Well, I have had my 1994 saturn sl2 for about a year I bought it with about 80000 miles on it and now it has 162000 it has had only one oil change scence then, it does burn oil, but not much, I just add lucas while it burns it. I am testing to see how far this motor can go without an oil change, car is very fast for a 4 banger! yea I've had small minor problems, but the doors leaking when it rains is not a FRIGGEN SEAL PROBLEM!!! these cars are made to leak, open your door, look where your seal meets the inside if you were to close your door. meaning you can only see this indentation when the door is open, its about mid way at the top, if you put about a 4 inch peice of electrical tape over this small indentation, LEAK IS GONE TRUST ME DO IT!!! Most of your oil consomption comes from your pvc valve not your egr! I CAN GO ON AND ON ABOUT THESE CARS!!! but I gtg.
I love my 1995 SL2. It has 236,000 miles and is going strong. Yes, it does burn some oil, about a quart every 1,000 miles, and has required minor repairs, but I drive the car a lot. Long live my SL2 and I can't wait to buy another one.
Where are you getting that saturns are junk from. My 95 SL1 with a 5 speed has 187,000 miles on it. goes through a little bit of oil, but what car doesn't at that mileage?
I just got a 95 SL2 about 2 years ago from a friend. He'd blown a rod racing it. After it hit 160k mileage though. I've put a new head and block in it (1,000,000 Mi Warranty) from Gopher Engines and slapped the turbo and cold air intake back on it and it flies. The 5-speed is really suited for getting all the power out of that engine. The car has almost 200k on it now and still have yet to replace the clutch. But anyway. I gotta run. Putting a new crank in it tomorrow and need to go pick it up. Adios.
I personally have had a good experience with my Saturn's. I am on my third one now (I lost the first two to accidents, and would like to add that they do quite well in a collision) and I would gladly buy another. I have had to replace a few parts on them all, but those were mostly due to age (my car is 12years old, and old rubber cracks). The one problem that I have noticed with my latest Saturn (which is my first automatic Saturn) is that I get a little bit of "reverse slam" occasionally when I shift into reverse. This is a problem caused by the valve body, and it will cost you between $250 and $400 to fix. Other than that, I have had no major issues with any of my Saturn's...oh, and one more thing is that I really do like the performance switch. It actually does something for you. The car reaches it's maximum torque at higher engine speeds (your torque curve matches your acceleration curve, and reaching this torque at higher engine speeds gives you a flatter acceleration curve and allows you to accelerate longer) and the normal shifting program in most automatics don't let you take advantage of all of your car's acceleration. The performance switch allows you to get the most acceleration out of each gear. My SL2 reaches 70mph in second gear with the performance switch on before it shifts into third and it shifts from third to fourth at 100mph, and it is all stock!
Another thing the switch helps you with is driving through mountains. I noticed this recently when driving through the Rockies in Colorado. When driving downhill the transmission uses lower gears, forcing the engine to run at higher speeds. The car uses the engine compression to brake instead of you having to constantly drive with your foot on the brake, which wears out the brake. It's something truckers do and people with manual transmissions have the luxury of doing, and now that you know what that switch is for, you can do it too!
Why do you need a switch for you to be able to downshift going down hills in an automatic? That's what the lower gears on the selector are for, so you don't fry your brakes.
I'm truly sorry to hear about some of the bad experiences some of you have had. My experiences with Saturn have been fantastic! My parents had a 1994 SL2 that they traded in 2 years ago. It had 260,000 miles at trade in and had only two issues outside normal oil changes. It needed the clutch replaced at 175,000 miles and a new fan motor at about 140,000. Not bad for 11 years of use.
I used to own a 1994 Saturn SL1. I bought it used with 85,000 miles on it and sold it with 125,000 miles. Never had to put a dime into it outside regular oil changes. The only reason I sold was because my wife was pregnant and couldn't reach the pedals anymore:-)
I just purchased a 1993 SL2 and so far it's looking good. It did have a new tranny put in at 140,000 miles (prior to my puchasing it). The engine is running great. It does go through about a quart of oil every 3,000 miles - not unusual for either a Saturn or a car with 150,000+ miles. Some Lucas treatment will go in on the next oil change and every one after that.
Three cars, 15 years of service. $700 total in non-standard maintenance. That's pretty solid.
I have a 1998 Saturn S series and I love it. I have hardly put any money into it at all other than brake pads once and new tires. It uses a lot of oil because it has a steel timing belt rather than one that needs to be replaced. I bought the car new and have 102,000 miles on it.
Speaking of mechanics, I still need to find a good one. When I was hit in a hit and run accident, I needed the drivers side mirror replaced. The shop I went to wanted to charge me $350 dollars, this included painting the housing, which by the way, is NOT PAINTED on the car! Anyway, found the part online for $35 online and my husband replaced it in 15 minutes! I know I need to learn all this stuff myself, because you can't trust anyone!
