1996 Saturn SL SL2 from North America - Comments

Over $2000 in new sensors since purchased new.

Head gasket blew at 46,000

Transmission rebuilt at 75,000

Valve cover warped at 99,000

Timing chain cover gasket leak at 90,000

Tensioner weak at 99,000

Paid $16,000 new/clean title

2006 worth $1,500

1996-2006 $10,000 roughly in repairs.

All maintenance up to date all the time!!

Turned me against all American cars. hundayi...toyota...nissan here I come!!

Can't wait to, but it in its grave. but I have to finish school first then I buy something new and small to start... but no American, German or Chinese.

Well I would shy away from Hyundai it was my 1st car while good on gas the car was cheaply built even with proper maintenance I still dumped about 3K in parts and service after the fuel pump went I sold it for 400 just to get it off my yard I would go for a Toyota or Honda. My dads honda has about 298K on the clock and it still runs like a top with proper maintenance and care those cars will go a long way.

My 1991 Chevrolet Lumina has 368,000 miles on the clock, and still runs like a top. And that is not with proper maintainence. And on top of that, I am a volunteer fireman, so at times I can be a little rough on it. But that doesn't stop 'er. My point is, American cars can be built just as well, if not better, than a Honda or Toyota. Those names don't mean ANYTHING. They can also be just as much of a piece of crap as your Saturn is/was. It sounds like you just got a lemon to me, because I have a co-worker and a couple of friends who drive 96 and 97 Saturns, and all have over 100,000 miles, with relatively few problems. People have this misconceived notion that because a car says Honda on it, that it is automatically better. Read some of the reviews on the 2001 Civic... They aren't too pretty. Or the Toyota Corrolla. They aren't too pretty either. Obviously get whatever kind of car you want to, but keep that bit of advice in the back of your mind while shopping, and make a well informed decision. The Chevy Aveo, for example, is a well constructed little car, that you can get fully loaded with CD/MP3, sunroof, and alarm, and power everything, for $14,000. And, they are getting good reviews too. Good luck.

Isn't it funny how Saturn is basically a Japanese company? It's true before Saturn went into business they went over to see how Honda and Toyota and other companies made their cars (I don't know how, but they were able to... probably because of GM). So even though it's made in America and such, it's basically a big thing of plastic with a name that's produced using foreign knowledge.

OK, so I have a 1997 Saturn SL that is somewhere in the middle. It has 95k miles and has cost me very little (so far) and some of that was my stupidity (dealer soaked me for $450 for new ignition module, wires, plugs, etc. when it was probably a single fouled plug). The fouled plug thing is getting to be an issue; plugs 1 and 2 are fouling after 10k miles and I have treated the car like a baby with oil changes every 3k miles. The car is generally WAY more solid than my kid's 2001 Hyundai Accent. Still has the original battery, 45 mpg on the highway, and essentially no other repairs. But yeah, the resale is junk status, and with the oil consumption, and mileage I'm expecting the catalytic conv. to go next...

Err, the Aveo is designed and built by Daewoo, a korean company. It's sold under the Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Suzuki names in North America however.

I own a '96 SL2 and I haven't had a single problem with it so far. I have kept all maintenance up to date, and with 90k miles, this car is running like brand new. Honestly, I think Saturn, while not necessarily a luxury car company, produces great vehicles that are absolutely flawless when it comes to gas mileage and price of vehicle maintenance. All that to say that I keep all my cars in great shape, and haven't had engine problems with any of them. Keep your oil changed regularly, and you'll have a 300k car.

I have a 96 saturn sl2 that I looovveee!! however, my trany went and I can't find a new one. I had it rebuilt, but the reverse is still not working. I heard that the saturn trannys are made by honda and are compatible with those that aren't "saturn" specific. does anyone know if there is any truth to this?

Unless you have a 2004 and up V6 Saturn VUE, your transmission was definitely not made by Honda. If it's an S-series (SL, SL1, SL2, SC, SW etc), it's a Saturn (well, GM) transmission. It's not at all rare and you should have no trouble finding a good rebuild.