The V6 has good, useable power.
The low entry into the rear is great when loading groceries and stuff.
The car has a good feel to it. The steering is responsive. Minimal body roll.
Comfortable seating.
Great stereo.
European styling.

The cloth material on the door is wearing from placing my elbow on the door next to the window.
Lots of road noise (I knew this going in, my mom has had three Saturns).
Weird shift points from 3rd to D (automatic) around 30 to 40 mph. I usually drive with the trans in 3rd while in town (under 45 MPH).
Wheels are very hard to clean and dusty GM brake pads don't help.

When my wife and I found out that we were expecting our first child we wanted a safe car for the family. We had a SUV and I wanted a car. I was thinking four door but my wife spotted this wagon. At first I didn't care for it but the longer I looked at it, the more I liked it. I looked at the VW's and Volvos but couldn't justify their prices. We bought the Saturn and right away had some annoying problems. The headliner was loose is one area. The glove compartment light stayed on. And there was a slight vibration at speeds higher than 60 MPH. One trip to the dealership took care of all these little problems in one day. About two months later the key would not turn in the ignition. The cars was towed (at dealership's cost of course) to the dealership and repaire the next day. A tumbler had broken in the ignition cylinder. Big deal, probably one out every 100,000 cylinders is bad and I happened to get one of them. We are going on our seventh month with this car and I'm still happy with it. I guess I could be bitter about the little problems with the car but the Saturn of Irving service department is second to none.

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Have friends that have Volvo and VW wagons and I check those out first. Nice cars but WAY over priced!

V6 option is a great, a smooth powerful engine. One of the best V6's I've seen. The plastic body panels are nice when trying to avoid dents. Lots of room for the wagon model. The over all product is well designed, including nice clean body lines.

Fit and finish seems to be typical GM, but nothing to terrible. The "service engine soon" light comes on regularly. Saturn claims that it's because we don't put the gas cap on tight enough, yea ok... No ABS on common models.

The Saturn dealerships are great. Salespeople are a pleasure to deal with. That's very unusual. The serivce dept. seems to be great as well. We seemed to get a good lease deal, but the purchase price seems to be a little high.

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Very quiet and powerful engine. Good stereo. Lots of room.
Powerful AC.

Gas mileage. I'm getting 20-22mpg with mostly highway miles. 24 mpg was as high as I got, and when one week I was driving mostly in a city with AC on, it was 18mpg.
Tires. Not too terrible, but the sooner I replace them the better.
Fit and finish. Like someone here put it : "typical GM, but nothing terrible".
Gas tank door is not lockable.

So far, I'm pretty happy with this car. For me it was either this or Volvo V70 (there is no universe in which I will buy a Taurus), and I didn't have money for a Volvo. ;-)
After 3 months and 5200mi, here are my problems:
1)Vent handle broke.
2)Lights (daytime and night) indicator bulb is dead.
3)Some really annoying high noise from the rear.
All are minor, and dealership will take care of these when I have a time to get there.

none, maybe price, but not even that; I dono what the other guys were talking about, but this car sucks!

WOW...where do I begin... You pay what you get for that's for sure. No power, no suspension, don't try to take a sharp turn with it, don't try to floor the car unless you want to go in for repairs, where's the stereo at?, options include windows.... and the list can go on and on and on...

Stay away, buy a Honda or a Volkswagen or somthing...

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Honda Accord, Volkswagen, Toyota Celica, Nissan Maxima, Chevy Suburban; what the heck was I thinking buying a Saturn ?!?

Where do I begin. I was looking for a car for the wife - and thought I'd check out a Saturn - already familiar with its reputation for quality, value, and safety. But the looks of the new sporty LW2 grabbed me right away - a better design than the VW, Volvo, Honda, or other wagons. One test drive and I was hooked - somebody pinch me - this is a saturn? With the new V6, the thing drove like an expensive, high quality performance sedan. Quiet smooth ride, tight handling, great acceleration, smooth transmission - the L series is truly comparable to any car in its class - Accord, Camry, Taurus - better in my opinion, in fact, except that it costs much less. We got ours green with tan interior, fully loaded. Its a sharp looking car that cleans up well. I've gotten a lot of compliments on it. If the dependiblity that I've heard about rings true (and its been a champ so far), I probably won't ever buy another vehicle. Now its the car that I always want to drive. I'm already looking at the new Saturn SUV for myself. You can not beat the value of this car.

I really can't come up with anything.

Would I recommend it? Is the Pope Catholic? You can not beat this car for the money. A fully loaded car that drives and feels like a performance sedan, for thousands less than anything comparable. The whole Saturn thing is no myth - the salesman and the sales process was all true right down to the sales team applauding and congratulating us as we drove it off the showroom floor. The staff was up front, and no B.S., sales gimmicks or tricks. Just integrity and respect.

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taurus, camry, accord. Again, good cars, but a lot more money than the Saturn.

Roomy
Comfortable, especially on long trips
Plenty of power
Handles well
Dent proof panels
Stainless steel exhaust system

Road noise from tires.

Bought all extras, including heated leather seats, upgraded stereo, etc. Cost was just over $24,000. Hard to beat for the price.

