Excellent gas mileage. 34+ at 65 mph. Good sound with premium pkg. Insurance was very low.

Weak on the acceleration. Saturn doesn't make it easy to repair the car yourself. They make it a point to change bolt heads and configurations so that you need special tools to remove some of the parts on the vehicle. Poor choice of alternator location on bottom of engine where water will get at it. Driver seat lost it's shape after five years. Firestone 175 R14 Tires aren't much to write home about. Car interior became progressively LOUDER as the car aged.

This car was purchased when I was starting a family. I was simply looking for a good value and I found it with this vehicle. I am trading in my car now after 158K miles and only routine maintenance (oil, filters, battery, tires, brake pads and rotors, radiator flush, plugs, belts) has been performed by myself except for the following. 1. Alternator 85K miles 2. Both rear brake calipers at 120k miles due to serious abuse. This car was a great value.

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Gas Milage +/- 37 mpg (I do a lot of highway driving) no rust/dent doors (had a deer bounce off back door one night - no damage!) original tires 78,000 miles 87 octane gas easy maintenance (for the dealer) folding back seats (I got a 7'futon in my trunk (took it out of the box) I have a manual so the pick up is pretty good or not as bad as what most people say. I like the alarms when lights are on or key is left in ignition (first car that did that for me) Sun roof works great Optional Mag tear drop wheels work and look good (in my option). Finally, front wheel drive works great in snow up to 4" to 5" of snow.

turn signal and light on same handle. horn is not easy to get to when you want it and in the way when you don't need it. Noise is probably the worst. But that is the trade off for polymer panel doors and great gas milage. Taking it to the dealer every 3000 miles comes too often.

This was my first new car. It has been a very good car. Staff at dealer is great. I had a few problems with O2 sensor and something else, but both were fixed with no fee. I have 90,000 miles on the car and two major accidents (+/-$8500) - (not my fault)and I still feel very safe in my Saturn.

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'65 Ford Fairlane 500 V8 (great first car) '79 Ford Fairmont V4 (lastest a long time) '87 Grand Am (pretty good car)

Excellent fuel economy, polymer panels with very high quality paint job, very low maintenance and very reliable.

Engine a bit weak, later Saturns increased their HP, body integrity mediocre.

The best car I have ever owned. I liked the low pressure/high info selling approach from the sales staff at Leggatt. During the 9 years that I have owned it almost nothing went wrong. Outside of the regular maintenance that was done on it I never had to spend a dime for over 260,000 km except for a new battery in 2001. Also the air conditioning conked out a few months before I sold it last year and that was going to be over a grand to fix it so I didn't bother. People couldn't believe that it was a 9 year old car because the body was in such good condition. Outside of a few scratches the car still looked pretty much as it did when I bought it. The gas mileage was excellent but the little engine at 85 horsepower was a bit small. I had to turn off the air conditioning when merging onto the highway. The trunk was a good size for a little car and I really liked the split fold down back seats which weren't common on economy cars at the time. Underneath the hood everything was nicely laid out. On my 1979 Cadillac it was almost impossible to put in windshield wiper fluid without spilling a gallon or so and it was almost impossible to know how much fluid you had without unscrewing the top and peering in. The Saturn had see through intelligently place containers for the fluids. Also the fuse box was very accessible under the hood. Most cars I had owned had fuse boxes tucked up in awkward spot under the dash where it was almost impossible to see what you're doing. The headlights and signal lights wee a snap to replace. On my 1984 Cavalier it was a Chinese puzzle to do it and on my 1983 Tempo it required specialized tools. The car had a few rattles and in its later years sometimes water would get in through the door seal on the driver's side during rainstorms if the wind was in the right direction which was very annoying. This failure of the car body integrity also led to higher wind noise in the latter years. The design of the trunk lid also let water slop in when you opened it if it was wet. When I bought the car I had no problem with the seats even for long car rides but as I got older I could see that they could get uncomfortable, especially if you have a bad back. The sound system that came with my car was very good, it was the only car that I didn't have to put in my own sound system. Overall I wanted a reliable, economical car and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

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1983 Tempo, 1984 Cavalier, 1976 Honda Civic, 1980 Buick Skylark

Great gas mileage, wow.

Everything else. Engine, transmission, clutch, ect....

