Good gas milage, easy to work on, uses cheap tire size, roomy with the rear seat down, No rust after 140000, low profile, easy to load stuff on top, nice shape of door frames so a cheap (conventional-rain gutter) rack will fit, reliable engine, uses no oil, tight steering, handles well on the highway, my wife hates it. :>)

Small gas tank, many electrical problems, low ground clearance, window design (leaks), 5th door release fails sometimes,

I live in northern Michigan and rust is a big problem here. In 1999, my 1990 Toyota Corolla AWD wagon was rusting badly and the brakes and fuel lines were constantly failing and were stuck together with rubber hoses and dental floss. Not a good situation. So, I looked for a car that would hold up better in this environment. This Saturn had been owned by the proverbial "little old lady" and it had 76000 miles on it. She had died and left it to her grandson who was a duffus and put a kayak on it without any pads and held it down with a couple of pieces of clothes line with no bow or stern tie downs. "After all, it's just granny's crummy old car." On the way, the kayak came loose and dented the hood. So I got a pretty good deal on it, dents, scratches and all. I do a lot of paddling on rivers and need a car that will hold a rack. It took my old conventional-gutter rack nicely and the top was solid so I could pile boats on top if I needed to. I have had as many as six up there. I took a row boat to TN once. It runs well, is econominal (33mpg) and is very good in the snow and the body still loooks good. No rust yet. The motor is great and starts every time. It uses no oil between oil changes. I change the oil every 4000 miles. This is MY car and my wife hates it. So that's good, right? I leave the back seats down permanently and have considered removing them all together thus making it a mini-pickup like the Cameno Royals. That's still on the drawing board. I have had some electriacal problems. A few years ago, the starter failed to work one morning when I was going on a fishing trip. I replaced the starter myself (which isn't easy, let me tell you) and it still wouldn't work. The old starter worked fine on the bench. It was the SWITCH. I wired in a starter switch that I bought at West Marine and it worked fine so I just mounted it under the dash and continued on with my life. I used it that way for 18 months, trying the starter on the ignition switch every now and then. Last winter, on a very cold morning, the damned switch started to work again and has continued to work ever since. What's up with that? I figure it was a connector that was loose under the dash (maybe the main harness connector) and the cold weather caused the wires to contract and reposition the connector so that it works now. Another thing that happened is that the engine would START to overheat in the summer, especially when I was stuck in traffic, and the fan would not come on. I never let it really overheat. I would turn it off if I was stuck there for a long time. I replaced the sensors but that didn't help so I wired in a switch to turn on the fan manually and that worked the same as the starter did. I used it for a while, only in the summer, and then it started to work again on its own. Weird! Also, the transmission overheat light flashes constantly and it starts flashing when I turn the motor on, even at -30F and flashes until I turn it off. The engine nor transmission has ever overheated. It has done this for 50000 miles. I put a piece of electrical tape over the light and forgot it. There has always been some wind noise from a bad fit on the driver's side window but I have learned how to make it stop. And the rain comes in on the seats if you open the doors to get out and it's raining. DUH! So now at 140000+ miles, the electric door locks are starting to act funny, working one day and not the next. Bad switches? Maybe. When the windows stop working, it goes to the junk yard. I have enjoyed this car. It's been very reliable and a lot of fun to drive. I have taken it off-road and found that its lowness is not an asset there. My SUBARU and van driving friends laugh at me because I have to pick my way down some of these 2-track roads so I don't bottom out but I can put lots of canoes and kayaks on top and they want me to carry the extra boats for them because it's low enough to get the extra boats up there without a ladder. The rear area has a lot of space for a small wagon but only with the seats down. I have had a LAZY-BOY, a big flat screen TV, and a dishwasher back there as well as the normal fishing, camping, canoeing stuff that you would expect. The rack has carried the lumber for a 12X12 deck, 4X4s, 2X6s, etc. Maybe 400-500 pounds of stuff. I drove sort of slow that day coming back from the Home Depot. I must have looked pretty funny to everyone else driving granny's little Saturn with a load of lumber on it. I am sorry to read in the previous reports that other Saturn owners are not as happy with their cars as I am with mine. I guess the problems I have had with it could have been a headache for a normal person. And if I weren't handy and couldn't fix it myself, that would have driven a me crazy, too, so maybe this SATURN isn't that good of a car after all. But I like it. It's paid for and at 3.15 a gallon, 33mph is pretty darned good and it does have a "cup holder" right between the seat and the emergency brake handle.

