Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-71
I have the 95 SL1, and as the others above, got a head crack at 8 years and 97,500 miles. The Huntsville AL service manager gave me an 800 number and suggested I speak with the regional customer service rep. She and the local service manager coordinated and he agreed to pay all parts. My total was $910 for the labor (much less than the comments above), and they replaced almost everything with new parts (cylinder head, all hoses, thermostat, water pump,...). I miss the $910, but I feel like they treated me fairly. In view of all the bad dealership comments above, I have to give credit to our local Saturn of Huntsville Alabama.
The Saturn Corporation knew about the cylinders cracking in models built during 1994 thru 1996. They claimed a letter went out in June of 1999 to all Saturn owners. They extended the warranty for 6 years. I never receivd a letter and I was never told about this situation while I had my car in for scheduled maintenance. It just seems odd we are having this problem after the warranty ran out. Saturn could have prevented this problem. The Saturn Corporation also stated they fixed many cars during that warranty period. What is many? This should have been a recall. The only response I received from the company was an apology. An apology doesn't fix cars or the problem.
I have a Saturn 1996 SL1 (Used Car). It has 73,185 Miles on it, and the Engine Oil and the Coolant are mixing.
I contacted the Saturn of Silver Spring (Dealer in our area)
they diagnosed the problem and found the head gasket damaged and suspect that the head might be cracked. I contacted Saturn's National Customer Service 1-800-553-6000. They took my complaint and their Area Manager, Ms. Aime Rector called me. She said since my car is over warranty (6 years or 100,000 Miles) Saturn would not cover any costs. She also told me that if they have to cover any costs beyond the warranty period they have to build a business case. She said since my car is not serviced at a Saturn's dealer since 1999 they cannot build a business case. I told her that I have all the maintenance records of my car and I have done it at a local mechanic. She said they do not confirm other people's work. She said the costs of the head replacement would be $2400. I cannot drive my car now. Please advise me what should I do.
Referencing the previous poster, with the 96 SL1 with cracked head and 73185 miles:
Terry was the person I spoke to at the 800 number, and I also spoke extensively with my local service manager. I also had the cracked head, 95 SL1, 97000 miles, and did my own maintenance (none at the Saturn shop). They at least paid for parts. Why is the Huntsville AL dealership willing to at least partially stand behind their product while the Sandy Springs dealership is not? My understanding was my Huntsville service manager was instrumental in the decision to pay for parts. And my total cost for labor was $910.
I am the owner of a 96 Saturn SL-1. Since my warranty was up in July of 1999 I've spent over $5000 on repairs. I'm a college student with no steady income, and I'm so insanely frustrated with the amount and frequency of repairs I have had to go through on my car. As expected I had a cracked head in February, I got it fixed (I paid labor only - still $1080) and now I'm loosing oil again! I took my car to the dealership last night and they tried to blame the problem on me by saying I don't change the oil regularly, even though I do and have the records to prove it.
OK, I have heard and read enough. I bought my 95 Saturn from my brother in-law (no he did not stiff me) for my son to go back and forth to college and work. The appliance with four wheels was using oil, a quart every 800 miles. I figured the engines were crap so did not pay much attention. As we monitored it more closely I looked in the radiator tank and immediately notice oil. Since I have owned junk before I new it was either a head gasket or cracked head. My mechanic researched it and found that they the heads have a known defect. His estimate was $1300 ($650 for the repaired head). The Saturn dealer actually has repaired heads in stock since this is a common occurrence. I haven't gone to the 800 number yet, but I don't expect much. So what recourse do we have? Let's send an email to everyone we know stating that Saturn's are garbage. Maybe we can protect the next consumer from manufacturers who chose not to stand behind their product. PS, I own a 99 Honda Accord and love it!
Paul.
I can add one more to the list. I have a 1996 SL1 with 105k miles. Warranty has expired. The car is in great shape yet, but with a cracked cylinder head it's worth about $400 at the local junk yard. Or I can pay the $2160 to the dealership for repairs to fix a problem that Saturn seemed to know they had. I am waiting for a call from the area rep, but I'm not expecting much after reading these comments.
JR.
Well I don't know if the head on my Saturn is cracked, but it does use a lot of oil. It's a 1997 SL and it has almost 200k miles. It's not the best car I've ever owned, and I hate that it uses so much oil. It still runs well and except for the expansion valve, (AIR CONDITIONING) I haven't had any problems with it. I don't think I will ever buy another Saturn, but I will keep the one I have until it dies. I may even fix the AC if it's not too much trouble.
