1998 Saturn SL SL2 from North America - Comments

What has gone wrong with this car? More than I would have liked to deal with.

The interior light wouldn't work unless you smacked the roof, after which it would just hang from the ceiling, still not functioning.

A crack in my coolant case caused a smoking exit from the drive-thru line and nearly $200 out of my pocket.

The driver side and passenger side mirrors had to be replaced.

The front brakes went suddenly at 100,000 kilometres.

My alternator went causing the battery to be drained and another $380 out of my pocket.

The most recent is the check engine light that won't go off. Apparently the transmission sensor is malfunctioning causing the check engine light to turn on and off at it's discretion. However the biggest problem with this is the constant stalling and the inability of the car starting.

This car was a real disappointment!!!

I will never buy another Saturn again and would urge others to do the same.

This car has given me nothing, but grief.

There are only a few good things I can say about this car. It looks good both inside and out. The factory sound system isn't half bad. And the one thing that hasn't broken and works at or above standards is the a/c.

At how many miles did each of these problems occur? That would help others to be able to see and compare to other experiences with this car and to know whether or not these are common problems for these cars with this amount of use.

Did you look critically at how you used the car? Could you have possibly used your car in a way where any one of those parts that gave you trouble could have been used more often than the average person would use them (or used more roughly, etcetera). I mean, I understand the dome light was not functioning right, but it seems as if hitting the roof and causing it to dangle from the ceiling did not improve its functionality! In other words, have you actually looked objectively at your use of the car, as well as maintenance of the car, and believe you did all that you could and were a perfect car owner? I just don't see any explanation for why these problems absolutely should not have occurred; tell us more about your relationship with this car.

Since you acquired it at around 70,000 kilometers, it has been used. What do you know about the previous owner? Could they have maintained it poorly or "used it too hard?"

I made these comments because I am shopping for a used car right now, so I need to know about the reliability of makes, models, and years of cars. I have to ask too many questions, so I don't make a wrong purchase. This review of the 1998 Saturn SL2 is intended to be helpful, but does not provide enough information to do so. I am worried about someone making publicly viewed assessments of a company's product without providing enough information to prove it is truly a sub par product.

I bought a new, fully equipped 1998 Saturn SL2 in Oct 1997. After a 2000 dollar refund, the price was a little over $14000. I do all of the maintenance myself and keep a maintenance log. At 30,000 miles, I installed Bosch Platinum + 4 plugs and I have used nothing, but synthetic 10W-30 motor oil and WIX filters. At 118,000 miles, I had to have the shift valves replaced in the transmission (a common problem with Saturns) at a cost of 1800 dollars. This was not done at a dealer, but at a private shop in which I have a lot of confidence. The car has been garage kept and is in excellent condition, inside and out. A cigarette has never been smoked in it, and it runs beautifully. It now has 165,000 miles on it and it uses a quart of oil about every 1,200 miles which doesn't bother me at all. It looks and runs just as well now as it did when new. I believe most cars made nowadays will provide good service if properly maintained.

Bernie Morningstar.

Wow, we all have similar problems, my check engine light goes on for a bit then off then on again constantly and "apparently" there was nothing wrong. MY ASS, I'm stuck with a broken head gasket now and oil in my coolant that over flows. Real piece of JUNK!