The sound system is great for the price of the car. I got a SL with power-assited steering even though it was supposed to not have it. So its basically a SL1. Great safety car. Brakes were good for first 20k miles

I like to drive my cars hard, and the Saturn did NOT take it. Killed the clutch in 35k miles, im a very fast shifting hard driving person but ive never had a clutch totally fail that quickly. Cheap tires. Lousy handeling at highway speeds. Its just to flickable at that speed atleast for highways, nice for backroads though. Lack of power. Loud engine for it doin not much. All in all I should have bought a Civic or a Sentra.

Paid 12k for it in 97. Buying it was very easy and the dealership was very nice. I can not recommend this car to anyone who wants any kind of driving enjoyment out of their car. Id hate to drive this car on a long trip because the steering at any speed is so flickable, yet it has a 40 foot turning radius! Thats a 3 point turn on any 2 lane street, whereas our old Mercedes would turn around with ease in our street.

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Civic, Sonata, Sentra, just to name a few

plenty of acceleration on tap if needed, good handeling.

"ok" AC,

bought it w/ 40,000 miles, so far, its a great car. Handeling is superior to alot of cars in its price range because of the beefy front & back anti-sway bars, but shocks are nice & comfortable, not harsh.

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1995 SL1~

Excellent engine and drivetrain. Good handling. Comfortable driving position. Quiet as long as you don't full throttle. Good guages.

Wiper Arm Attachments have loosened twice. Front passenger door fit poor. Heat is poor. Interior quality feels cheap.

Reasonably competent car. Friendly and accessable service. Little problems detract from the good overall quality of the car. Whoever picked the transmission shift points was reading my mind! Radio is nice. Engine compartment well laid out.

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Toyota Camry, Hyundai Sonata, Ford Taurus

Excellent engine and drivetrain. Good handling. Comfortable driving position. Quiet as long as you don't full throttle. Good guages.

Wiper Arm Attachments have loosened twice. Front passenger door fit poor. Heat is poor. Interior quality feels cheap.

Reasonably competent car. Friendly and accessable service. Little problems detract from the good overall quality of the car. Whoever picked the transmission shift points was reading my mind! Radio is nice. Engine compartment well laid out.

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Toyota Camry, Hyundai Sonata, Ford Taurus

Great gas mileage. Handles like a sports car and has quick acceleration. Quite roomy for the class. Dent resistant door panels keep the car looking brand new.

Slight wind noise intrudes at freeway speeds.

Paid $11.5K for my used Saturn SL2 from a local Saturn dealership. I was looking for an economical commute car and ended up with the Saturn. At the time I wasn't expecting much from Saturn since I remember test driving a new SL2 back in 1994 and wasn't impressed. I guess when they redesigned the car in 1996, Saturn took care of the issues plaguing the previous model in regards to NVH. I've used this car on long trips and have found even with four of us in the car, it has been pleasant. The only thing I would consider changing is the slight wind noise at freeway speeds be eliminated. The cabin noise at speed is about the same as the Acura Integra. At least this car will be less expensive to maintain in the long run because it has a self-adjusting timing chain while it's competitors mostly use a rubber timing belt that has to be replaced roughly every 60K-75K miles.

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Nissan Sentra: Doesn't handle as well and is slower accelerating.
Toyota Corolla: Similar to the Nissan but build quality is better.
Acura Integra: Both the Saturn and this car felt similar except the build quality of the Acura was better and is more expensive.
Honda Civic: Better build quality than the Saturn but Honda dealers were all rude in my area.

Hard to think of any after all the problems we've had with the vehicle.

Too many to list. We bought the car new in 1995 and had to have the front rotors, tape deck, and head gasket replaced at 20k miles; the windshield has leaked since the car was 3 months old; the sparkplug wires have already been replaced twice; the computer, in-tank fuel pump, alternator, and many other parts have also been replaced. The car has used oil since 50k miles. Parts are extremely expensive.

I would NOT recommend a Saturn to ANYONE. I follow a strict maintenance regimen and would not have expected this many problems from a Yugo. I had less problems with the 1981 Cutlass the Saturn replaced. The Birmingham Saturn dealership treated us as if the problems with their product were our fault.

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None as poor.

Exceptional mileage (27 in rush hour traffic). Only one very minor problem in 3 years, readily fixed by dealer at no cost. Routine maintenance is dirt cheap, with outstanding service departments (2 dealerships).

I'm large (6'1", 280) and it is surprising that a car in this class fits me so comfortably and well. I'm looking into giving this car to my daughter and buying a new car, but I haven't found a new car in my price range (sub-$25,000) that is this comfortable. Test drove a 2000 SL2 today and didn't like it as well as the '97.

Ignition - switch not solidly built - had to replace it about every 18 months because I use a heavier-than-normal key ring.

I would hope that everyone had as good an experience with whatever car they choose as I have had with this one.

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Used '79 Toyota Corolla for 12 years. It was a good car, but the SL2 is definitely better. Drove an Acura Legend 91-97. It was a superb car, but cost far more to operate and maintain.

Power, paint, handling, everything..

slow power rear windows

Before this i had owned a 1994 SL1, the SL2 was an awesome upgrade. The engine has plenty of pull, hondas, four cylinders, and most V6's have a hard time competing. I love this car, the Pearl paint which came with the Homecoming edition is beautiful. Maintenence is relatively minimal. I have dealt with Saturn a few times, all pleasently. If i were to upgrade it would be a new SL2 3-door.. I highly recomend Saturns, good gas mileage, high quality, and so much better than Hondas.

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Saturn Sl1

Dent resistant panels, safety features

Everything else. The car is noisy, gutless and constantly breaks down though well-maintained (the car has 70,000 miles on it and I've already replaced the alternator twice, EGR twice, Entire ignition system was replaced at 37,000 miles - right after warranty expired, car burn 4 quarts of oil every 3,000 miles and Saturn says this is "normal", too much more to mention. The car is a work in progress, I swear).

I paid about $12000 for the car. I'm thinking it was worth more like $8500 - the price you'd pay for an equally equipped Kia. I would never recommend this car. If you're buying used, STAY AWAY FROM THE 1995 SATURN SL1!!!! This is the year Saturn introduced a brand new engine and it had a LOT of bugs in it. If you like the style, get the even more gutless 1994 SL1, or if you want more reliablity, get the 1997 SL1. 95=new engine (bad), 96=new body and frame (bad). The car has broken down on me several times at inopportune moments and Saturn has always told me (in the many pieces of correspondence between us) that it's "not their problem". The sales people weren't too hot either... they really push the rip-offs like undercoating, et al. I never could figure out what the whole "different kind of car, different kind of company" thing meant, because the only thing different is that their cars suck. I'm buying Japanese next time. This is your typical low-end GM piece of junk.

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Neon - better power, Sentra - better everything, the only car I've driven that's worse is a Chevy Spectrum.

My 1995 SL1 has provided extremely dependable, inexpensive transportation. Tx fluid/filter replacement are a snap. Over the years I have owned 27 different cars. This was the best buy ever. Sales and after sales support was terrific. I'm sold on the Saturn concept and am about to upgrade to an LS2.

oil/filter changing is more difficult than on most cars I've owned. The only mechanical problem I had was a broken rocker arm after being driven for more than 4 years.

Purchased new in 1994 for under $17,000 Canadian (taxes etc included). Loved the no-hassle pricing that Saturn uses. Strongly recommend the Saturn company and its line of products.

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VW dasher (expensive to maintain, frequent valve jobs required). Honda Accord (a rust bucket).