Car has been a total pile. I have owned it for 18 months now and it has been nothing but problems. I have gone through 2 transmission rebuilds, 3 clutches, a gear box, a crank shaft and rods in the car. The crank shaft is going bad again, it will need another her in a few thousand miles, same with the clutch. I do not drive it hard, race it or anything like that. I dont know what the deal is. When the car did run and work properly (the first six months or so) it had decent power, especially concidering it is an econo box. The engine has good torque, driving around at lower speeds is pretty easy. However, there is now highway power at all. Pass on a 2 lame highway at your own risk. It cant climb a hill in 5th gear on the highway, so you have to down shift to 4th to climb it, and then unless you want to wind the motor up like crazy, you better only go about 60, b/c above that it is really spinning. This gets to be a hassle when the speed limit is 75. Handling is ok, nothing too exciting. The seats however, are awful, easily the worst I have ever had the displeasure of sitting in. At first they seem fine, but take it on a road trip and your back and legs will hurt. ugh. I am trading it in asap. Never will own another Saturn of any kind.

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plastic panels

engine clutch

Blown clutch at 37000 miles, blown engine 38000 miles, blown clutch at 58000 miles. My 1994 saturn had 140000 miles on the original clutch and engine. You be the judge.My mini truck had 120000 miles on original clutch.

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1994 saturn

Great gas mileage. Low repair cost. Low mechanical breakdown incidence. Reliable car, it starts and it drives. A ten gallon tank and a trip odometer make computing gas mileage very easy. And I do it every time I fill up. Air filter takes 45 seconds to replace. It takes longer to buy it. Oil change takes an hour but you do have to lift the car over the ground (use a push/pull hydraulic jack) and jack stands. DO USE occasional higher octane fuel, gas additives, carburetor cleaners, and gas cleansing mixtures. This is not a Japanese car that can detect the gas octane itself - you have to do this. Your gas pedal should be wearing down around 90K miles. In my model there is a light indicator for the clutch when you need to make a shift change. This is helpful to explain how manual shifting works to automatic drivers, cousins, and little brothers and sisters. You of course will have phased it out and within a week do not notice it at all. Trunk space is decent, but the panel that covers the spare is flimsy.

Poor torque. Terrible acceleration (you will be outraced by corollas and escorts at red lights). Engine pinging if you use 87 octane gas (owner specs list 90 octance at least which means a hell of a lot of splitting up between 50/50 87&93 octane or 80/20 89&93 octane. Who has time to remember that? Handling is cramped if you are taller than 5'9". Very little front legroom. An annoying warning sound when you leave the front door open with the keys in the ignition - which makes alleviating the poor legroom while you are parked and waiting impossible. Notice - duct tape the door open latch down against the chassis or remove the breaker or just unscrew and unwire it. Panelling a little shabby and on the whole the car is very lithe (also light weight) so in heavy winds or storms you can feel it being swayed by the wind. This is especially so on highways. It doesn't turn anyone's head, unless they are also a 1995 SL2 owner. You will constantly wish that you had a Japanese sedan when you are driving this until you get to the gas station to fill up. It is easy to second guess but for the total price and reliability it is a perfect student or utility car.

