6th Jun 2003, 15:09

I bought a brand new 98 Saturn SL2 4 door sedan from the dealer in Burlingame, CA. The smartest thing I ever did was buy an extended 5-year warranty. At 30,000 miles, the engine blew a rod. The engine was fixed, but began drinking oil from that point forward. With another 9 months to go on my 5 year warranty, I took the Saturn in to a local dealership in Saginaw, MI (where I now live) and after tearing down the engine and examining it, they verified that the cylinder walls are scored and there is damage in the crankshaft. The outside warranty company is beginning to play games with me, saying that they want a technician from this dealership to say "How, Why and When" did this damage happen to the engine??? The service mgr. tells me they have know way of knowing this answer. The warranty company (CNA - Western national Warranty Company) says it won't send a technician until it learns how the engine died. This game of ping pong has been going on all week and the rental car fees are adding up! I won't know until next week if I have to proceed with legal intervention which I am fully prepared to do if necessary. Why couldn't Saturn make a better engine???

14th Jun 2003, 23:03

One of my brothers is a car mechanic, the other owns a Saturn.

He bought the SC2 ('99) about a year and a half ago and everything seemed to be fine with the car. Then my brother (owner) noticed how quickly his oil disappeared and we thought it has a leak.

After my other (mechanic) brother checked it out, he said it has a ring seal problem and it's from harsh driving. But after seeing all these numerous posts about its oil problem, we stopped blaming my brother and started cursing the Saturn brand. It will be re-ringed and through my brother's car problem, we are now finally decided not to buy another American made car (especially GM) unless it was made in the 1960s. Since after 1969, America just cannot produce a vehicle that lasts longer than its payment or has no major manufacturing defect. word out.

17th Jun 2003, 23:24

My friend also has a '99 Saturn SL2, one night without a noise or warning light the engine seized... He had paid for a three year extended warranty, but Saturn will not fix the car. Although no oil light had ever come on and he had receipts proving he changed the oil. The car only had about 60,000 miles on it and was owned by an old woman with all the maintenance done. I just figured I would add my piece to the complaining.

25th Jun 2003, 12:15

The engine of my 1996 Saturn seized due to lack of oil. Unfortunately, I replaced the engine prior to learning about the chronic oil consumption problems that exist with Saturn cars. Later I found out that Saturn failed to install the engine correctly. This caused the "service engine soon" light to illuminate, which began immediately after the engine was replaced. When I brought in the car, Saturn misdiagnosed the problem as a failed PCM. I wrote multiple letters and left over 10 messages for the Saturn Customer Service department, but no one called me back. Two months later, I bought a new car (Toyota) and Saturn finally called me back. They acknowledged that they failed to correctly install the engine in the first place, but refuse to provide just compensation. I am now planning to take legal action against the Saturn Corporation for their faulty product and negligent service. Saturn does not respond to anonymous reviews (I've sent these pages to them) so please share your story with me via email with your story to donotbuysaturn@hotmail.com.

Thank you,

Another Cheated Ex-Saturn Owner.

31st Jul 2003, 21:32

I bought a 1996 SL2 about two years ago in 2001 with 123,000 miles on it. I have nothing but praise for my particular car, but it has begun to use a lot of oil as well. At this point I have 162,000 miles on the car and it still runs great, excluding the oil consumption. I have put almost no money into repairs besides the regular stuff that you need to do on any car. I tried replacing the valve cover gaskets and the PCV valve, both of which needed changing anyway, to resolve the problem. But it is still fairly poor with the oil consumption, about a quart every tank.

My question is, do I have to get my rings replaced, or can I do this Alemite treatment that JCB -- (Ann Arbor, Michigan) on the first page speaks of. Replacing the enginge would be silly considering I live in Vermont and the rust is terrible. Then again maybe it will work and I can put another 80,000 miles on my lime. I will write back to let you know if it does work. At least if you keep feeding them oil, the cars are reliable, mine at least...he he lucky me.

James Roberts --- Woodstock VT.

26th Aug 2003, 09:44

I bought my Saturn new in 1993. It is a twin cam SL2. It now has 200,000 miles on it. I have had very good luck with it so far. But, as so many have said previously - it has become a real oil burner. And as many have said, it started to consume oil at about 65,000 miles. Now at 200,000 miles, I am having to add about one full quart per tank of gas.

It is really scary to read all these horror stories of premature engine failure. I don't do a lot of research on the web - so I was unaware of the many problems people have had with their Saturns. Prior to reading these, I was fully prepared to buy a new Saturn... Not any more. With all the negative stories about engine failure and poor customer service; I will be shopping at the other guy's stores.

23rd Sep 2003, 01:24

Dear Saturn Owners.

I just bought my 1997 SC2 from my friend and he told me that everything was okay with it. I have had the car for 4 days and already the engine coolant light has come one, but when I check the engine coolant there is plenty of it. I haven't checked the oil because I didn't know about this problem with Saturns. If I would have known I never would have bought the car from him.

I like the last person's idea about having a Saturn meeting, but since I live in Hawaii I know that my Saturn wouldn't make it.

Anyways the reason I am writing is I am wondering if anyone knows of problems with the engine coolant. Does this have anything to do with the oil consumption of Saturns? Is there really anything we can do?

From: Feeling Hopeless in Hawaii.

12th May 2004, 12:17

I have a 1996 SL1 Automatic with about 65 K miles on it. When I got the car at about 36 K, I immediately changed over to Mobil 1 5-w30 synthetic along with a GOOD quality filter. (Wix, Puralator, Napa Gold etc.) I also installed a K&N Highflow, Lifetime air filter, NGK OEM replacement plugs and Belden wires. So far so good. I burn about 1/4 to 1/2 per oil change at 3-4,000 miles, and get right around 28 MPG around town and 38-40 MPG on the freeway.

For those who experience oil consumption problems, there is information online about overnight "top end cylinder soaks" using a light machine oil such as MMO. (One or two Oz.s in each of the spark plug holes with the engine cold, and let it sit for at least 8 hours). It would appear that this procedure frees up deposits on the piston rings, promoting a tighter seal. While I haven't had the need, those who have seem to respond positively.

See http://www.saturnfans.com/ for more details in the "tech" forums.