1998 Saturn SL from North America - Comments

The car had a bad engine mount when I bought it. This caused it to jerk at part throttle in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears. My mechanic replaced it with a redesigned OEM mount, and the jerking has subsided. I think that the transmission mounting needs replacing, as well, since the jerking hasn't stopped completely. Sometimes, when the car is driven hard (i.e. autoX), the transmission becomes very difficult to shift. The shifter action gets very stiff, and the engine HAS to be revved to downshift. This condition usually subsides after a few easy miles of driving.

Overall, my Saturn has been a good car. I have only had it for a couple of months, but I drive very aggresively, and the car has held up well to my brand of auto abuse. I change the oil every 3k miles with Castrol GTX. I used Mobil1 synth in my last car, but it actually hurts performace in the Saturn. If you have one, always make sure that the spark plugs are changed with OEM ones. My mechanic (who is a trained Saturn mechanic, but does work on the side for friends like me) tells me that Sat engines are picky about that sort of thing, and will foul lesser copper and platinum plugs. I found this out the hard way, as my newly purchased Bosch +4's were fouled within a week. The ergonomics of the car are somewhat lacking, and taking long trips in the car is kind of a chore. On the plus side, I see close to 40 MPG on the highway. Because of my driving style, I don't see more than 25 mpg in the city, but I hear that well over 30 mpg is achievable with a less aggressive style. The car has no rear sway bar and rolls badly with aggressive cornering. This may or may not be an issue with you. The aftermarket can fix that for you, if it is. The stock brakes aren't good for high-speed stopping. They make lots of noise and don't do much slowing down. The clutch is original, and has a good feel after so many miles. It's not like a Honda on/off switch clutch that only takes up in the last 10% of the travel. Mine starts to pull at about 50%. The timing belt should have both eyes kept on it. That's all I've got to say for now.

For one thing-this car does not have a timing belt-it has a timing chain.

Original reviewer here.

First of all, excuse me. Timing belt/chain... whatever. I wasn't doing the major wrenching on the car.

I was, however, responsible for revving it past redline on a daily basis (I/H/E really wakes the SOHC up in the upper rev range), and I never replaced the timing chain. I guess the fact that it never required replacing is due to the fact that it was metal moving the cam gears, not rubber.

I sold the car in 2005 with 130,000 miles. In the years I owned it, I never stopped driving it like an angry teenager, and it never let me down.

However, after moving to a more rural area, I discovered that the SL absolutely LOVES dirt roads, and I played Colin McRae every chance I got.

This resulted in some stress failures, like factory struts, CV-joints, and some electrical stuff that my mechanic suspected shook loose on the gravel roads. I wasn't nasty, and fixed everything before selling it to the next person. Shame, too. The car drove so nicely after all those repairs.

I should have never sold that car -- I sold it to the daughter of a co-worker for a pittance, and saw her driving it just the other day. Should have been me.