1995 sl2 151027 miles, still no major repairs. All the hater's are stupid and probably drive honda's or toyota's. The reliability of most g.m. cars are just as good as japanese, with proper maintainence.
Yeah, the smoking issue is extremely common. You must have the DOHC motor. It's an internal design flaw. That motor has always had that problem as long as Saturn has made it.
its actually both the single cam and the dual cam engines. The problem doesn't normally lie in the head but the piston itself. See, gm wouldn't let saturn put oil control holes in the piston, so alot of oil will get stuck in the ring and burn up in the walls of the block.
Crappy econoboxes even when new! Plastic is very fragile and cracks easily and easily rusts out in the roof, hood, and underbody. Dangerously underpowered.
"Plastic is very fragile and cracks easily and easily rusts out in the roof, hood, and underbody."
Brilliant...who knew that plastic rusts? Oh, you didn't mean to suggest that it is plastic that 'rusts out in the roof?' Well, then you may want to consider taking a class on the simple art of sentence structure!
The hoods, roof, and trunk lid are all metal on these Saturns. Only the doors and fenders are plastic, which is brilliant. Wish my car had plastic sides. It saves weight (better MPGs) and is much more durable than sheet metal.
I actually miss those cars...back when Saturn was a little better...the new ones aren't bad...just back then the experience was better and Saturn was more separate from GM.
Why is everyone on here saying if it was crap it wasn't taken care of? Hell, I've driven some abused Volvos with tons of mileage that are older than these Saturns and they still are more solidly built and less problematic. Apparently Saturns must be pretty fragile cars if missing a little maintenance makes them deteriorate so fast. My Mom beats the crap out of her '95 Volvo 940 with 181k miles and the only thing she's EVER had to replace was a brake light switch and regular maintenance items.
I worked as a lot attendant at a Saturn dealer, and every make a year of Saturn came through there and never once had I rode in one that was a "Crap car" unless its owner was negligent. Im fairly impressed with 10-15 year old plastic cars that still run good with 180k or 222k miles on them.
That's because nearly all of them have rebuilt engines from failed headgaskets and valve problems. Everyone knows Saturns burn oil for hobby and the transmissions don't hold up well with time. Heck, my manual trans was getting sloppy way before 100k miles. That sucks.
1993 Saturn SC1 -- 128,000 miles on it. NEVER had engine rebuilt, NEVER had clutch rebuilt! The best thing that EVER happend to GM! This car beats the imports and all other american cars!
128k isn't much on a good car though. For the clutch to last that long means you (or whoever owned the car before you) were very easy on the clutch, that's all. Honestly, if Saturns were incredible cars, the company would have taken GM far and truly competed with the Jap small cars like Saturn originally intended. Instead, Saturn flopped and is now being sold off due to poor sales.
The problem isn't saturn, its gm. You have to realize that when saturn started it truly was a kick ass car. The DOHC came stock with a header, 124 rated tires, and a free flowing head design. The thing is that gm influenced saturn so much that by 2000, they had junk exhaust manis and tiny ports in the heads. Then s series were discontinued and things like the ion, outlook, and vue. Nothing gets 40 mpg like the s cars. I mean the redlines are cool but they're chevys not saturns anymore.
I agree, since GM was Saturn's parent company. Saturn was a GM creation though, not an independent company that was bought by GM. GM wanted to take on the imports like Civic and Corolla. That's the entire reason they came out with the Saturn devision.
Oh of course gm is the owner of saturn, always has been. I'm just saying if you look at the evolution of these cars, they went from a totally different design apart from any other gm car to have the same driveline and suspension as a cobalt or a malibu. lame. GM just had there fingers in them more and more. An s series will reach 200,000+ miles easily, I've seen it time and time again. They're solid little cars, and don't rust out easily because of the plastic wheel liners and body.
The reason it seems GM is getting more involved with Saturn and making them more generic is because of cost. Saturn, back when they were original designs, was not profitable for GM. That's why they have chevy underpinnings now. Generic is cheaper to make. The idea of Saturns never really caught on and it was costing GM too much. They were going to have to axe the company or make them from generic GM stock.
the big issue is the differential pin, and that comes from improper lubrication and hard launches, both of which are operator error. Keep fresh fluids in the thing and be nice to it. My 99 sl2 had 270k very hard mileson it when the transmission gave way.
Whats hilarious is none of you have any clue. Almost anyone who has ever owned a Saturn and actualy did regular maintainance on them has had a very long lasting car that were efficient and reliable. Now drive your Honduhs somewhere else.
Yeah I hate to say it, but these are HORRIBLE cars. I like to cheer on the underdog, but these cars were really crude to drive and in quality. LOVED the styling though. They looked so futuristic at the time and like nothing else on the road. Saturn was GM's attempt to take on the Japanese economy car market. With reliability like this, it's no wonder Saturns original concept flopped.
