Faults:

The seats aren't the most comfortable things in the world, but they are tolerable.

My gas pedal sticks upon first starting the car, but I feel this is an isolated problem, not one of the manufacturer's.

Condensation is a chronic problem, and it interferes with visibility. I keep an old t-shirt handy to wipe the windshield while driving.

General Comments:

My Saturn SL2 is my first car. I'm a seventeen year old female, with minimal car knowledge and funds, so I wanted to buy a low-maintenance vehicle. I purchased this car from a private seller in August 2004. It is now December, and I am very happy with this buy.

My parents both own American cars, and they have had minimal luck in owning them. This initially turned me off to American vehicles, but I'm glad I gave the Saturn's a chance. I looked at Toyota's and Honda's in the buying process, and settled on the SL2.

The car is small, but it has a surprising amount of power behind it.

As for the safety factor: Two months ago, a man ran a stop sign and hit the back end of my car. It spun out and I narrowly missed hitting another car. The impact was intense, and I hit my head hard. The man's car was significantly damaged, but my little Saturn and its dent-resistant body was pretty much OK. This has made me feel confident driving my car.

In short, so far, my SL2 has been a joy, and given me hardly anything to complain about. I realize I haven't owned it for long, but it being my first car, I wanted to express the positive experience and impressions I have. I hope the car continues to please!

Faults:

After routine maintenance, car has consumed all the oil in the tank and now the engine must be replaced.

Check engine light and/or oil light never came on.

Oil never leaked.

Car never smoked.

General Comments:

Saturn should take responsibility for manufacturing a engine that malfunctions.

Faults:

Reverse lamp switch caused reverse lamps not to function. ($100 repair)

Headliner leaked water when rained. ($200 repair)

Climate control selector has broke. (The dealership wanted $550 to fix this, I told them that if it cost that much, I would live with it.)

Car does not have heat. (I'm not exactly sure why.)

There's a large dent in the passanger side door. (Those dent resistant panels aren't.)

Numerous scratches in the paint. (More than I would expect with normal wear and tear.)

There's a large dent in the oil pan. (Suspension too low or bouncy maybe?)

General Comments:

I haven't had too many problems with this car. But in all fairness, I haven't had too much luck with cars and this is the first car that didn't blow up on me in the first six months. Other than the problems I have already listed I haven't had anything else go wrong with it.

The car does get good gas mileage, about 35 mpg on the highway. But you are not going to get much in the way of performance. This would be a good car for a family (as long as it is not too big). The interor can fit 4 comfortably and 5 with a little crampness.

Speaking of comfort, don't be expecting to go on long road trips and not be sore after riding many hours in this car. I drove the car from Omaha, NE to Sacramento, CA (about a 24 hour drive) and my body was so stiff and sore by the time we were there (which is bad considering we had to drive back).