1994 Saturn SL 1 from North America - Comments

The fuel pump went out at around 60,000 miles.

The alternator went out at around 120,000 miles.

The radiator sprung a large leak at 125,000 miles.

The driver's seat is in terrible shape and badly worn.

The headliner is peeling off and regularly sends little flakes floating around the car.

At around 50,000 miles the gas mileage dropped significantly and it started burning a lot of oil.

The ignition is faulty; my key is stuck in the ignition and the bell to remind me to pull the key out therefore dings whenever the door is open. This is true even on the (rare) occasions the key pops out. This first happened at around 115,000 miles.

The car overheats in traffic despite having plenty of coolant. This problem commenced at about 125,000 miles.

The odometer and trip meter are broken and froze at approximately 132,000 miles, though they were intermittent before that.

I loved this car until around 75,000 miles, and now I'm really fed up. I have taken excellent care of it, service every 3000 miles, and I don't feel that it has held up well at all, particularly by comparison with my previous car, a Mazda 626, which didnt' begin to experience similar problems until around 200,000 miles. I'm a big believer that cars should last 10 years with care, and this one isn't quite going to make it. I'm off to buy a Civic this weekend.

I have also been quite dissatisfied with the dealership for about the last 5 years. They were terrific for the first 5 years though.

It's possible you are a victim of odometer tampering. All vehicles tend to have issues, but yours sounds excessive.

I bought my Saturn for $200 from Al that's Alcoholic. It now has 178,000. I use it for a oversize load escort car, I have been truly amazed at how well this SOHC 5 spd has held up. I would drive it anywhere in a second, and Al didn't maintain this car, it was filthy stinky, and neglected, but it still looks really good. Paint cleaned up well, motor uses at most a half a quart of oil in 3500 miles. A/C has not been touched an works really well, I wish it had cruise control, but I would seriously own another SL1 again and again.