Actually, there has been plenty high mileage Saturns. I have over 150k on mine and done no major repairs, just brakes and such. Japanese have also made crap cars too...like the CR-V's that caught fire! Don't forget the horrible airbag design that the Japanese car used where it would bust out the front windshield when the passenger airbag went off.
Oh no doubt there are crappy Japanese cars too. I could name several off the time of my head. In fact, ALL car manufacturers make junky cars from time to time, some just more than others. As for airbags busting out windshields, that's normal. It doesn't cost much more than $200-250 to replace most windshields, but once airbags blow, you're talking several thousand to replace those.
Windshield glass is laminated, as is side glass, so there are no jagged shards of glass. Laminated glass breaks into tiny pieces. At worst, you might get little knicks on your face, hands, etc. Nothing life threatening, which is exactly why laminated glass is used. I'm speaking from experience by the way. An airbag shattering a windshield is...normal and quite harmless.
I disagree. I have a 1996 Saturn SL2 with 140K miles on it and have never had any major problems with it. The car, in my opinion, is still in excellent condition after all these years.
My husband and I have owned three Saturns between us as has my son. The only reason why my son got rid of his Saturn was because he didn't want to look foolish in front of all his friends for driving such a "lame-o" car. All the other kids had Mustangs and convertibles and he wanted to fit in.
They had great costumer service
andersonquinn23 1 year ago
1995 sl2 151027 miles, still no major repairs. All the hater's are stupid and probably drive honda's or toyota's. The reliability of most g.m. cars are just as good as japanese, with proper maintainence.
junechris 3 years ago
I like were Saturns going now better.
Redgrant80 3 years ago
Mine is 17 years old and its still going smokes like hell though.
nicopita97 3 years ago
Yeah, the smoking issue is extremely common. You must have the DOHC motor. It's an internal design flaw. That motor has always had that problem as long as Saturn has made it.
palebeachbum 2 years ago
its actually both the single cam and the dual cam engines. The problem doesn't normally lie in the head but the piston itself. See, gm wouldn't let saturn put oil control holes in the piston, so alot of oil will get stuck in the ring and burn up in the walls of the block.
cheatingsolitaire 2 years ago
i <3 my saturns :D
xsaturnx3 4 years ago
Crappy econoboxes even when new! Plastic is very fragile and cracks easily and easily rusts out in the roof, hood, and underbody. Dangerously underpowered.
dmx011 4 years ago
"Plastic is very fragile and cracks easily and easily rusts out in the roof, hood, and underbody."
Brilliant...who knew that plastic rusts? Oh, you didn't mean to suggest that it is plastic that 'rusts out in the roof?' Well, then you may want to consider taking a class on the simple art of sentence structure!
mackhopper 4 years ago 4
The hoods, roof, and trunk lid are all metal on these Saturns. Only the doors and fenders are plastic, which is brilliant. Wish my car had plastic sides. It saves weight (better MPGs) and is much more durable than sheet metal.
palebeachbum 2 years ago
The roof hood trunk and the underbody is Metal on the car about the 5 parts on the car that is metal.
nicopita97 2 years ago
I actually miss those cars...back when Saturn was a little better...the new ones aren't bad...just back then the experience was better and Saturn was more separate from GM.
BalloonBurstin 4 years ago
biggest pieces of shit from gm
Buhundred 4 years ago
Really now did you ever have one or did someone that had one that never took care of it said it sucked?
nicopita97 3 years ago
Why is everyone on here saying if it was crap it wasn't taken care of? Hell, I've driven some abused Volvos with tons of mileage that are older than these Saturns and they still are more solidly built and less problematic. Apparently Saturns must be pretty fragile cars if missing a little maintenance makes them deteriorate so fast. My Mom beats the crap out of her '95 Volvo 940 with 181k miles and the only thing she's EVER had to replace was a brake light switch and regular maintenance items.
palebeachbum 2 years ago
Lol thanks.
trekkerguy 4 years ago
I didn't say I know alot. What I do know is there probably isn't another brand of car out there I would buy over a Springhill era Saturn.
trekkerguy 4 years ago
I worked as a lot attendant at a Saturn dealer, and every make a year of Saturn came through there and never once had I rode in one that was a "Crap car" unless its owner was negligent. Im fairly impressed with 10-15 year old plastic cars that still run good with 180k or 222k miles on them.
trekkerguy 4 years ago
That's because nearly all of them have rebuilt engines from failed headgaskets and valve problems. Everyone knows Saturns burn oil for hobby and the transmissions don't hold up well with time. Heck, my manual trans was getting sloppy way before 100k miles. That sucks.
