Great gas milage

The seats are very uncomfortable. the FM radio antenna has lousy reception. After about 7,000 miles the frontend would do some violent shaking while applying the brakes. Replaced the front rotors with aftermarket and shaking went away for about 15,000 miles and it came back. very poor design. the only thing holding the rotors is the 4 lugnuts. they are not held on the spindle with the wheel bearings in them like on most quality vehicles which in turn makes up for the low cost in replacement rotors so it kinda equals out.

This is a great vehicle if you are looking for fuel economy. But what good is fuel economy when a long trip(30 miles or more)is very uncomfortable. My ford ranger is more comfortable. If you want a city cruser this may be the car for you. Ihave the manual transmission in mine and i think it is great for a manual trans. The overall performance is moderate you may as well spend a little more for a little more since you will be in debt for a few years.

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comfortable and safe

continued problems similar to what one would experience with a much older vehicle or one with high miles

Overall, I would not recommend a Saturn to anyone. I have a little over 80k miles on it and have had two alternators replaced, continued oil consumption, and now a cracked engine block that leaks coolant. The electric seat belts are dead, and now I'm experiencing mysterious starting problems.

I bought this car because I believed the whole "different kind of car, different kind of company," hype. Good marketing is all that is; the car is unreliable, and the company does not stand behind its product.

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ford escort, ford truck, honda crx:
far less dependable than either ford vehicles,
less power, less reliable than the honda,
repairs are more expensive than either make

Great car! rides good, new dash is great, the cranberry color is very nice also, i really am impressed with this car...The 5spd also shifts very easily too.

None really, just wish it had a little more oomph.

Great car, gets great gas mileage... Saturn has come a long way and it shows, interior in the SL1 is very nice, the car is very comfortable and i would def buy again.

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none ( been in trucks)

Dent resistant doors
Dealer Experience

Poor Build Quality
Excessive Price / Poor Resale
Loud engine at speed

I purchased this car in 1996 as my first "new car". My main reasons for purchasing this car was all of the good things I had heard about Saturn and the fact that they were the only ones that would finance me.

I owned this car for 15,000 miles before I got rid of it. This car is a built VERY poorly & I would recommend to anyone NEVER to buy a Saturn.

In my 15,000 miles of ownership with a Saturn the E-brake button broke & had to be replaced, the seals in the rear doors came loose and had to be re-glued, and the dashboard chipped in many places, which also had to be replaced. These may seem like small issues, but when you buy a new car, you don't want to keep taking it to the shop.

Other problems with the Saturns are that the engine sounds very harsh at high RPMs (still well under redline). The engine has less power than it's Japanese competition (Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla). The center colsole shakes around. The suspension is not up to par with the class. Overall the car feels cheaply made.

Test Drive a Honda Civic before you buy this car...you will regret it if you don't. A Honda will not have all the problems I listed above.

Currently I have put 27,000 miles on my Nissan Xterra. The only problem I have had was a coin stuck in one of the seat rails. The dealer, of course, fixed this under warranty.

Someday, I hope we as Americans can follow the lead of the Japanese and build quality cars. When that day comes I will buy American again, until then, I'll buy Japanese or German.

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2000 Nissan Xterra, 1995 Toyota Camry, 1989 Toyota Corolla, 1992/1994/1997 Honda Accords, 1998 Toyota Corolla, 1995 Honda Civic

Car is great for a 1st car. Torque is a plus on it and its a platform you can work on too..

THE TRANNSMISSION needs some work..been rebuilt 4 times now..arrgghh

Overall i have a very good experience with the product..i love my car totally except for the tranny..

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2000 LS2
2001 Chevy Silverado

Dent resistance panels.
Engine that takes well to modifications.

Rattles

This car has proven very reliable, considering that I run it in SOLO II (SCCA) competition, and that I push it FAR harder then it was ever mint to be pushed! For the money this car proves to be a good investment! Power is good but could be better.

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1993 Honda Accord - Sucked big time! Not a good racer, or car for that matter.

After 120,000 miles i have had little trouble, and low cost of repair. Exterior is excellent and so is the interior. I believe this is so because i take care of it. If you dont take care of it of course it will have its problems what car doesn't

Had to replace altenator but wasnt expensive cause i put it in myself, and why wouldnt it need to be replaced when you have a 1000 watt system.

