Strong responsive engine A/C works great! Tight turning radius Smooth riding Large spacious trunk

Seats may be uncomfortable on long trips (have yet to test this though) No map lights on this level trim Funky interior fabric choices Rear seat leg-room could be better (I'm 6')

This is our second Saturn and we are even more satisfied with this one than the first...We purchased a SL1 the first year the cars were introduced(1990)and never looked back. We traded that car with 120k miles for a VW Jetta (what a mistake!) and even got a great deal on the trade! Then when our Hyundai Accent was recently totaled, we decided to take a look at the new Saturn Ion. What a great improvement over the previous SL vehicle. A much improved and quieter engine with additional horsepower that pulls this car along very competently and it still has the stainless steel timing chain so no additional maintenance there... We bought a 5 speed manual which shifts very smoothly and easily. There have been some unusually hot days here in Calif. lately and the AC system works great! Our Ion 1 has very little in the way of "luxury" features but some of the features it does include are 60/40 split rear seatbacks which are lowered via handles in the trunk, a trunk-located battery which extends the life of the battery due to the lack of exposure to engine heat (you can jump-start from the engine compartment or truck..what a great idea!),adjustable steering column,dual 12 volt power outlets, timed rear window defogger and daytime running lights. We picked the Ion 1 due to the fact that we preferred the interior fabric with this vehicle more than the Ion 2 (although I liked the options more on the Ion 2). The center dash-mounted speedometer etc. is different and I wasn't sure how I would like it. Having driven the car for a while now though I DO like it because it totally clears the field of vision in front of the driver. Too soon to tell on the gas mileage but looks to be close to the advertised #'s - 26 city and 33 highway. So far so good based on our experience with Saturn the first time around, I don't expect any problems with this Saturn either...

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Saturn SL1,VW Jetta,Daewoo Leganza, Mitsubishi Mirage, Hyundai Accent

pretty comfortable good mileage nice to have air... it looks nice across the lot

cheapness of the materials / construction don't feel very confident this thing is going to last already having to get work done on it at under 40K

First off, I like the car in a reluctant sort of way. It fits my needs for good gas mileage and has air - my first with that option. It's pretty comfortable. It doesn't fly like my old civics with smaller engines but hey. The brake rotors had to be turned at under 30K and I drive nearly all highway. They need it again I'm afraid. I'm not sure how long this clutch and shifter are going to hold up - feel shaky. My civics held up forever driving the same way and NEVER needed rotor or shifter attention. When I close the door on the '90 Subaru you can hear the difference in quality. You can see it in the way the panels fit. Still, I have my fingers crossed.

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'87 Subaru wagon (305K) '90 " Loyale (225K) '80 & '81 Civics (200+K when "finished")

Peppy and reliable engine. Dent-resistant panels. Good handling and braking ability. Great manual shifter. Comfy bucket seats. Reliability!!! I've banged this poor car over thousands of potholes and beaten it through 7 Maine winters and it's still going strong. Handles snow well for a small car. Fun to drive.

Flimsy interior materials. The plastic moulding around the auto seatbelts and front pillars has separated. Leaky door seals. WIND noise on the highway. Decreased engine power with A/C on.

I bought this car used in '96 with 28K after reading about its reliability. Aside from the usual wear-and-tear stuff, I replaced brake rotors at 95K and an alternator at 85K. I have had absolutely no problems with this car. I think I've put about $1500 in total repairs on this car in the last 7 years (that includes an engine tune-up at 85K). Not too shabby. I put that much into my '87 Saab in one year (and then some). I'm currently at 115K and still going. The Westbrook Saturn dealership provides great service, and if they still made this car (in this body style) I'd get another! This car is fairly peppy, although it's no speed racer. =) I can still easily hit 85 on the highway, but it's not as quick off-the-line as it used to be. I love the plastic side panels. I went to college where the parking spaces were limited and cars had to be packed in like sardines. I have multiple paint samples from other people opening their doors into mine - but no rust! In Maine, this is a blessing! I'm planning on replacing it in a year or so since it's starting to get a bit noisy (seals dying), but I'll miss the little guy. This car is no luxury car, but I definitely consider it money well-spent.

