1997 Saturn SW SW1 review from North America

Brake rotors warp every few years, but other than that, I've only had one major repair, which was to replace the fuel pump a few weeks ago.

There was a cold weather starting problem when I fixed the car, so I took it to the local Saturn dealer who told me it was a known problem, and there was a free repair for it. They fixed it, and I've had no problems since.

In the last year or so, it's taken a little extra effort to get it into third gear, but shifting at slightly higher revs than I used to (3000 instead of 2500) has cured that problem.

It has also started burning a little bit of oil, about 1L (1 quart) between oil changes.

Considering how old it is, how long I've owned it, and the mileage I've put on the car, I can't complain. It's only let me down once, and that was the above mentioned fuel pump problem (which my mechanic discovered was the result of sludge build-up in the bottom of the tank).

It's not a sports car, but I didn't expect it to be when I bought it. It's very fuel efficient, burning about 6.3L/100km (about 37mpg US, 45mpg UK). It handles great in the winter (especially with snow tires), getting through stuff my Camaro would never get through.