Faults:

Water pump went out at 140,000 miles.

Serpentine Belt and Tensioner Pulley needed replacing at 224,000 Miles.

General Comments:

Both my saturns have been great cars, they both are now nearing 230,000 miles and have only had maintenance work done on them. I am very pleased with saturn and could recommend one. My entire family owns saturns and all of them have been reliable vehicles.

Faults:

AC is getting less cool, but other than that nothing.

General Comments:

Great car, very good for the price, amazing mileage without ac on. very good speed at high rpm's.

Faults:

Car runs rough and is loud.

Very noisy-everything rattles.

Seats are splitting and cracking.

Dome light is on its own time.

Rear "grab handles" came loose and fell off.

Service engine light goes on and off for no apparent reasons.

Cigarette lighter outlet will not work.

Car is having problems starting. Will turn over, but won't catch. Has not so good pick up -not real peppy.

General Comments:

Overall I like the car, but it is really sad some things are made so cheap. Have owned the car for a couple of years and have not had too many problems. The muffler did not last and the brakes need replaced more often than expected. Like I said overall it has been an okay car.

Faults:

At the 100,000 mile period, something inside the console that shifts the gears (a small plastic band) broke, and let the gear shifter bobble around freely. The band was only about $3 to buy, but came as a SET and I had to buy the whole set for $180 from the dealer, when all I needed was the band.

General Comments:

I really like this car, its been about the 4th car I owned. It's a 1998 model, and other than maintenance and the problem with the shifter, nothing has EVER gone wrong.

I plan to keep this car for another year or so and then give it to my son, then get the newest model s series (2002, I think?)

Faults:

One front brake rotor warped and required replacing at 12,000 miles.

Throttle position sensor replaced 85,000 miles.

Trunk light switch failed.

General Comments:

Bought the car new based on reputation, quality & made in USA.

This is a bare bones SL model. Only option is air conditioning.

It has manual steering, which I like on a small car. Steering is a little stiff. Should have a larger diameter steering wheel for manual steering.

The throttle position took about four or five visits to dealer to finally diagnose.

Engine power is adequate with stick shift. A little slow with four people and air conditioning running.

Seats are hard, but tolerable.

Outstanding gas mileage. Average 35 MPG and get 43 to 48 MPG on open highway doing 65-70 MPH with AC on.

Paint, fit and finish above average.

Faults:

Just recently the head gasket blew.

Motor mounts have gone bad a few times.

General Comments:

This car has been very reliable, not once has it broken down on the road. The gas mileage on this car is awesome. Never got any dings in the sides due to the polymer paneling. It also had enough pick up and go to get me out of difficult traffic situations.

Faults:

Rear power window regulators broke. This caused the windows to slide freely and this was a major security risk. Would have had crank windows put in if I had known the new power windows were going to be $250 a piece. I have heard this is a common problem among Saturns.

Muffler rusted through around 120,000. It also rusted through the single strap holding it on, but since the exhaust goes through the rear suspension it did not fall off. I drove it like this for 40,000 miles until the muffler peeled open like a can of sardines. Replaced at local mechanic for cheap.

There is something wrong with the alarm system where the horn will turn on unexpectedly when the car is sitting and not turn off. I yanked the horn fuse to solve this problem.

General Comments:

At 164,394 miles, this car has had absolutely no work done on its major mechanical parts. The clutch, transmission, engine, suspension, alternator, A/C, water pump, etc. work flawlessly.

Tune-up at about 135,000.

Was involved in a single car accident at about 110,000 with a bridge. Hit a patch of black ice going on the freeway at 65MPH and slid sideways. The front of the car scraped along the bridge support and guard rail, and it toasted the radiator, headlights, right front quarter panel, and left half the bumper embedded in the guard rail. There was no frame damage and was really as minor of an accident as you can have at 65MPH.

Car goes a long way on a set of tires, but it is driven gently.

Seats are reasonably comfortable, and we survived numerous trips of over 12 hours in them.

Rear seat room is a little tight, but this is a small car after all. Trunk is good sized, and fold down rear seat allows for large objects to be carried.

Shifts nicely. I have driven other Saturn SLs, and this one has a more accurate shifter.

Brakes well, even without ABS.

A/C is still nice and cold. Heats up moderatley quickly in winter.

Plastic panels are intact, and only a few scuff marks on the paint. Bumpers work like bumpers should, too.

Keyless entry is nifty, but I could do without the security system. It works like it should, though.

Cigarette lighter outlet is blocked if you put a cup in one of the cupholders. This problem was solved in the 2000 redesign, though.

Dealer does a good job, but is just too expensive for repairs.

Dashboard layout is nice, and all buttons are easy to reach.

Factory cruise works well. It is not a typical GM cruise control stalk, but is buttons on the steering wheel.

Gas mileage is about 37-38MPG in most driving. My commute is about 1/3 city and 2/3 highway, and it gets the same mileage at 75MPH on the freeway.

I bought this car after I totaled my 1994 Saturn, which went 185,000 miles with one single mechanical failure (broken rocker arm), and two have my relatives have bought a Saturn recently with no troubles. I recommend the S Series Saturn, but the ION is questionable and does not get that great of mileage (32 highway for a small car-a Buick Park Avenue gets 29).