1993 Saturn SL review from North America
"Good trouble-free car."
What things have gone wrong with the car?
A seal of the power steering leaked (at around 120000km), causing the belt to slip and throw oil under the hood.
Developed bad rust in the rear doors sills and less bad, but still not good, rust in the metal part beside the rear doors triangle-shaped window.
Plastic trim on A-pillar (beside the windshield) loosened. No easy or inexpensive fix found. Looks bad, but not a problem.
General comments?
For an econobox, the car has great handling, behaves very well in the snow (with winter tires, factory 4 seasons Firestone are VERY BAD in the snow).
The 89hp engine is appropriate. By no means a "fast" car, but the performance is decent. But the engine could be softer.
The polymer body panels really are a plus. Didn't dent, crack or anything. And the paint still looked like new after 8 years without any particular care.
Fuel economy is great. Used to pull around 600km from a full tank.
Interior is OK. Functional. Seats are average, not very good for long trips.
Recommended reviews
| An absolutely useless piece of junk |
|
| The Appalling Piece of S---- |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Year of manufacture | 1993 |
| First year of ownership | 1996 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2001 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.9L single cam Manual |
| Performance marks | 6 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 9 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 7 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 10 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 9 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 84000 kilometres |
| Most recent distance | 186000 kilometres |
| Previous car | Ford Tempo |
| Date of Entry | 8th February, 2002 |