Similar Products Used:

Toyota Corolla, Volvo, Isuzu

Good gas milage, easy to work on, uses cheap tire size, roomy with the rear seat down, No rust after 140000, low profile, easy to load stuff on top, nice shape of door frames so a cheap (conventional-rain gutter) rack will fit, reliable engine, uses no oil, tight steering, handles well on the highway, my wife hates it. :>)

Small gas tank, many electrical problems, low ground clearance, window design (leaks), 5th door release fails sometimes,

I live in northern Michigan and rust is a big problem here. In 1999, my 1990 Toyota Corolla AWD wagon was rusting badly and the brakes and fuel lines were constantly failing and were stuck together with rubber hoses and dental floss. Not a good situation. So, I looked for a car that would hold up better in this environment. This Saturn had been owned by the proverbial "little old lady" and it had 76000 miles on it. She had died and left it to her grandson who was a duffus and put a kayak on it without any pads and held it down with a couple of pieces of clothes line with no bow or stern tie downs. "After all, it's just granny's crummy old car." On the way, the kayak came loose and dented the hood. So I got a pretty good deal on it, dents, scratches and all. I do a lot of paddling on rivers and need a car that will hold a rack. It took my old conventional-gutter rack nicely and the top was solid so I could pile boats on top if I needed to. I have had as many as six up there. I took a row boat to TN once. It runs well, is econominal (33mpg) and is very good in the snow and the body still loooks good. No rust yet. The motor is great and starts every time. It uses no oil between oil changes. I change the oil every 4000 miles. This is MY car and my wife hates it. So that's good, right? I leave the back seats down permanently and have considered removing them all together thus making it a mini-pickup like the Cameno Royals. That's still on the drawing board. I have had some electriacal problems. A few years ago, the starter failed to work one morning when I was going on a fishing trip. I replaced the starter myself (which isn't easy, let me tell you) and it still wouldn't work. The old starter worked fine on the bench. It was the SWITCH. I wired in a starter switch that I bought at West Marine and it worked fine so I just mounted it under the dash and continued on with my life. I used it that way for 18 months, trying the starter on the ignition switch every now and then. Last winter, on a very cold morning, the damned switch started to work again and has continued to work ever since. What's up with that? I figure it was a connector that was loose under the dash (maybe the main harness connector) and the cold weather caused the wires to contract and reposition the connector so that it works now. Another thing that happened is that the engine would START to overheat in the summer, especially when I was stuck in traffic, and the fan would not come on. I never let it really overheat. I would turn it off if I was stuck there for a long time. I replaced the sensors but that didn't help so I wired in a switch to turn on the fan manually and that worked the same as the starter did. I used it for a while, only in the summer, and then it started to work again on its own. Weird! Also, the transmission overheat light flashes constantly and it starts flashing when I turn the motor on, even at -30F and flashes until I turn it off. The engine nor transmission has ever overheated. It has done this for 50000 miles. I put a piece of electrical tape over the light and forgot it. There has always been some wind noise from a bad fit on the driver's side window but I have learned how to make it stop. And the rain comes in on the seats if you open the doors to get out and it's raining. DUH! So now at 140000+ miles, the electric door locks are starting to act funny, working one day and not the next. Bad switches? Maybe. When the windows stop working, it goes to the junk yard. I have enjoyed this car. It's been very reliable and a lot of fun to drive. I have taken it off-road and found that its lowness is not an asset there. My SUBARU and van driving friends laugh at me because I have to pick my way down some of these 2-track roads so I don't bottom out but I can put lots of canoes and kayaks on top and they want me to carry the extra boats for them because it's low enough to get the extra boats up there without a ladder. The rear area has a lot of space for a small wagon but only with the seats down. I have had a LAZY-BOY, a big flat screen TV, and a dishwasher back there as well as the normal fishing, camping, canoeing stuff that you would expect. The rack has carried the lumber for a 12X12 deck, 4X4s, 2X6s, etc. Maybe 400-500 pounds of stuff. I drove sort of slow that day coming back from the Home Depot. I must have looked pretty funny to everyone else driving granny's little Saturn with a load of lumber on it. I am sorry to read in the previous reports that other Saturn owners are not as happy with their cars as I am with mine. I guess the problems I have had with it could have been a headache for a normal person. And if I weren't handy and couldn't fix it myself, that would have driven a me crazy, too, so maybe this SATURN isn't that good of a car after all. But I like it. It's paid for and at 3.15 a gallon, 33mph is pretty darned good and it does have a "cup holder" right between the seat and the emergency brake handle.

