1st Apr 2007, 14:16
I found this forum the day after I bought my 2001 L300. My Nissan Altima had 253,000 miles and was going to need struts so I sold it instead. If only I had found it a few days earlier... It has however, been very helpful. I just had the rear camber shim kit installed yesterday to pre-empt abnormally quick tire wear (just bought new ones). It has neglected to start 3 times already. I have a code reader and it spits-out the "crank sensor" code every time. The dealer quoted the sensor at $125 which seems high for what it is. I have taken it out to see if there was some blatant flaw, but nope... At least it is simple to replace.
I experience the "hard-shifting" problem that makes the "throw a wrench at the car" light come on about every-other day now. Even though there is no associated code, when I erase the phantom code, all is well again. The dash lights work in shifts and the fuel-gauge needle sometimes does a spastic dance. Other than those few "quirks", it is a decent-looking, energetic car with a nice interior. I will returm to post solutions to my problems.
10th Apr 2007, 19:24
I just found this forum and all of you have been very helpful. I am a single mom with 2 kids at home still. (16yrs and 4 yrs). I was looking at a 2001 L300, I owned a 91 SL1 and had very little problems with it, now I think I will look elsewhere because I cannot afford to deal with all these problems. Thank you for your honest comments, you have saved a single mom's ck book!!!:)
17th Apr 2007, 16:43
OK, here we go again. The last time I referred to my 2001 L300 as a Crapturn, today I call it a Saturd. I just spent $1700+ on brakes, rotors, front wheel hubs (to the tune of $388 each)...assured my 'hard shifting' was a thing of the past. WRONG. Now my motor mounts are bad. My engine is actually bumping up and down as the car shifts. Don't buy one... if you are considering it... do not buy... stay away from...avoid...even if someone wants to give you one for FREE, simply say, "No thank you." This is the worst car I have ever owned in my entire life. (and I'm no spring chicken)
17th Apr 2007, 16:53
If you own a 2001 L300 and you think you may have transmission problems, please have someone check your motor mounts. My car intermittently shifted so hard... clunking hard...and I was sure my transmission was going... until a mechanic showed me my engine lifting up and bouncing back down going from gear to gear... the problem? Motor mounts. I wonder, is there any part of these vehicles from under the car to under the hood that's worth anything? These cars are a crying shame, a disgrace to GM and shame on GM for not standing behind them. How many oxygen sensors have to be replaced before they consider it a recall? How many bad fuel pumps before they have a recall? How many sets of #@#@@$!!@#@#$ tires do owners have to go through before they admit and recall there is something drastically wrong with the alignment of these cars that cannot seem to be rectified??? ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!
27th Apr 2007, 06:27
Crapturn L300 2001
New wheel hubs, new rotors, new brakes $1800.
Some sort of solenoid $750
This was in the past two weeks.
If you own one of these cars, start a separate savings account, not for a vacation, or your child's college tuition, but to pay for every lousy stinkin General Motors piece of crap put into these mistakes that will need to be replaced.
13th May 2007, 19:08
Ahhhh...I am one of the 'regulars' on this site. I think everyone else has junked their L300. Quick refresher:: I'm the one that has replaced just about everything there is to be replaced... One mechanic told me it was motor mounts... another said, nothing wrong with the motor mounts... it's another electronic part to the tune of $750... and guess what? I bit the bullet and had everything repaired that could be repaired... (keep in mind if my income matched my car repair bills I would NOT be driving a Saturd/Crapturn). Now something else is making a noise under the hood (by the way, the serpentine belt and power steering pump replacements to the tune of $732 were supposed to fix this noise). So the dealer replaces my BRAND NEW ROTORS AND BRAKE PADS to fix the noise... and, believe it or not, THE NOISE IS STILL THERE!!!
I'm going to lose my mind, my house, my world over this car... I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! Run! Run for your lives from these poor excuse for so called 'vehicles'.
16th May 2007, 15:37
I agree with the poster who recommended having the motor mounts checked when you suspect a transmission problem in a Saturn. My car started jerking recently when the lower gears changed. I took it to my mechanic, he couldn't find any problem, but took special care to look at the motor mounts, and referred me to a transmission specialist. He told me to make sure they knew that I knew the motor mounts had been looked at. They were EXTREMELY honest, and test drove and thoroughly examined my car and even hooked it up to the computer, but could find nothing wrong. They didn't even charge me for their time. They suggested I go to the dealership, as transmissions in my model have a particular design and parts.
Well, here in my state there are only a handful of dealerships now (I wonder why?). I have been treated poorly by the local one before, so I called in vain to every reputable transmission shop to see if any one of them would work on my car. None would, and agreed that my model has a peculiar transmission design and they didn't feel comfortable working on it.
I go to the dealer. They keep the car a week, say it's fixed and charge me $1,400. They say it isn't the transmission, but another related part. I go across town to pick it up and it immediately jerks at 10 mph. I didn't even make it out of the parking lot!!! HOW COULD THEY NOT NOTICE THIS WHEN THEY PARKED THE CAR? So, I got stuck in a rainstorm, my ride to the shop already long gone, on a Saturday afternoon and had no choice but to drive her home (or call a cab, I guess).
Since then I've picked it up 2 more times and it is still jerking. I think part of the reason they have been returning my calls is because I say I know the more I drive it back and forth to them, the worse the motor mounts are being damaged, so I refuse to take it home until I can drive it around the dealership and know it's fixed. By now, I am such a pest I think they just want me to go away... The car is supposed to be ready next week and they super duper swear it will be fixed this time. Luckily for me, my credit card company has been very understanding and has agreed to dispute the charge if the car isn't fixed. Wish me luck!
BTW, I come from a Saturn family - all of us drive them, but mostly the very early, well-made models. My brother's brand new 97 started dying the year he got it and he had the engine replaced last year (luckily our reg. mechanic could do the work and did so for a very reasonable price). Trust me, long gone are the halcyon days of the Saturn owner picnics in Spring Hill, Tennessee... By the way, didn't I read that the 6,000 or so workers at that plant got laid off in March when it closed?
Save yourself the money, the worry, the headache - avoid Saturn.
14th Mar 2007, 10:59
This is my second Saturn. The first was a 94 SL. When it hit 125,000 miles we replaced it with a 2001 L300. I love the car because it fits me. However it does have it's quirks. We have had electrical problems, where a recall was issued only after I had spent $$$ replacing the tail lights. The recall that fixes the coolant leak problem. THen there are various bulbs that do not work in the car... really annoying. Also had to have the water pump replaced last year.
Now I have a sensor out. My old SL had the exact same symptoms that my L300. It starts jut fine when it is freezing cold outside, but if it gets to above 50 degrees then it gives me trouble. Once it gets going it runs fairly well with a slight miss in the idle and just a little hesitation when I accelerate. When my old saturn did the (which coincidentally was right at 70,000 miles jsut like this one) it was a temperature sensor. It is going into the shop here tomorrow. I am crossing my fingers that it is the sensor and that is all this time.
OF course we have changed the belt, plugs, replaced hoses.. but that is all normal wear on parts. You gotta do that in any car.
I love the fit of this car, I am short and it fits me much better than the accord or camry. But it's little quirks are annoying me. It does not seem to be nearly up to the quality standards that my old SL was. I miss that car.
I have found good service varies from dealer to dealer. I drive an hour away to a different dealer because the one right by me is terrible.