Would definitely recommend car to anyone looking for a midsize wagon or sedan. This is not a sports car, but still handles well, a comfortable wagon. This is our second Saturn, the other is an LS2 with comparable equipment, which we've had for almost a year. Saturn of Richmond was also very easy to deal with, I like the no hassle buying. The service department has also been great to deal with. Had a few small defects on the first car and they were taken care of right away without any hassle. There was even a defect (loose gasket that caused whistling mirror) I hadn't really noticed and the dealer voluntered to fix it.

Love the car(s) (LS2 and LW2) and really like the dealer. I would also recommend Saturn of Richmond to any one in the area.

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Honda Accord, Honda Civic. Also tried Camry and Passat. Found LW2 to be more comfortable than Passat, handled better than Camry, just as powerfull as Honda V6, even though rated at less horsepower. Smoother shifting automatic than the others.

Strong performance from the 4 cylinder motor, coupled with great highway mileage (just under 36 m.p.g. over 2,000 mile trip - imperial gallons), great seats, roomy, nice stereo, polymer side panels have already saved me an insurance claim - plus there are so few wagons out there now, and, as wagons go, this is a cool one.

tire noise, not the best rubber for winter, small door pockets and console storage, lack of ABS (but that was my choice)

A nearly perfect family car if you have three or fewer kids. It's way more practical than our minivan for grocerie shopping, etc, (little items don't roll under the sets, the truck has a cover so it closes for privacy, but there's lots of room underneath.) Handles way better than most cars, never mind anything close to it in terms of passenger and luggage room. There's no problem driving for hours on the highway, the seats are very comfortable, and my kids even stayed happy in the back, for the most part. Also, it holds my great dane, although getting the hair out is a pain.

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Cheaper than any other wagon I priced out by thousands,and as roomy as any, as well as most Sport Utes.

-0-60 performance better than anything in its class, except maybe the Nissan Maxima which is only slightly better.
-Tight, sports car suspension
-Enormous cargo capacity
-Very comfy seats
-Dent/Rust resistant polymer panels (why doesn't anybody else build cars this way???)

Can't think of any. Maybe a little road noise of tires. The engine is louder than the Honda Accord V-6, but I like the high-perf sound of it, and you only hear it when you're pushing into it.

For the price, it is hard to beat this, especially when considering the few options available to buyers of wagons. Not everybody wants a gas-guzzling SUV, and may prefer the handling characteristics of a good sports wagon. There are others that may meet or exceed the driving experience of the Saturn wagon, but none that come close to its price.

As to the sedan version of this car, it compares quite favorably to the Accord and Camry, and is, in my opinion at least, much more fun to drive, with respect to those two reliable cars. I've had no problems at all with this .

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I could compare it to the Accord and Camry, but they no longer make station wagons (Boo on Honda and Toyota!) Otherwise, VW Passat, Subaru Legacy, Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable

Best buy in a luxury wagon for the money - hands down!
Powerful V-6.
Smooth ride and transmission.
Ultra-nice seats (leather is optional).
Huge cargo area.
Side airbags and 4 wheel ABS are great pluses!
The premium sound system (CD & Cassette) is AWESOME!

Cup holder between the back seats is a bit flimsy.
No middle shoulder belt in rear (only lap belt).
That's it.

A very impressive wagon. 182HP, 24V V-6 gives AWESOME power. The ride is ultra smooth and the handling is outstanding - I feel like I am driving a high-procied import! For what you get at this price you just can't beat it. I can't understand why someone would pay $10,000 more for a Volvo or Saab wagon. I got it loaded for 24k. Leather, heated seats are soft and extremely comfortable. The stereo rocks (8 premium speakers and a sub-woofer)! Automatic transmission is ultra-smooth and shifts in all the right spots. The cargo space is huge and with the back seats down this wagon has TONS of room - rivaling MANY SUV's. Gas mileage is also very impressive at 20 MPG city and 26 MPG highway. I also got the optional side airbags and 4 wheel ABS. I could go on and on. This is a great, safe family wagon! Of course, the experience at the Saturn dealership was excellent. Almost bought a USED Windstar while I was shopping for close to the same price...thank GOD I stopped by Saturn!

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Good performance and mileage of 4-cylinder engine with 4-speed automatic
Quiet comfortable ride and very comfortable seats
Large enough to fit 5 adults and lots of cargo

The stock Firestone Affinity tires are noisy and squeal when pressed
Tailgate can be a bit difficult to close
Small centre storage console and shallow door pockets

- If you need a large sized wagon, then this is the best one out there for your money. Most other wagons are either too small to be useful or are expensive turbocharged imports and I didn't want to drive an unweildy minivan with little usable space.
- With Michelin X-One tires added, the ride is quiet, comfortable and stable (ride is not quite as good with the stock tires).
- Enough space for tons of baby gear fitting carriage, play-pen, high-chair, super saucer, etc. in the back easily without resorting to the back seat.
- Lots of leg, hip and head room for 4 adults plus a baby seat. Nice adjustable driver's seat.
- Good visibility.
- Nice base 8-speaker CD/AM/FM stereo.
- Powerful A/C, with rear floor vents for rear passengers.
- Power everything including dual heated adjustable mirrors.

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