Similar Products Used:

Toyota Corolla, Volvo, Isuzu

Fun to drive when nobody else is in the car A lot of cargo can fit in the wagon, including a stove! Insurance is cheap and a used one is cheap, great for a beater car.

not reliable poor dealership service poor gas mileage for such a small engine, the V6 on my 1995 Maxima is better noisy interior

SW2 with 98K miles, bought it brand new Oct 1994. The car isn't that bad, but it isn't that great either. It isn't very reliable as you will read in the rest of the reviews. On mine, the head gasket has been replaced four times and still leaks oil, the timing chain stretched, the spark plug wires continually go bad, and I have had numerous other small problems. My biggest complaint is Saturn. I have had terrible service from them, at least five different dealerships. Many of them jury rigged parts to fix a problem, ie. using a coat hanger to fix the latch that keeps the rear seat engaged in the up position. I was even lied to when I purchased the car so don't believe their cute little tactics that they are a different kind of car company. Saturn is just another piece of GM junk. If you get the wagon, make sure you get an SW2 over an SW1 since the little extra horse power will help when the car is fully loaded. The car handles differently even when an extra passenger is riding.

Similar Products Used:

Chevy Lumina Honda Accord Nissan Maxima

The SC1 still has the original battery after 7 years. The body is still in great shape.

Cracked head, sloppy crank, fuel pressure regulator, brakes

We have owned the car since new. It has approximately 50,000 miles on it. The car is not our primary vehicle. Many numerous problems. The latest is a cracked head, that was covered under an extended warranty that just ran out. There is also excessive play in the crank shaft that has caused parts of the drive train to fail. In the past there has been brake problems. The car is on its third set of rotors. The exhaust system failed within two years of new. I know this is because the car is not driven much. For some reason I have also had problems with the fuel pressure regulator. The car in on its third fuel pressure regulator. All of this, along with various other problems in 50,000 miles. At this point we are trying to make the decision if vehicle is worth having repaired. I would love to have a different car to worry about.

Similar Products Used:

corrisca, tarus, integra

none

cylinder head

This car has been a financial nightmare. In 1998 after much (!) hassling with the NJ dealership where we purchased the car(though we were residing in NY)Sarun finally diagnosed and replaced the cracked cylinder head (later we found out that this part was "problematic" but not recalled). Now in 2003 we had the same problem, cracked head as well as a ruined engine (the result of the cracked head). However Saturn reviewed our case and in essence said "GET LOST". No longer under warranty and not our problem. I will never ever buy a Saturn and feel totally snowed by their false claim that Saturn is a company that really cares about their owners...

Loads of power I think its funny when someone pulls up beside me in a decked out honda and I blow their doors off! great gas mileage

small trunk

I think this car is great!!!

Similar Products Used:

Ranger, Taurus, Eclipse, escort,Skylark

Loads of power I think its funny when someone pulls up beside me in a decked out honda and I blow their doors off! great gas mileage

small trunk

I think this car is great!!!

Similar Products Used:

Ranger, Taurus, Eclipse, escort,Skylark

Loads of power I think its funny when someone pulls up beside me in a decked out honda and I blow their doors off! great gas mileage

small trunk

I think this car is great!!!

Similar Products Used:

Ranger, Taurus, Eclipse, escort,Skylark

Totally and completely reliable. if you never want to be stuck by the side of the road, buy a Saturn. if you never want to be renting a car because your car is in the shop again, buy a Saturn. also, the gas mileage is quite high. although they told up 38 mpg highway, we often got 44 mpg.

it''s a bit load inside, but hey, it''s not very important to me.

This is the best car i have ever owned. it has NEVER broken down on me, has never left my by the side of the road. the front wheel drive is excellent in the snow, and it has plenty of traction and power for us. after owning this car for 6 years, and hearing about other''s problems with other cars (eg transmission going, breaks going, etc), I would never want to buy another car except a Saturn. The hype is real. Saturn makes totally reliable and great cars.

Similar Products Used:

mazda,ford,etc

Great gas mileage; tight handling; good brakes (so far); good safety belts - like the adjustable shoulder belt thing; daytime running headlamps; had few miles on it when purchased (13,000); nice audio system (even though we are not pro audio buffs);

Driver''s side door has a small leak at the very top - wind noise and occasional rain gets in; noisy ride - wind noise, mostly; downshift is a little rough/jumpy; not quite enough rear cargo area, and we miss the third seat of the Ford Taurus wagons

We purchased the car last month due to a faulty head gasket problem in a 1994 Ford Taurus 3.8L V6 engine that was draining us dry. So far, so good; the dealership was very good at negotiating a trade-in that we were very happy with, even though they did not haggle the price of the car. The car was a return (original owner wanted the bigger L-series wagon), then was a demo car for the salespeople.

Similar Products Used:

Ford Taurus wagons - 1989, 1993, 1994; Subaru GL sedan - 1983