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'87 Saab 9000 '02 Honda Accord (fiance's dull ride)

gas mileage

everything breaks

I hate this car and the service. I have a 2002 and have nothing but problems. First it was leaking everytime it rained. Bad seal on windshield. Then the rotars at less than 36,000 miles. The regular maintence is expensive. Then at 49,000 miles I had to have the ignition housing replaced. Now at 50,000 miles I have to spend a lot of money to have a leak from the tranmission fixed.

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nothing

Cheap -$12,000 Fuel Efficient - 30 mi/gallon Customer Service

Quirky clutch - 1st is tricky to engage Power-less - 100 HP Noisy interior STOCK STRUTS - clunky and noisy Power steering? - Not standard on my year/model

My car is a 1999 SL sedan with manual transmission, which was purchased new at the time. This car isn't so bad, if you are the conserative personally type. The main problems I have with this car is the clutch which is pretty quirky - first gear is pretty hard to engage from a stop - and the clunky and noisy suspension. I notice that the rear-view mirror is positioned very low on the windshield, so even a small guy like myself (5'10") has vision problems on this otherwise huge windshield. However, this car is very good if you are a first time buyer in the car market and are looking for a basic car. These are the basic features which came with my car at the time of purchase: Manual windows and locks Manual exterior mirrors Manual transmission Manual steering (2000 models come w/power-stearing standard ... just my luck) AM/FM Radio with ONLY 2 speakers Bottom-line: You get what you pay for on this one. Gets me from Point A to Point B

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1982 BMW 1994 Acura Integra 1998 Acura 3.2 TL 1999 Lexus LS300

Reliable, looks good, easy to service, great commuting car.

When I do service it, some parts can be hard to find in my area, without going to a dealer.

Let me say first off, I love this car. The car had sat for over a year, because the young lady I bought it from, and her husband had bought a 2002 SC2. Shortly thereafter he was laid off and had only enough money to keep one car on the road. I didn't have any experience with Saturn to this point so I was intrigued. I had heard a lot of good things about Saturn. Plus I was in a MAJOR bind. I needed a car, due to my 90 Cutlass Supreme having finally died after 13 years and over 300,000 miles (so much for crappy GM products huh...). I was sold when I put a replaced the battery turned the key and the car fired right up after sitting for 14 months. I have since put close to 4000 miles on it bringing the grand total to 88,000. Most of the work I have done to the car hasn't been out of neseccity, more to head off any problems due to worn out parts. I replaced the plugs, plug wires, pvc valve, oil (without saying), anti freeze, fuel filter, air filter. I also took the throttle body off and cleaned the carbon out that had accumulated. I also had to replace the ETC sensory which had went bad. I haven't had the oil burning problem but I am kinda a finatic when it comes to car care. I have looked through several articles on the web and the general consensus on the oil burning problem is due regular oil changes not being performed. Over time the top oil control ring will gum up with oil slug and allow oil to seep into the combustion chamber. So with a Saturn you cant drive 20,000 between oil changes. The car doesn't have much sound insulation so you do hear what going on all around you. My Saturn doesn't have the rattles that everyone else seems to endure. Everything works nothing has fallen off in my hand yet I think that is a definite plus. The car has adequate room inside for me (I'm 6'1"). The front seats aren't Strato Loungers but they work (I find I am able to sit behind the wheel every time). As for the back seat comfort, the only person who rides out back is my six year old daughter and she hasn't complained yet. As for performance....Saturn never marketed this car as a Pikes Peak contender. Sure, with the air on a kid on a 10 speed will give a run for your money, but you know this car gets me to school, work, and around town doing a multitude of errands without a fuss. And gets 35-40 mpg to boot. I havent blown any gear boxes, clutches, heads, engine blocks..... I paid 1500.00 for the car and I think I got a steal. The car was taken pretty good care of, it looks great for its age no rust, dents, all the body panels match up good the interior is in good shape. I think if you walk into this relationship realizing this is basic bare bones transportation and not a Lexus and do just the basic maintenance your expectations will be met and exceeded.

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90 Cutlass Supreme

The look, the price, the options, The styling is awesome.

starter probelms, alloy wheel cracking at 6000 miles. interior colors are to lite and easily picks up dirt.

