1999 Saturn SL SL1 from North America - Comments

Reverse lamp switch caused reverse lamps not to function. ($100 repair)

Headliner leaked water when rained. ($200 repair)

Climate control selector has broke. (The dealership wanted $550 to fix this, I told them that if it cost that much, I would live with it.)

Car does not have heat. (I'm not exactly sure why.)

There's a large dent in the passanger side door. (Those dent resistant panels aren't.)

Numerous scratches in the paint. (More than I would expect with normal wear and tear.)

There's a large dent in the oil pan. (Suspension too low or bouncy maybe?)

I haven't had too many problems with this car. But in all fairness, I haven't had too much luck with cars and this is the first car that didn't blow up on me in the first six months. Other than the problems I have already listed I haven't had anything else go wrong with it.

The car does get good gas mileage, about 35 mpg on the highway. But you are not going to get much in the way of performance. This would be a good car for a family (as long as it is not too big). The interor can fit 4 comfortably and 5 with a little crampness.

Speaking of comfort, don't be expecting to go on long road trips and not be sore after riding many hours in this car. I drove the car from Omaha, NE to Sacramento, CA (about a 24 hour drive) and my body was so stiff and sore by the time we were there (which is bad considering we had to drive back).

Get your heating coil checked. I am sure that is why you have no heat.

Actually it turned out to be the wiring behind the control consel which only cost about $70 to repair. Somehow it got twisted and binded, so it was an easy fix.

The body panels can't dent, only the hood, trunk and roof can. Now the doors and quarter panels can crack though. I'm not sure what is going on there??

Yes, as the guy above me said, there is no way the body panels can dent. they can snap, but not dent. The car may have been in a wreck, and a panel was replaced by a metal one, not OEM. As for the dent in the oil pan, the suspension in this car is far from bouncy, but the ride is low. Watch out to take curbs and bumps slowly.

I bought a Saturn 1999 SL1 with 5 speed transmission about a year ago.

I have taken it from 168,700 miles to 185,800 miles now.

The car is just fabulous. No problems at all. All I did was change the thermostat, plugs, wires and Air filter. The car did not ask for anything, I just changed things for good maintenance.

I want to take this car to 200,000 miles quick. I paid $1575 for the car and already got twice the worth out of it.

Also, based on what work I have done on the car, I can tell Saturn has done things right. Just my two cents...