Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-49
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.
I too have been driving a Saturn. In fact, I have two Saturns, an Ion and a '96 SW-2. However, unlike this person's problem, my SW has over 100,000 miles and still does not burn oil. My gas mileage isn't as good as it used to be, but I still get about 35 MPG on highway driving. I am quite pleased with my experience with Saturn as a car maker so I just thought I'd share a different perspective on this automobile.
FYI, your Service Engine Soon light working likely would not have saved you in this case. The Service Engine Soon light is simply for emissions issues. In the case of my Saturn, it was a bad O2 sensor which, upon being replaced, the light ceased to come on. This does not really affect the engine and the only reason I knew this was the why the sensor came on was because I had to have the car smog inspected (I live in California).
So, you are correct. Saturn likely will do nothing because honestly, the light and your engine failure are likely not linked.
I own a 1995 saturn wagon sl1 it now has 326,000kms on it only thing I had to replace was the water pump and ball joints, brakes, great car.
I have a 1996 Saturn sw2 and I love it. It drive great and is a wonderful car. It gets great gas millage. Thank you.
I own a 1999 Saturn SL2, with about 56,000 miles and no working engine! The car worked well, but as soon as I finished paying it off it started falling apart. The latest ordeal has to do with compression, or lack off, in the motor. It will cost me about $4000 to repair it, much more than what the car is worth. I have a beautifully kept car, that had regular check ups, and yet was unaware that something so bad was lurking around. Are you as upset as me for buying "American made"?
I bought a 1995 SW2 new, and it is about to reach 100,000 miles. It does burn oil, at what I consider to be a fast rate. I asked the service manager at the Saturn shop about it, and he downplayed the oil consumption. He said that older cars tend to do this. I like the car, it is economical, and has never broken down on the road. Mechanical problems have included: a broken transmission seal which ruined the clutch plate, and cost $2100 to fix; a valve which that went bad and caused it to run rough when it was warmed up. I have gone through several batteries, and it has some rattles. It still gets 37 mpg on the highway. I wonder what kind of problems other owners encounter.
I own a 1998 SC1, and since I paid it off 6 months ago I have spent another $3000 to fix it. The main problem being that the Saturn techs could not figure out what the problem was and the service engine soon light always was on. So they kept fixing things that were fine, then sending me down the highway only to have it quit and leave me abandoned on the side of the road, 2 times, in a snowstorm with no help or cell service. But they still charged me for every little thing, even after realizing it wasn't the problem. Saturn of Canada did nothing for me, but they did offer me 15% off my last bill, wow!, thanks for the $20 off, that just insulted me. I am a young woman who bought a Saturn because of the "wonderful service" I would receive. Saturn does not back up the cars and disguises their faulty work with false advertising. Do not buy a Saturn... or you will regret it.
My brother just bought a 2000 Saturn (forgot the model, but it is a 4-door and not an Ion or SC) last July. A month after he got it the engine locked up with 40K miles on the car. He was able to convince the dealership to replace it for $500 (not sure how they got to that number). They put a new engine in and it stopped working while they were testing it, then they put another new engine in it that quit working as he was driving it off the lot. So then they put another one in it, which worked until Saturday night, we were leaving Tulsa for KC and the engine locked up 3 miles down the road. My brother takes really good care of his cars, gets an oil change every 2500 miles. Also this was an automatic, so he wasn't over reeving the engine.
He is now hoping that the dealership will give him a good trade-in on something not made by Saturn.
He also has a 98 Pontiac Sunfire, with 150K miles on it, about 120K of those are pizza driving miles. And all he has ever done for it is Battery/Alt. Not even new brakes.
I bought a 1996 saturn in ontario.. At 127000 kilometers, and months out of warranty, the engine seized. lack of oil. approx 2 weeks after I had gotten an oil change. It cost me another $3,000 to get another engine put in. I have had numerous repairs, 3 sets of brakes, 2 batteries, 2 ignition control modules, alternator, and many other regular repairs. it now has 195,000 kilometers. I don't think I will ever buy another saturn!!
