Ask the Car People.SM


Saturn S-Series

1418 messages,  Last post on Sep 11, 2012 at 4:19 PM

You are in the Saturn S-Series Forum.

What is this discussion about? Saturn S-Series, Sedan

Messages Page 66 of 143

#643 of 1418 The S series by afk_x

Mar 19, 2001 (11:51 pm)

Is extremely reliable. In the past you would expect to have some or all of the following problems.
 
Altenators - Due to their position behind the engine they tended to get extremely hot. In 1998 Saturn went to a dual fan. Since then there have been very few problems in this area.
 
Engine mounts - Due to a lot of engine vibration you would need a new mount every 50-60K. Since 1999 the engine vibration has been lowered substantially. Engine mounts have a much longer life now.
 
Interior rattles - Caused by excessive engine vibration. Saturns still develop rattles but on a very limited basis depending on how hard you drive the car. See Engine mounts for further clarification.
 
Oil Consumption - The technical details of how this was cured is beyond my understanding. Needless to say this problem was largely solved in 1997 and has supposedly gotten better every year since.
 
Brakes - Rotors warped a lot in the past. I never hear of this with anything 1996 or newer.
 
The engines - tranny - and entire powertrain on Saturns are VERY durable and reliable and always have been. The cars are not perfect but if you do regular oil and filter changes your 2001 S series should last you a LONG LONG time.
 
Good luck whatever you decide.

#644 of 1418 afk_x by dhanley

Mar 20, 2001 (4:14 pm)

I have a friend who got a 2000, and itrattles worse than our '92 or '96 used to, to the point he prefers to drive his '90 cavalier in town.
 
just a datapoint.
 
dave

#645 of 1418 Your friend by afk_x

Mar 20, 2001 (8:55 pm)

Should take it into the dealer and have them make the rattles go away.
 
By the way my friend has a Toyota Seinna that has some NASTY rattles and the dealer gave me the "thats normal" treatment until he raised hell. JD Powers ranks Saturn service #2 second only to Lexus and Consumer Reports ranks Saturn number one in this area.
 
Just a data point

#646 of 1418 Saturn SUV by katie817

Mar 20, 2001 (9:07 pm)

Does anyone know about the new Saturn SUV called the VUE? They say it will be out the end of this summer. Any input? Thanks to all.

#647 of 1418 SUV by afk_x

Mar 20, 2001 (11:49 pm)

If you go to SUV topics or search under Saturn you will find all the Info you are looking for.

#648 of 1418 to post 625 turning radius by traveler

Mar 25, 2001 (7:14 am)

All Saturn sl series cars have a large turning radius for their size. My wifes Plymouth Voyager will turn inside my Saturn. Only Saturn knows why it was designed with a larger turning radius than its competitors. Mine is a SL2 and I like its handling but it still took time to learn how to park it because of the long turning radius.

#649 of 1418 Saturn keeps on ticking. by 93saturnsl1

Mar 27, 2001 (9:18 pm)

I posted on here recently about how much I'm impressed with my '93 SL1, which has about 164,000 miles on it now. I do all of the maintenance on mine, so I got hold of my friend's '92 SL1 to do some work on it while he was out of town. I couldn't believe this car! It'd been in his family since it had 8 miles on it, and all four kids handed the car down to each other to commute out of state to school. The car has about 158,000 on it now, and had never had a tune up, alternator, regular oil changes, anything... and it still ran excellent. The clutch even managed to last until about a 150K, which itself is pretty impressive since each taught several people at school how to drive a stick on it. This car has definitely been through hell and back already, and is out of state at school yet again. Pretty impressive for not having it's 1st tune-up, or any other preventative maintenance for the most part, until it was 9 years old with over 150K on the odo.

#650 of 1418 Auto Transmission problems by soggydog

Apr 10, 2001 (11:06 pm)

I have a 96 Sl2 with 44k miles. I bought it new in the fall of 95, and do my own service mainly because it's a 50 mile drive to the dealer. At the 30k check, I changed the trans fluid and filter, (filter from auto zone and dextron III from mobil) At 38K I noticed it was hitting hard into gears, espically on downshift near stop. I changed the fluid and filter again but this time I used Saturn filter and fluid. Problem immediately went away, but now at 44k it's back. I was wondering if anyone has taken their car to a Saturn dealer for this type problem and what was the outcome. I am not real trusting of transmission shops who tell you thay have to open it up to look at it, then the next thing you hear is "well as long as we are in here, might as well put a complete kit in it, $1,500 please."

#651 of 1418 About that tranny fluid---------- by floridian

Apr 11, 2001 (4:14 pm)

soggydog: I have a 1998 SC2 that is coming up on 34K miles. have not done the tranny service yet as the car is about to "lease-out" in a couple more months.IF, I decide to buy it from Chase the lessor ( they are really dropping the residual too)I will do the tranny service. That being said, I've heard that it is ABSOLUTELY IMPERITIVE thst you use ONLY Saturn tranny fluid. I don't know who else makes a exact specification fluid but have been told IF you use ANY other type and have shifting problems Saturn will NOT help you at all. Don't know if that's true but better check it out.
 
Floridian

#652 of 1418 Floridan by afk_x

Apr 11, 2001 (10:08 pm)

You are seriously thinking about buying this car?
 
I expected you to say something like AND I CANT WAIT TO GET RID OF THIS TOTAL PEICE OF CRAP THEY CALL A CAR!

Messages Page 66 of 143

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement