2001 Saturn SL -1 from North America - Comments

This is my 2nd 2001 Saturn SL-1. After only 13 days and 700 km, the engine on it came apart. The mechanic had to take the entire engine apart & rebuild it. The dealership was HORRIBLE about it. I refused to accept the car back, as Saturn advertises their 30-day money-back guarantee.

The dealership gave me an extremely hard time about this, and didn't want to accept the car back. The sales manager told me that because I had registered the car (which by law must be done within 15 days), he couldn't sell it to someone else as a new car!

I called Saturn's head office in Canada to complain about the way the dealership had treated me, and about how the sales manager had wanted to be able to sell this write-off to some unsuspecting person as a NEW car. The woman at the Saturn head office was very rude and told me that she didn't know why I expected them to do anything about it.

When I picked up the replacement car (I was stupid not to just get my money back), the dealership had broken the clear plastic cover that goes over the speedometer, and when I pointed it out and asked them to fix it, they actually pretended that they didn't see the very big, very white crack in it. They weren't going to fix it until I threatened to go tell the customers in the store about what was going on.

I have had to have the quill bearings replaced TWICE. This is a repair that costs about $1100 Canadian each time. I have read that the cause of this is a crooked drive shaft, which, of course, they didn't want to replace under warranty.

I have been having problems with the clutch. Most of the time, the clutch feels sticky and the gears grind.

The dealership told me that EVERYTHING on the car was covered by warranty for the first 5 years or 100,000 km, but I later found out that wasn't true at all. (The dealership LIED to me.)

After about 23,000 kms, the little button on the seat belt, which prevents the metal clip from sliding down to where you can't reach it, broke off the passenger side.

After 60,000 kms, the latch to pop the trunk open broke.

After about 65,000 kms, the cruise control stopped working properly. The dealership won't do anything about it.

The seats are somewhat uncomfortable. You really need a lumbar support cushion with them.

Really loud road noise.

The paint still looks good, and the seats have held up well.

I paid just over $22,000 Canadian for this car, and it was definitely NOT worth the money.

My last payment will be made on this car in about 2 weeks from now, but it looks like fixing the clutch/grinding problem could cost me the equivalent of 3 more payments!!!

I am seriously considering getting rid of this car and getting something else.

Honestly, I have the same car as you and my Saturn dealership in the Ottawa area has been most pleasent and accomodating. I have had literally no problems other than wear and tear and have been too happy about this car. I would personally never go near your dealership EVER again! I do agree though that the seats are very hard and support-less in the base SL1's. Great value as a used car though, low re-sale value and great economically! sorry to hear about your list of problems man, good luck!

My clutch slave cylinder will cost 2000 US, and it sucks. Every few months it's something with this car.

I bought a 2000 Saturn SL this past July. It had 92,000 miles when I bought it, and now has about 96,000 miles. I have had this car only 6 months, and have had 3 major issues with it. First, my front axle motor mount collapsed. Then, my intake gasket had to be replaced. And today, I found out that the awful noise my car had been making for the past few days was my front left wheel bearing, which needs to be replaced. Overall, since buying the car, I have had to put almost $1,000 more into it. It's only saving grace is that it gets amazing gas mileage, but it's definitely not been worth all the trouble.

I have owned a 2000 Saturn SL1 for the past year, and have only had one small repair to do on it, which was the CTS (Coolant Temp Sensor) and it was only 10 bucks Canadian to fix.

I bought to car used at a Saturn dealer, and they have stood behind this car 110%, and have called me every 2 months to find out if I was still happy with the car, and if there were any problems they could fix free of charge.

You buy a 9 year old car with 92,000 miles on it, and you expect PERFECTION?

I bought an '01 SL2 with 45K miles on it almost exactly one year ago, and I've put about $250 into it. Needed a new muffler, and two sensors that I replaced myself. Car starts every time and runs like a champ. Couldn't be happier with my little old Saturn... you take care of them, and they'll run forever.

Bought my SL2 brand new in 2001. Warranty until 75K which expired long ago. In all that time, stranded me 2X, once for clutch cables and once for a broken tensioner pulley, which broke at 145K! If you are a novice mechanic as I am, this car is for you, some things are difficult to fix, but repairs at a shop are inexpensive. Very reliable, economical. Has cost me very little since the warranty expired.