When I bought my 2003 ION, I have to say its is the most appealing car I have ever seen Saturn make. She is an excellent car. However my biggest mistake was to buy a car the first time they come out. {because there still trying to work the bugs out} I have had a started problem with my car already brought it back three times. Even though Saturn is excellent with there service I was upset about this problem because I just got rid of my 1995 Toyota Corolla with the same problem. At my 6000 mile check up My alloy wheel was cracking. Saturn replaced it with no problems. They have been very good with the starter situation I must say. We'll see what happen, but if it keeps doing it well I will return back to my foreign cars.

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1995 toyota corolla{ had 185,000 when I traded it in, but it had its problems too

gas mileage, gadgets usually don't break, affordable to buy, Saturn service very friendly, good one-person car

mechanical leaves much to be desired, needs fixed often, brakes go out frequently, uses oil (BIG ANNOYANCE and bad for engine)

When I first got my 95 Saturn she had 98K on her and it was love at first sight. She always ran, excellent on gas (20-25 mpg, more toward 25-30 highway) and stopped on a dime. However about every 3 months, like clockwork, there was something wrong that would cost about 200 bucks; rotors, switches, weird catalytic converter problems. Also, she used about 2 quarts of oil a month, which worried the crap out of me and added extra dollars in my checkbook. The 92 Saturn I had before this one also used about the same amount of oil, which I've heard is a common problem among the cars. (If you're thinking of buying a Saturn, this is definitely an annoying thing which you CONSTANTLY have to be worrying about.) I had the car since Feb 2002 and with only 110K, in the past 5 months it has cost me about 800 bucks, probably more. Last month an oil leak onto my catalytic converter put me out 300, and now the rotors need replaced and the exhaust system is starting to go, plus some other miscellaneous retarded problems that would cost another 500 bucks or so (and I just started college, so you can imagine how I feel about that). The reason I got rid of my 92 was because it constantly had problems, and now my 95 is turning into an f-ing hateful thing which takes all my money. I'm done with Saturn. Personally, I don't understand where they got their reputation for being great cars. If I could do it again, I would never have bought the brand. My advice to those considering Saturn: consider how much budgeting you can do to afford the monthly oil bill you WILL have to invest in (I promise), and also, that it will probably have a problem about every 3 months. My recommendation? Run. Run very fast. And buy a Honda if you want dependability.

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92 Saturn - like driving a tin can and took into shop just as often 88 Volvo - 132 thousand miles and still going with seldom any problem 92 Toyota Camry - 125K and rarely an issue

Affordable, reliable, fun to drive. Good gas mileage ecspecially in the 5 speed mannual. Safe. Will not rust or dent.

Not the most stylish in class.

This is my second Saturn SL. My first was a 1999 and it had 130,000 miles on it when I sold it. My family liked it so much we bought a second one in 2001. Nothing has ever broke in either of them, the delaerships are friendly, and the cars are affordable and reliable. I love my car and their is no comparrison to it in that price range. Between 1999 and 2001 improvements were made. My first car did not have power steering or a CD player; my 2001 came standard with both. I know a lot of people that have Saturn's or have had them and they always buy them again.

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1999 Saturn SL, Ford Tempo

Can be fast if you floor the thottle, but is no comparrison to a v6. I think it could take any 4 cyl in it's class, except for models made after 2001. Companies like Dodge has taken the 4 cyl. to the next level.

Cheap plastic parts and poor sound quality. I had to replace the stereo system with pioneer products. Other than that I see no weakness.

Saturn really took the cake with the SL series. There is no comparrison against her Japanese counterparts. I have 103,000 miles on her, and besides the tune up I had to do @ 100,000, she has ran great. Burns about a quart of oil every 1000 miles though, but other than that, no major problems. I only wish I would have got the 5 speed manual. The Automatic is cool in preformance mode, for the gears shift at 5500 RPMs, but a manual would have been better. The traction control comes on a lot in rainy or snowy weather, but it has stopped me from spinning out a few times, so I guess that is a good thing. Anyway my next car will be another Saturn. Probably an L series. I want to see what Saturn's v6s are like.

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Too many to place here.