1996 Saturn SW SW2 review from North America

The "Service Engine Soon" light came on, even after having the car serviced.

Transmission went out spilling transmission fluid all over the street.

Burned oil excessively, ultimately causing engine to freeze.

I would like to warn every Saturn owner, or prospective buyer of a Saturn, to be aware of the problem the cars have with burning oil. I thought that maybe my car, a 1996 SW2, which I purchased new, was burning an exceptional amount of oil, compared to the average Saturn. But, after searching the Internet for an used/rebuilt Saturn engine, I found many horror stories about Saturn engines freezing due to a lack of oil.

You should also be aware of the problems with the "Service Engine Soon" light. Mine came on constantly, even when leaving the Saturn dealership after having my car serviced. The service folks could never determine the problem with it, and ultimately told me to ignore it.

I had an extended 75,000-mile warranty, which covered costly repairs over the last few years, such as the transmission falling out. But recently, at 100,000 miles, after adding a quart of oil, 8 days later my car died on me while driving. I had to have it towed to the local Saturn dealership and was informed by them that my car had no oil in it.

So, after 5 years of car payments, which ended in 2001, I now have a useless auto. The dealership said to install a new engine would cost $5400, and a rebuilt engine $4000. If you check blue book, it is not even worth that.

Yesterday I made a call to the Saturn headquarters in Tennessee to see if there was anything they could do for me, because I believe if my "Service Engine Soon" light had worked properly, I may have been alerted to the problem. But based on many other Saturn owners' horror stories, I doubt that Saturn will do anything to remedy this.

X-Saturn owner.