palebeachbum 2 years ago
1993 Saturn SC1 -- 128,000 miles on it. NEVER had engine rebuilt, NEVER had clutch rebuilt! The best thing that EVER happend to GM! This car beats the imports and all other american cars!
mdouglas99 2 years ago 3
128k isn't much on a good car though. For the clutch to last that long means you (or whoever owned the car before you) were very easy on the clutch, that's all. Honestly, if Saturns were incredible cars, the company would have taken GM far and truly competed with the Jap small cars like Saturn originally intended. Instead, Saturn flopped and is now being sold off due to poor sales.
palebeachbum 2 years ago
The problem isn't saturn, its gm. You have to realize that when saturn started it truly was a kick ass car. The DOHC came stock with a header, 124 rated tires, and a free flowing head design. The thing is that gm influenced saturn so much that by 2000, they had junk exhaust manis and tiny ports in the heads. Then s series were discontinued and things like the ion, outlook, and vue. Nothing gets 40 mpg like the s cars. I mean the redlines are cool but they're chevys not saturns anymore.
cheatingsolitaire 2 years ago
I agree, since GM was Saturn's parent company. Saturn was a GM creation though, not an independent company that was bought by GM. GM wanted to take on the imports like Civic and Corolla. That's the entire reason they came out with the Saturn devision.
palebeachbum 2 years ago
Oh of course gm is the owner of saturn, always has been. I'm just saying if you look at the evolution of these cars, they went from a totally different design apart from any other gm car to have the same driveline and suspension as a cobalt or a malibu. lame. GM just had there fingers in them more and more. An s series will reach 200,000+ miles easily, I've seen it time and time again. They're solid little cars, and don't rust out easily because of the plastic wheel liners and body.
cheatingsolitaire 2 years ago
The reason it seems GM is getting more involved with Saturn and making them more generic is because of cost. Saturn, back when they were original designs, was not profitable for GM. That's why they have chevy underpinnings now. Generic is cheaper to make. The idea of Saturns never really caught on and it was costing GM too much. They were going to have to axe the company or make them from generic GM stock.
palebeachbum 2 years ago
@palebeachbum fuck gm. it is one american car company that will never see my money.
lvanhorn2 3 months ago
the big issue is the differential pin, and that comes from improper lubrication and hard launches, both of which are operator error. Keep fresh fluids in the thing and be nice to it. My 99 sl2 had 270k very hard mileson it when the transmission gave way.
cheatingsolitaire 2 years ago
Whats hilarious is none of you have any clue. Almost anyone who has ever owned a Saturn and actualy did regular maintainance on them has had a very long lasting car that were efficient and reliable. Now drive your Honduhs somewhere else.
trekkerguy 4 years ago
Yeah I hate to say it, but these are HORRIBLE cars. I like to cheer on the underdog, but these cars were really crude to drive and in quality. LOVED the styling though. They looked so futuristic at the time and like nothing else on the road. Saturn was GM's attempt to take on the Japanese economy car market. With reliability like this, it's no wonder Saturns original concept flopped.
palebeachbum 4 years ago
Actually, there has been plenty high mileage Saturns. I have over 150k on mine and done no major repairs, just brakes and such. Japanese have also made crap cars too...like the CR-V's that caught fire! Don't forget the horrible airbag design that the Japanese car used where it would bust out the front windshield when the passenger airbag went off.
BalloonBurstin 4 years ago
Oh no doubt there are crappy Japanese cars too. I could name several off the time of my head. In fact, ALL car manufacturers make junky cars from time to time, some just more than others. As for airbags busting out windshields, that's normal. It doesn't cost much more than $200-250 to replace most windshields, but once airbags blow, you're talking several thousand to replace those.
palebeachbum 4 years ago
The point about the windshield is you would have glass flying and cases of where it would get into the skin of one of the occupants.
BalloonBurstin 4 years ago
Windshield glass is laminated, as is side glass, so there are no jagged shards of glass. Laminated glass breaks into tiny pieces. At worst, you might get little knicks on your face, hands, etc. Nothing life threatening, which is exactly why laminated glass is used. I'm speaking from experience by the way. An airbag shattering a windshield is...normal and quite harmless.
palebeachbum 4 years ago
I disagree. I have a 1996 Saturn SL2 with 140K miles on it and have never had any major problems with it. The car, in my opinion, is still in excellent condition after all these years.
My husband and I have owned three Saturns between us as has my son. The only reason why my son got rid of his Saturn was because he didn't want to look foolish in front of all his friends for driving such a "lame-o" car. All the other kids had Mustangs and convertibles and he wanted to fit in.
hazel10987 2 years ago
crap cars
Buhundred 4 years ago