I purchased my Saturn used after deciding that I did not want to wait longer and buy a used Japanese sedan. So far I have been impressed. The mileage read 66K when I bought it was being sold for the wife before they moved to Chicago. When they told me that she had used it primarily to go to school in Denton (45 minute highway drive) to finish her Master's. But when I saw that there was not a single scratch, stain, stamp, or bruise in any of the back seats or panelling I knew that this was true. The car is at 121K miles right now. So far I have not had many mechanical overhaul problems. Keep reading. I've changed all 4 tires over twice. Once at 77K miles and again at 116K miles. (Discount Tires) I perform my own oil changes and used Bosch filters until recently. Right now I am experimenting with Mobil filters. I had used Penzoil 10W-40 and 10W-30 oil the entire time. After paying $26 for an oil change twice and supposedly losing a paycheck that took 2 months to be reissued I haven't been back to a commercial oil change retailer since. I also occasionaly run the gas tank dry (usually I replace 1/2 or 1/4 a tank right away with new gas) and put in 90 or 93 octane Chevron fuel into it. You do notice a huge difference. I also used a can engine cleaner at around 80 and 90K miles. It was the type that comes in an aluminum can which you are supposed to add to the old oil, rev up the engine, then let it drain out. The first time I did that I didn't read the directions and emptied the oil out, put the engine cleaner from the can in the empty engine and let that settle in the oil pan for about 20 minutes and then drained that. As for mechanical problems. Almost immediately after purchasing the car I had to replace the battery. I suspect that it was OEM battery installed and still in there when I bought it. I would not be surprised if it was also OEM tires. I should not have been surprised since the seller made sure that the gas tank was at full empty when I drove off with it. He even gave me a grimace when I went back to his house to get a signature for the bill of sale. At just over 100K miles I replaced the battery after dealing with a series of misstarts and die outs. I thought that this was odd since the previous battery was running fine and would take an overnight trickle charge. Wal-Mart battery. The car just wouldn't start. I had plenty of power but the radio would fade out. Or I would turn off the radio and the lights would start to dim. Or the lights would dim when the heater was on. Or I would turn everything off and still get paranoid. I replaced the ignition wires since there was a special on those at the local (24 hour) AutoZone. I had suspected a bad alternator before but wanted to play it safe and had actually purchased the alternator but soon found out that the car had to be completely raised off of the ground (with enough space for a mechanic to remove the old alternator and install the new one), the right front tire would have to be removed, and some partial dissasembly would be required. I returned that alternator and went to Pep Boys after getting quotes twice as high from Firestone and the dealership. I also had the brakes replaced (shoes only) on the front two wheels once and on all 4 wheels another time. These are before 90K miles. At around 105K miles I had to have the front drums and the rear rotors refurbished (Pep Boys) and calipers replaced and realigned. This was after giving someone I worked with 50 dollars plus parts to replace all four brake shoe pads on my car (which I will not be doing again) about 10-5K miles before. To make my long story short - I've put almost 60K miles on the car. Besides regular tire and battery replacements and brake failure that may have been my fault the only major problem was the alternator. Of course I am 6'2" and 220 pounds so the size is a huge problem for me. But when get 26/30 mpg city and 34+ mpg country I fail to frown in Texas.

Good gas milage Decent value Good, no thrills transportation

Rattles. (I think Saturns are born to rattle. The problem is it makes you wonder if SOMETHING is coming loose. Acceleration is very, very weak. Not very comfortable. Burns some oil. I do have to put a quart in between changes.

We needed just a simple, used car. Nothing fancy, and we wanted to pay cash. We bought this as a "certified" used car from the Saturn dealer. We were very impressed with the dealership. They were informative without being pushy. We probably paid $500 to $1000 more for this car than had we bought it out of the news paper; pretty much the mark up of getting one that was "certified." The entire purchase time was a little more than an hour....faster than buy my last sofa! The car had 77,000 miles. Based on the posts on these car reviews, Saturns are either excellent or pieces of junk. Its seems they are one or the other! So far, this has been a good car. See review below.

Dependability, easy to work on, and my dealer's service department is excellent. Gas mileage is exceptional.

Engine could use more power. The seating position is too low. The "lane change" feature on the turn signal lever has a very poor feel. I can't believe anyone builds a car these days without power steering but my Saturn doesn't have it.

I purchased a 1997 SL as a second car after my 95 Eagle Talon was totalled. The car has no options except for a air conditioning, traction control, and antilock brakes. Aside from having to replace an O2 sensor the Saturn has been an exceptional car. I installed a Saturn factory CD deck and a bra in the car myself and found both jobs very easy to do.

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'95 Eagle Talon, '96 Pontiac Sunfire. Nice cars but not in the same ballpark as the Saturn.

PLASTIC PANELS, GAS, AND SAFTEY FEATURES

NONE!!!

I HAVE HAD MY SATURN SINCE NOV 1999 AND KNOCK ON WOOD HAVE HAD NOT ONE PROBLEM WITH IT. THE DENT RESISTANT SIDES ARE A GOD SEND!!! IT'S GOOD ON GAS AND WITH OIL.

Plastic Body Panels Many Available Options Drives Well Good Safety Ratings

When signaling, I sometimes turn on or off the headlights due to the switch on the turn signal. Needs more low end acceleration.

So far I am very impressed with the saturn. I bought it new and haven't had a problem with it. Saturn staff is nice to work with and prompt with service. I am very impressed with the quality put into the production of the car. Smaller details really stand out with higher quality.

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