer wanted $150 out the door. The radiator was $47. Rockwauto dot com had it for $89. The dealer is a rip off. Anyhow the directions to replace the heater core said to remove the intake duct. Well, I did not have to do this, but it was a good thing that I did. Just for curiosity I opened up the throttle and looked into that clean intake that I just bolted on there. To my surprise I found oil just running down the number two and three cylinder passage inside the intake. Well, guess where it's coming from?? Yep, too much vacuum on the PCV valve. That thing is about 3/8". That's big enough to run a brake booster. I will be putting a moisture seperator on that vacuum line and running a drain tube back to the dip-stick tube. This will allow the oil that is trapped to drain back into the crankcase. This is about a $50 fix. One thing is for sure. I will not consume as much oil as all of you have and my intake will remain clean. I will have to keep spraying that EGR carbon away from the throttle plate though. Nothing I can do about that besides disconnecting it and let the car run like crap. I'll just clean it everytime I change the oil.
Brent, Detroit.