New radiator fan at about 60,000 miles.
Rear brake rotors at 80,000 miles, 150,000 miles and need new ones now.
Installed new alternator at about 150,000 miles.
New driver side front wheel bearing at 180,000 miles.
Drivers side door trim is falling off.
Air conditioner hasn't worked since about 100,000 miles.
This is an absolutely rock solid car. My wife bought it new in 1993 before we met. She never had any trouble with it before that. I thought I was lucky getting 205,000 miles out of such an inexpensive car. But after reading other reviews this doesn't sound so wild.
The car is a little bit underpowered, but not dangerously so. You just need to be a little aware of your surroundings.
I love the plastic body panels. The only rust on the whole car is the steel trim piece on the rear door window runners. Pretty impressive when you consider I NEVER wash the thing and I live in snow and salt country.
The car eats rear brake rotors. But I don't think that's all that unusual with cars these days. They are pretty cheap to replace so it's not a big deal.
The car is a bit low. The broken driver side door trim mentioned above is from me catching my shoulder on it when I get into the car.
But the best news of all is I just got 40 miles per gallon out of my last tank of gas. That is downright amazing for a car with this many miles on it.
You may not be a mechanic, but I also own a 93 Saturn SL and it has rear drums. I don't know if it was an option from the factory, but I would like to change mine if your article is true. Please reply if anyone knows anything about this.
Yes, the drum brakes are optional. I have a 1993 SL1 and it has all 4 disc brakes, and it is the best running car I have ever owned. Not to mention the gas mileage, it only takes about $20 to fill the tank and I can run on it for about a week.
My SL1 has been a dream, costing virtually NOTHING to fix, and needing things very rarely. Yes it does consume oil, but that is the only fault it has. Still awesome mileage and reliability, starting under snowbanks and never even stalling. You could repair it with a bent nail and a piece of duct tape. I will be so sorry to see this superb car go, and yes, I love the dealers. They find me graveyard parts and fix rather than replace. They are so honest. I don't think I will ever find a car as great as an old Saturn. Give your babies some rustproofing too, people!
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