Very little trouble, very reliable and a different look. I got sort of sick of how other cars looked. Saturn did a good job.

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93 honda civic. Does not compare the engine was torn to pieces after 100,000 miles.

The car has been dependable and until recently, required little or no maintenance. The body is in excellent condition. A lot of original parts are still working fine at 114,000 miles, including the original exhaust.

Total cost of ownership has been very low. It handles well. The ABS brakes are great. Gas mileage is about the same as when I bought it, although the gas mileage is very seasonal. I'm not sure if the car isn't as efficient in the winter or if its the oxygated gasoline that drives down the mileage (I tend to believe its the later).

The car is starting to show its age, particularly in the interior. The exterior looks great.

Compared to other brands, such as Ford, that have used rubber timing belts, the metal timing chain was one of the attractive engineering features of the Saturn. Unfortunately, Saturn didn't engineer it right. The timing chain has been replaced twice, once at 34,000 miles and once at 113,000 miles. The first replacement was done under warranty and the second cost about $700 to replace. A Saturn customer representative insisted that the problem with the timing chain was a user problem because it needs oil changes less than 3,000 miles. If you change the oil less than every 3,000 miles, you probably won't even notice that it is eating oil.

I'm starting to believe it is not a four cycle engine, as it definitely seems to require a fuel/oil mix to operate. It requires a quart of oil about every 1,500 miles, but amazingly it consumes oil without hurting the spark plugs.

The alternator failed at 105,000 miles, however, the car continued to operate long enough to make it home and then, to make it to the repair shop.

Although the body has held up well, a minor hail storm did considerable damage to the hood, roof and trunk. The hood was replaced, the roof and trunk patched. Normally I wouldn't consider an act of god a weakness, except my car was the only car on the parking lot that was damaged.

Having two daughters, the SL2 with its four doors has been great. However, like a lot of cars in its class there is not that much leg room in the back and things are getting cramped now that my girls are teenagers.

Overall, this has been a good purchase. The weaknesses always stand out, but the car has consistently been reliable and gotten me to where I have had to be. It handles well, stops quickly in wet and snowy conditions, performs well on the highways as well in the city.

Saturns have several note worthy attributes including good gas mileage, ding resistant side panels and the SL2's, when done up properly, look pretty sharp. The price is affordable, and the maintenance is affordable as long as you don't keep it beyond 100,000 miles.

My next vehicle will most like be a SUV, large enough to pull a horse trailer. My current Saturn won't do that very well, but it will make a great starter car for my oldest daughter in a year.

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'83 Cavalier - This car made it over 225,000 miles. I'm having doubts the Saturn will make it this far without costing me a small fortune.

Reliable, dent resistant panels (car is 5 years old and looks brand new), good pickup for the price, gas mileage, all around good value

Burns oil, interior rattles, engine a little loud, cheap quality on the interior

My SL2 has been great. Bought it in college 5 years ago and have put 90,000 miles on it. Never a breakdown, only minor repairs - brakes at 70,000, tires at 60,000, sparkplugs etc.. normal wear and tear items. Pickup is not sports car pickup but the 0-60 times are better than almost every car in its class. For the price, its quite fast. I drive this thing to death and it has been great. The plastic panels are amazing - the car truly looks brand new. Insurance costs are low, resale is quite high for a non-Japanese car. The overall scores for this car (in the 3's on this site) should be taken with a grain of salt considering the price paid. For the price I paid, I just can't complain.

Comfortable car that basically gets you from point A to point B. The dealerships are great (no hassle, very friendly and helpful). I've had three people crash into my car, and all I received was a scratch each time.

The interior feels cheap, the seats do not have scotchguard, the transmission hiccups very often when getting to 2nd gear, great suspension, but the noise level isn't quiet.

The engine needs to be a bit more powerful for the price they are going for. A bicycle has more pickup!! I must also admit (based on personal and friends' experiences) that once the 3 year warranty wore off, all the problems started. I've had to replace the alternator twice in less than five years and the transmission started acting up after 3 years.

I recommend buying a saturn if you're the kind of person that dreads negotiating at dealerships and someone who just needs a simple, average sedan. The price is too steep, in my opinion.

However, if you're looking for a car with performance, a good engine and more value for your buck, then saturn may not be for you.

Saturn may be a great company, but I think it does a great job at creating hype. I would not purchase another saturn unless something phenomenal comes up.

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