2002 Saturn SL 2 review from North America

Passenger seat won't come up all the way, so passenger is slightly reclined.

I bought the car for economy and reliability, that's what I got.

I get 27 city/38 highway and I tend to drive fast.

The twin cam engine has amazing power, especially above 4,000 rpm. I owned a 99 SC1 (single cam) and it was powerless, so I was pleasantly surprised.

I have had no problems with this car and it still looks new inside, outside and under the hood.

Comfort is marginal, but it does have good lumbar support.

Nice CD stereo.

Trunk and back seat are small, but the back seat folds down, that's a plus.

Turning radius is large for such a small car.

I've been driving a stick shift for almost 30 years and with most of my cars/trucks am able to shift seamlessly, without thought, but I still double clutch this car and the shifter is imprecise. I worry about the clutch going out.

This car looks nice, runs great, gets great gas mileage, but it has taken some getting used to. My last car was a Mercury Sable LS. It was too sweat, loaded, fast and beautiful. I miss that car! But it got 13 mpg city/18 mpg highway and the transmission went out at 49k. Replacement cost was half what I paid for my SL2.

Even with it's faults (comfort/size/luxury) I would highly recommend this car to anyone who is looking for a nice, reliable, economy car.

Now that I have gotten used to this car I would keep it for a long time except that it doesn't have cruise. Factory replacement is very expensive and I haven't found an aftermarket unit that doesn't surge with a stick shift.