2002 Saturn SL SL1 from North America - Comments

When I bought the car, the driver's side mirror was broken. It was a manual mirror, but had to replace. I replaced the mirror with one from a salvage yard, costing around twenty dollars. Now the mirror works wonderfully.

My automatic daytime running lights on the car stayed on after shutting off the car, causing my battery to die. I had to unplug the wires for the daytime running lights, which caused my high beams to disconnect and no longer run at night.

I am currently having problems with my keys. I have not been able to get it checked. The problem is when you use the key to either open the door/trunk or turn on the ignition, the key seems to stick and not want to work properly. When trying to start the car, after putting the key into the ignition, it sometimes takes quite a few turns before it will catch and start.

Overall, I have really enjoyed having my Saturn. It runs great. It's very good driving on snow in the winter. The gas costs are very minimal, I can usually fill the tank for around twenty dollars, give or take. The seats are pretty comfortable. The car ride is pretty good as well, except when going over railroad tracks or over potholes or large bumps in the road as it gets a little rough. The heater in the car is outstanding, and the air conditioning is ice cold. The car never overheats, which is excellent also. I really enjoy driving this car, it has been a real trooper.

I also had a problem with the key in my Saturn. It would not turn in the ignition, like the steering column lock was engaged. The doors and truck weren't as bad, but did stick at times. It slowly got worse over a 4 month period, and I finally took it out of town to a Saturn dealer.

I fully expected them to tell me I might need a new ignition, or locks, but the problem was the key. They told me that the keys for some reason wear unusually fast. If you take it to a Saturn dealer, they can look up the key code, and that may solve your problem.

They were very fair with the labor, as my total bill was about $260, but that included a new key-less entry remote, tune up, new drive belt, oil change, and 3 new keys.

I would check the key problem, as it was driving me nuts, and only cost $10 to fix.

I just wanted to say that I, also, have had an issue with the key 'sticking' in the ignition... like the last comment said, it was like the steering lock was preventing the key from turning.

On switching to my spare key, the problem has not happened since.

Has anyone out there have a problem with the ignition/steering wheel coloum operating correctly?You have to yank back and forth to be able to turn the key.

Yes, same problem, I have to wiggle the key in the ignition to get it to unlock. But like the previous comment suggested, I am going to take it to a dealer and have a new "master" key made.

I had the same problem with my key. The dealer gave me a new key and said I need a new housing unit for my ignition lock which will cost $165.00. I did not get this done yet. I am still debating it since the dealer said it was not an emergency. He also said I need a new top engine mount, that it was sagging. Anyone ever hear of this?

Yes I have the ignition key problem. But the rest of the car is perfect so far after 7 years and 100K miles. Except for maintenance, I didn't spend any money on repairs.