1995 Saturn SL SL1 from North America - Comments

I have a Saturn 95 SL1... my transmission is slipping and needs to be repaired. Cost $1600.00 for rebuilt. Has anyone else replaced their transmission and was it worth it.?

I don't have the water leaking problems nor the oil problems. So that is strange.

Should I put this much into it? Not sure what to do.

Wife bought our 95 SL1 back in 95 off the showroom floor... paid $13K out the door... it was our primary commuter car for a number of years.

We live on a small ranch and it was used as a substitute pick-up truck for a few years when we did not have one... no telling how much weight I loaded into that car... now it has almost 400K miles and has all sorts of issues... wonder why. Overheats, burns oil (on the second engine), windows get stuck halfway and the road noise is ridiculous.

Its been through many alignments, but still it eats tires like they were breakfast biscuits, engine idles rough and high, Service Engine Soon light has been on for years and the master cylinder leaks brake fluid.

BUT it passes inspection every year, gets incredible gas mileage and I can park it anywhere at the airport without concern for its well being. It's about to go into the shop one more (hopefully final) time for the overheating - the fan simply will not come on (even when I turn on the air conditioner). Which is crazy... for all these years, the air conditioner has been stellar.

If I had to, I'd buy it all over again. If your thinking if its worth putting money into your SL1, re-read this. My goal is to get another 2 years out of mine and then send it off to charity.

My windows don't roll up either, service light is always on too, and mine is overheating too.

I just left a review like a minute ago, any of my problems yours too?

I can't even drive my car today because it's probably going to blow up.

Oh Great! I just bought this 1995 SL1 Saturn last night and now I am very worried - I guess I should have read reviews before I bought it.

No car is perfect and older cars will need repairs. I got a good deal on it and am hoping it lasts for a year. it has a new alternator and battery, but the engine has a burnt rubber smell.

It has a manual transmission, but when I try to downshift into 2nd it doesn't always want to go in. I haven't read any reviews about how the stick shifts work, but I'm wondering if the clutch or stick is about to go out...

The car rattles, but I'm not worried about that. It's a noisy little car, but it's older...

Please let me know if anyone has had problems with stick shifts or clutches.

Thanks.

I recently bought a 1995 Saturn. I had oil change with new filter, brakes, new plugs, shocks, etc. I am pleased with the car except for the rough idle and loud engine. Is there anything that can be done about that? Is there a foreseeable problem with my transmission or some other factor?

I have a 2001 Saturn wagon and we have had it about 4 months. It has just started going through fluid left and right, and I'm not able to tell where it is leaking, and then in the last couple of days it has started to give me a really hard time with the gear shift wanting to move at all, and sometimes it doesn't move at all. I don't know if these are related, but that's what is happening, does anyone have any clue what this would be?

My 96 Riviera caught fire last year and I needed a quick car for work, so my brother gave me his daughter's (my niece) old 95 Saturn SL1 Automatic. It has the leaky driver door, the squeaking serpentine belt/tension pulley problem, the oil on the spark plug problem, the vibrating problem, the sometimes shifting into a lower gear by itself and getting stuck until it feels like shifting into the next gear problem, the overheating problem, and that's about it.

I replaced the plugs six months ago because they were soaked with oil and not firing due to the gasket on the valve cover leaking. That fixed that problem, but now it is doing it again, so I cleaned the plugs and wells but it is still running real bad cutting out, causing it to shift weird, too. Should I replace the plugs again?

To the above comment: on my Saturn, after replacing the plugs a couple times I ended up having to re-gap the spark plugs and replace the EGR Valve (the car kept stalling) which seems to be a common problem as per the other comments. Also, I have the some overheating problem, but only during the hot summer months and is fine during the winter. A quick fix, I've found, if you're driving and it's overheating open your windows and blast the heat for a few minutes. It always cools the car down quickly.

I have a 1995 Saturn SL1 single cam 4 cylinder auto trans. I have been noticing when I step on the gas, it likes to stay in first gear a bit too long. I have to let off the gas, then it shifts.

I also noticed when I start it or shift into reverse, it makes a loud bang. I was told it was the engine mount, which was broke. I put 160 into that and got it fixed, but it still makes that bang. Anyone else know why it would be doing this?

My 1994 SL1 is the second best car I've owned. My '71 'Cuda was better but didn't last forever. This site: http://www.saturnfans.com has been a tremendous help the past couple years. Check it out.