Faults:
Passenger side front, lap belt retainer clip between the seat and door snapped.
Metal between the two windows on the rear doors is rusting on the inside.
Recently my A/C stopped working (ran over a large skunk, may have damaged the condenser lines under the car). Will look into fixing it in the spring.
I hate the fact that the tires are too narrow, the car gets blown around a lot on windy days on the highway.
Electric seatbelts are a bit annoying, but they still do the job.
Had one serious repair which my warranty covered. That was the rocker shaft snapped in half, or one of the rocker arms let go. It ran on three cylinders while I drove it to the dealer. They gave me a brand new three door SC2 sport coupe for the week it was in the shop. It was actually 3 days. They were real nice.
General Comments:
The SL1 is great on gas. I fill the tank with $23.00 from almost dead empty, while the gas prices are around 72-75 cents a litre. When the gas prices were down to the low sixties I usually filled my tank with just under $20.00.
I can drive usually 500-550 kms on a tank if I drive nice and smoothly. Like any other car, the harder you drive it the more gas you burn.
My Saturn looks brand new every time I wash it. It doesn't rust (except on the window area inside the car - minor problem) and the paint doesn't seem to fade or scratch. I bought some touch up paint when I bought the car expecting to fill in some stone chips on the front bumper area, but I was totally suprised to see no chips.
Very warm car in the winter and when the A/C was working it REALLY worked well. I'm spoiled now and will definitely have to get it fixed. hehe.
Overall the car I have is not a lemon, My girlfriend has a 97 Cavalier and she is having a hard time accepting the fact that she has to pay out $45.00 to fill her tank and her car is already starting to rust underneath. My Saturn has never been rust checked and the only thing that is rusty under my car is the exhaust hangers. I love Saturn. I will own my car for a long time.
21st Jan 2002, 13:02
My saturn is very good, I just bought it. I can fill the tank for 6-7 dollars. The only problem I have is rust inside the windows in the back, and on the front of the sunroof.
One question I have... I would like to put an aftermarket shifter knob on, but the old shifter does not come off. I never had a car with that problem. Is it just my Saturn, or are all the shifter knobs stuck on permanently?
Shawn- Tioga, PA.