It's too bad that so many other people have had such bad luck with their car. I don't hate the car, I just thought it was going to be a better product than it is.
My wife and I own a 1996 SL1. It has 90,000 miles (144,000 km) and has been a reliable car with the exception of an accelerator pedal that slightly sticks when you want to pickup speed starting from 0 mph. We take the car in for routine oil change and maintenance every 3,000 to 5,000 miles and until recently it was always at the Saturn dealership.
Last week, we started noticing a brownish liquid dripping from the car. We opened the hood and discovered it coming from the coolant reservoir. We took the car to get repaired at a local mechanics shop (not the Saturn dealership). He told us it was a cracked head which he described as porous. The estimated repair cost is $1,900. We decided to repair it because it is cheaper than buying a newer car. Today the mechanic told me it was a known problem. As a result, I think we will be selling the car shortly after it is repaired because we don't want to pay for another cracked head.
I have had a 98 Saturn SL1 for almost two years and it had never cost me any repairs other than maintenance every 2500 miles. This car had 46,000 miles and with very little warning (about two minutes) it started overheating. We pulled over and there was an ugly brown substance coming out of the radiator. Come to find out it was a cracked cylinder head. I could not believe this could happen to a maintained car with only 46,000 miles on it. Therefore, I went on-line to see if there were any recalls and I came across a number of people with the same trouble. I purchased an extended warranty when I bought the car because I knew I would not have the money to make payments and repairs. This warranty cost me $1,000.00 and I thought at the time I was being foolish. But, after talking to our Saturn Dealership, I know I would have been out of a car with three years left to pay on it without this warranty. This is wrong. I am so sorry for everybody who had to pay 2,000.00 and more. If we were wealthy and could afford these repairs, we would have purchased a BMW not a Saturn. Can something be done? Do you know if any extended warranty on cars newer than 1997?
I have a Saturn SL1 '96 also. my aternater went out last year, and now my mechanic says I have a cracked head. I thought it was going to be a great first car for my daughter, but now I DON'THINK SO!
I am so upset with Saturn! In 2000 we had a cracked cylinder head in our 1995 Saturn SL1. Saturn fixed the problem because the car had only 65,000 miles on it. I was so happy with this because the original warranty had run out. However, our satisfaction is now gone. Three years and sixty thousand miles later the dreaded cracked cylinder head is back. The dealership forwarded us on to customer service, who sent us on to an area representative. She basically said that we should be happy to get 120,000 miles out of a car before having to spend over $2,000 on it. Maybe it's just me, but my main concern is that Saturn is unwilling to take care of a known defect. My only recourse is to tell everyone I know (and many I don't) how Saturn treats its customers.
Wow, I'm amazed on how SO many people have encountered this SAME cracked cylinder head problem! I have a 1996 Saturn SL1, with about 73K on it (bought used). The night before mine cracked, my coolant needle wasn't acting right; it would go past the 1/2 way line and I knew it was something wrong with the coolant. Well the next night, the car overheated and I heard it boiling over. I pulled over and the car was smoking and this lite brown stuff was FLOWING from the bottom of my car. Came to find out it was a cracked cylinder head. The mechanic said it was a very common problem in Saturn's and all these comments have reinforced that fact. The cost for repairs is $2100. The only thing I can think of doing is writing a letter to Saturn. I don't know what else to do. They don't seem to care about taking care of a defect they KNEW was there for years. Any suggestions??
May a well add my name to the list. I have a Saturn SC1, 115000 km, and my cylinder head just cracked. Other than replacing an alternator earlier this year, I have had no work done on it, other than regular maintenance. But after reading some of these stories, you can bet I'll be ridding myself of this lemon before it costs me even more money.
We have had a 96 SC1 since new. It has 50,000 miles on it. Guess what? Cracked cylinder head. It also has excessive play in the crank shaft. This play has caused drive-line parts to fail. Many other numerous problems since new.
In a previous post the hard starting may be from a bad fuel pressure regulator. The part is approximately 100 dollars, and installed easily.
We are trying to decide if the car is worth fixing. If we put a new engine in, it may be worth it?
I would sure like to have another car to worry about.