I have a 1997 Saturn SL2 (same engine 119cid 1.9lt DOHC) I bought the car used with 80,000 miles on it and there never has been a single day when the car wouldn't start, and it has never died on the road (ever). It now has 142,000 miles on it and still runs great. My fiancé has a 1998 SL2 and it runs almost as good. The bottom line 4 cylinders with overhead cams run hot and oil will end up going out the tail pipe, it all has to do with the higher RPM. My car has more miles than my fiancé’s yet it is her car with 80,000 on it that has needed an EGR valve and an O2 sensor, the reason for this is her high amount of city driving. If you are a commuter that spends a lot of time on 45mph or above roads this is your car. If you are in stop and go traffic look else where. As for oil burning switch from the stock NGK plugs the Saturn dealer sells you to the NGK V-Fire or an Iridium based plug these run cooler and raise compression which keeps oil from seeping above the piston rings. The NGK V-fires are actually recommended by Saturn Engineers (GM service parts however carries the stock NGK plug). A lot of people’s problems with Saturn’s come from pure lack of maintenance. Changing your oil and plugs is good, but you have to change the fuel filer, pcv valve, and other key components if you want your Saturn to run correctly. I would testify in any court that the SL2, SW2, and SC2 are the most reliable American made car on the road. Barring any accidents I plan on this car going another 100,000 miles.
I have a 1996 Saturn. I really love my car, because up to now it has needed few repairs. However, now the ?engine service soon' light is showing, and I do not know what to do.
Here is my story:
My car started to leak oil about a year and a half ago, and the oil light lit up. So I added oil. This happened a few times. Eventually, I took the car back to my mechanic and had oil added and the oil filter changed. The oil continued to leak, but not as much. Time passed. I had the oil and oil filter changed a few more times. Then the oil started leaking a lot again. I added more oil. A couple of months after that, the oil light went on and then the car wouldn't start, so I had it towed to the local Saturn dealer. They changed the right battery cable (it was corroded, probably from oil) and replaced the battery. They overcharged me (but I will not get into that) for the repairs (cost about $450) and said that the car was leaking all kinds of fluid (I will not get into details) and that it needed a whole bunch of additional repairs done at an estimate cost of $2,200. I did not get the work done. Instead, I took the car to a third mechanic for a second opinion, had the car steam-cleaned to find the leak, found out the first mechanic had put a Honda oil filter in my Saturn, had new oil put in the car, and had the Honda filter replaced with a Saturn one?all for about $125, far less than the estimate of $2,200.
It's been more than two months and no leaks, not even a drop. However, now if I drive the car a greater distance than usual, the engine service light goes on the following day and then off again a day or two after that. My dilemma is this: I don't know why the light is showing. Does it have anything to do with my having driven the car several times when it was very low on oil? In the past, I have been told that I have to take the car to the Saturn dealer to find out what is wrong with it, because only Saturn dealers have the diagnostic equipment that can determine what is wrong with Saturn cars. And the car manual says to not ignore the light and take my car to my local Saturn dealer in order to avoid costly repairs. Only, I don't trust my local Saturn dealer, and I have heard that all Saturn dealers overcharge. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I should do, or does anyone know of a trustworthy Saturn dealer in the San Francisco Bay Area that I can take my car to before it is too late?
I have a '96 Saturn SW2 and it is without question the biggest piece of junk I've every owned. Nothing else comes close. Endless trips to Saturn Service and hundreds into thousands of dollars poured into it now that it's well out of warranty. I swear that the Service Engine Soon light is burned into my retinas, it's been on so much. Worse, the dirty little secret is Saturn Service usually does'nt really know why it even comes on half the time! I can't tell you how many times their scanner has said this or that, they "fix" it, and boom the light is back in a few days! A horrible, horrible car...
My 1997 Saturn sl2 had a service engine light issue that they traced to the wiring harness. Had to get it working to pass state inspection, ultimately ended up costing $3500k much more than the car was worth, but I thought I could last another 100,000 miles. then the gearshift fell apart. Leaving me sitting in a parking lot stuck in reverse. Saturn service has been pretty abysmal, they would not honor their own rental car coupon after I went to the trouble of driving to the dealer in 2nd gear. They could not get to the car until the next day, so I would have had to spend the night. I ended up driving my disabled vehicle home. I will never do business with Saturn again and would never recommend this vehicle.
It seems the problem is not so much the car as the dealership's technicians.
I had a 1997 SC2 which had its engine coolant temperature sensor go bad around 3 years/60,000 miles. (The ECTS is one of the parts that fails most often on a Saturn.) It took four trips to the dealership to get it fixed - including (eventually) new plugs, new plug wires and a new oxygen sensor, for a total of $600 in repairs because of the failure of a $12 part that wasn't diagnosed right on the first, second or even third tries!
As others have described, the techs just hook the car up to their computer and make no attempt to actually diagnose problems; they don't even test-drive the thing after they're done! Then, they don't compensate you when they've replaced something that wasn't broken - to say nothing of the annoyance factor of having to make repeated trips to the dealership because they keep not fixing what's wrong with the car.
WOW...I've been looking around for an 94 or 95 Saturn Wagon. You guys are blowing my mind. I've heard good things about the Saturn. There are too many of you saying the same story.
Denver, Colorado.