Poor, would not buy another one
Head gasket leak at 70K miles. Burns oil since 100 K miles. EGR valve has been replaced.
The head gasket was replaced due to a water leak. The EGR valve was replaced due to poor performance.
This car burns oil. I'm my opinion, this car has a poorly designed engine.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 1st November, 2006
I was shocked, and relieved at the same time to see others have the same problems I have been having.
My speedometer and odometer both went out about 4 weeks after the warranty was up, and my mileage was at almost 29,000. Took it in, and they couldn't find anything wrong. However, hooking the car up to their "machine" somehow made both work again.
About 6 months later, I too heard a high pitched squeal, and my odometer had wound to the magical number of 694,978!
We have been told we need a new "brain" for somewhere in the $800.00 bracket. I feel that's an obscene amount to fix an odometer. So, to date it hasn't been fixed.
The car is now 6 years old and I estimate it to have around 48 to 49 thousand miles. The thing is starting to fall apart. Poorest excuse for a car I've ever had. Sad thing is the Saturn before this one was great. But of course I only kept it 3 years. And I recommended Saturn's to so many people, who actually went out and got them. Hope they will forgive me.
Anyway, thanks to stumbling on this web site I now find the answer to one of my problems. Shouldn't something so obviously defective as the "body control module" be recalled? That's ridiculous.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 19th September, 2006
Time will tell
Brakes needing scuffing and rotors turned at 102k.
Was done to correct squeaking noise in braking.
Gremlin in the driver power window switch? Refused to briefly make driver side window go up. Seems OK now, but had us spooked.
I was looking for a solid car to replace the 1988 Chevy Cavalier my mom was driving that was on its last legs due to a malfunctioning computer (can't get a computer code, car won't pass emissions.)
She commented on the comfort of a 2000 Saturn LS1 in a used car lot. That got the car on the radar screen.
I have a 2000 Toyota Camry with similiar miles on it (120k vs 102k for the Saturn) so my background on 4 cyl automatics is not lost.
Did a lot of Googling on the Saturn LS1 and found bad wiper motors, rear light issues, and failed timing chains to be the most common problems. The latter two were already taken care of by the prior owner from a local Saturn dealership from what I gather by giving them the VIN #.
I toyed around with the idea of the timing chain being replaced and getting the Timing Chain "upgrade" kit I have read about. But this is $700+ on a crap shoot that may never happen. I am rolling the dice.
So far so good. I have read a few posts from others saying they are totally satisfied too with their purchase. We shall see.
The jury is out. Will keep you posted!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 23rd April, 2006
I have a 2000 LS1 and my driver side window no longer works - it goes down but won't come back up. I've also had trouble with my wipers (the linkage broke twice). When the heat is turned on about midway, the fan makes an awful whistle/howling noise.
Otherwise for a 10 year old car with over 225,000km it's holding out pretty well.
20th Sep 2006, 07:34
No, what's ridiculous is expecting a "recall" for every malfunction a car experiences, even if it's common to that model.
Mandatory recalls are for SAFETY-RELATED PROBLEMS ONLY. Check with NHTSA if you don't believe me. Why is this so hard for some people to understand?
$800 for a BCM (which your car has needed since the odometer failed) is too high. Most dealers will replace it for $350 to $500.
Wow, a $350 repair in 6 years. What a pile.