30th Mar 2003, 10:12
I have a 95 sl2 purchased at 100,000 miles and it was a great looking car and had good power, but lots of problems with the car needed a new radiator, new hoses, burned oil real bad about 1 quart every 1000 miles. I noticed it smoked when started and then would stop so I had the valve seals replaced and the oil consumption continued like I never did any thing, but the smoking did stop. I put new ignition coils in because of miss in engine. the top cover on the transmission was leaking real bad so I had to replace it too too many problems with this car. I paid 3500.00 for it and put 1500 on top of that in it. and it still burns oil I never had a car that burned oil till now. I would never buy another one.
16th Jun 2003, 10:16
I own a Saturn 93 SL2. I purchased it new, for my wife since they said it was a reliable car used mainly as city driving. We did not have the more than six months when we noticed that the engine was sluggish. It had problems trying to drive up a hill. The dealership tried resetting the on-board computer many times and asked us to use the Performance button on the console. To make a long story short, the vehicle was in the shop more often then on the road. The service people were also starting to call this car a lemon. It burns so much oil that I have to buy the oil in bulk to keep up with its demand. The transmission would never shift when it was had to go up a hill unless you pushed the fuel pedal to the floor board. The dealership never admitted to there every being any problems with the transmission. This vehicle is poorly engineered and I would recommend to anyone never to purchase Saturn junk. My next vehicle will be a foreign vehicle!
17th Jun 2003, 23:29
I have a 1994 Saturn SL. I just finished reading the comments on problems. I have approx 41,000 miles, the car is almost 9 years old. When the car was only 4 yrs old I began to experience several of the problems mentioned. Especially the oil leaks. Numerous trips to Saturn in Cerritos, CA did not fix the problem. A mechanic at a neighbor hood shop did.But there was also another "suggestion" from Saturn on something else that should be fixed. It seems that engine problems were/are paramount with Saturn cars. I have written and called Saturn with no response (but I keep getting a video tape in the mail trying to get me to buy a new one)!. I was surprise that with so many people had/have problems that are similar. Shouldn't there have been recalls. It clearly seems like Saturn has faulty engines in years '94-96. If I had known this many people also shared my problems I would have been more encouraged to file a class action suit against Saturn. I just came from the mechanic today and now I have to have the belt tensioner replace at a cost of $174. I'm hoping the car will last at least another year at which time I plan to go back to Toyota!
21st Jun 2003, 23:45
I own a 1995 Saturn SL2 and thus far have had no major problems with it. It leaks oil very minimally due to the valve seals being worn, but I will do the work and the cost is minimal. The car has 65,000 miles on it and has had absolutely no major problems at all other than the slight oil leak and a broken exhaust hanger, all other maintenance is routine. I have had absolutely no experience with the Saturn service department, but to all who complain you should know better than to simply send your car in and say something is wrong, because that opens up a window for unnecessary costs. do a little reading and you will not be duped. I personally enjoy the car. It is a joy to drive and is very comfortable, reliable and economical. If anything does go wrong that is unreasonable believe me Saturn will pay for it from their pocket. One last comment, to all of those who complain about these problems you have had, most could have been prevented by simply maintaining the vehicle and not driving it until something breaks. Take the initiative and maintain your own vehicle, it is not the dealers job to fix your mistakes as a consumer. I would definitely recommend a Saturn to anyone I know. Thank you for your time.
29th Jul 2004, 09:28
I own a '96 Saturn SL1. It has 82k miles on it, and this baby still pulls all its 100 horsepower engine can manage. Although they do burn a good bit of oil, but please, 3 bucks every 1000 miles won't force you to poverty. I've read the very vague reviews about these cars and well, some may be true. But if you work on your own car, which isn't very hard to do, you can keep the life in it forever. Furthermore, those who bash American manufacturers because of defaults in Saturns, is very immature.
23rd Aug 2004, 20:34
I own a 1997 SL2. I bought the car 3 years ago with 70K miles on it and have added another 75K to it since then THE HARD WAY!!!! I'm not very nice to my cars and I have to admit that even though it's a rattly, cheap-sounding, plastic car, for what I've put it through, it does well. All I've done besides routine maintenance is a clutch, tires, brakes, and muffler. Can't gripe too much.
30th Sep 2004, 10:12
I purchased my 1995 Saturn SL2 last July. It had 92,000 miles on it and I payed 3,000 dollars. In the first couple of weeks that I had it I noticed that the oil was diminishing. I have put 10,000 miles on it and I have gone through 2 cases of oil. I have to add 1/2qt every 225 miles. My transmission started to have trouble going in reverse about 3 weeks ago. I need a new piston and sleeve for it. The cost is 600 dollars. Don't buy this car!
19th Mar 2003, 20:47
I purchased a new 96 SL1 1.9 liter engine overhead cam. Everything was fine until March 15 2003.The car only has 64,000 miles.I used Mobile 1 synthetic and changed the oil regularly every 3000 miles. I noticed oil in the coolant reservoir and realized the engine had a cracked head. The car is 11 months past the extended warranty that Saturn put on these engines because of the recurrent problems they have with cracked heads. I was able to get Saturn to split the cost of the repair, but am now concerned about how long the repair will last.