I have a 1992 Saturn SL2. Due to its polymer body it looks not a day over five years old, if that.
I bought it three years ago and have put at least 70K on it (the odometer stopped at 150K). I have put one set of rear brakes, one alternator, one battery, one air filter, one cam cover gasket, one set of plugs, one set of plug wires, two tires and not enough oil changes on/into the car. Some of this is routine maintenance, obviously.
I get about 35 mpg (but could be getting 40 mpg if I replaced a sensor). So far my average yearly cost (not including gas) for the vehicle is $300. If anyone can find me a reliable, fuel efficient vehicle that will never leave me on the side of the road for $300 I'll buy it! I suspect, though, based on my experience with 10+ previous used cars of similar vintage over the years, that this is not possible (unless it's a 20+ year old Volvo 240).
My Satty can't be beat, and once it does kick the bucket in 100K+, I'll have to find me another!
I can agree with some of the comments. The Saturn is not a flashy car, but was made for one reason.. cheap transportation.
I have 2 Saturns at the moment. The first, a 93 SL1, has 247+ thousand miles, and the other, a 95 SL2, 189+ thousand.
I will agree they do use oil and have a lot of annoying malfunctions, but consider the cost of the Saturn verus other cars on the market. The parts are cheap and they are easy to work on. If you add the cost of just one major repair of an import verse the upkeep of the Saturn, it justifies itself. Saturns don't die; people kill them. However I have never seen any American car besides the Saturn match the high miles that the imports are capable of.
I own a 1996 Saturn SL2 as a second car - with around 168,000 miles on it. The only thing I've had to do is replace the transmission filter because it somehow got a crack in it which cost me $4.00, the horn which cost me $75 and the alternator which was like $130.00. It does take a little extra oil in the summer it seems, but otherwise in the fall/winter it's just fine with an oil change every 3,000 miles.
I have a 1996 saturn SL2 and its got a little over 277,000 miles on it. I bought it from my nephew when it had 120,000 miles on the car. It has been a good car other than all the oil it uses. So, I'm seeing there is all kinds of reasons that the car uses oil, but has anyone came up with a definate way to stop the problem?
1994 Saturn SL/5-speed (purchased new) still running great & has nearly 220K on this auto. We fill the tank every 2-1/2 weeks with MID-grade gas (abt 27mpg) & change the oil myself every 3-4K. This car has been extremely reliable and we have purchased 3 other Saturns since ('01 LS, '05 Vue, & '06 Ion).
Greg in Smiths Station
Hello everyone, I picked up my 95 Saturn SL2 5 speed 150k miles on it for $500 recently! I love this car, I just took it down to California on a 1800 mile journey getting 38 mpg and no problems, runs like a top!
Man, and this car still looks hot after all these years.. love those plastic body panels which I hear they will be discontinuing due to the large panel gaps required to allow for expansion on hot days.. my word how stupid.. I don't notice the LARGE gap on mine.. it's fine.
Now the oil consumption.. yes mine does it too.. I found out why, they have a certain oil port design in the head that causes this. nothing to worry about.. hell I'll put up with buying a few quarts of oil now and then to have a car as reliable as this one has been.
Coming from a 93 Ford piece of crap Taurus, that had something going wrong with it every other week! I'll never buy another Ford, too many electrical problems.
All the electronics still work on my Saturn! Even the AC, lovin it! I have been reading these cars can go 300 - 500 k! One I just read hit 700k and no engine work! I'm a happy camper indeed.
Now if the new line of Saturns can only match this reliability.. we shall see. I have an engineering background and I can see the good engineering in this vehicle for sure. Not bad for $500 bones me thinks.
I have a 95 SL2 that I just recently bought. It has 160k on it so naturally its gonna need some work. I have experienced the windows leaking and my rear window motors are about dead. I have already replaced the tensioner pulley because it did squeal. I have also replaced the timing kit because it rattled like a diesel at idle. I still have to replace to lower control arms and tie rod ends, but for all I know could they have 160k on em. My car was properly lowered but the alignment wasnt fixed so it kinda eats tires right now. But other than that my biggest problem is the transmission. The car is already on its second transmission and about to get its third! The differential pin likes to try to come out and rub a hole in the wall between the diff. and clutch. Or it might just go ahead and eject going down the interstate at 70 mph (last owner, not me! thank god) Other than a few routine maintenance things (and tranny) I love this car and will keep it for years probably. It gets great gas mileage (5 spd.) I love the way it looks. It has a great stance lowered 2" with 17s. If you want something different to customize or just something to get you around, I d say a saturn would be a pretty good choice if you don't have thousands to spend on a new or nicer car.