DesertDweller Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Dd has been saving for a car. We found a 2001 Saturn with low mileage, 70,000. They are only asking $2000. Seems a little too good to be true. Does anyone know anything about Saturns? Are they dependable? What about repairs? Do they require specialized parts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 They are dependable to a point, but my sister's Saturn (a 2000) has been giving her trouble this year. Of course they are no longer made, so getting parts is becoming more challenging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ofus Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Years ago, pre-husband, pre-kids & pre-career, I worked as a service consultant at a Saturn facility. You know that person you call when you're ticked off b/c your car is broken?? That was me. :tongue_smilie: Some models have more problems than others, but generally no more than any GM made vehicle IMO. A specific thing I remember being an issue in older cars or cars with higher mileage was the timing chain. When I was working there they were all made with timing chains instead of timing belts. I don't know if that changed later. If the previous owner didn't change the oil every 3k miles without fail that would set you up for an expensive repair down the road. Also, cars that weren't driven much would get something called "sticky valves". I *think* it resulted in a misfiring situation or maybe a stalling problem. That being said, there were many, many happy Saturn owners :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowing Brook Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 When I was car shopping a year ago I looked at a 2007 saturn. It had 99000 miles. The asking price was $7000. I could be wrong but the car you mentioned sounds too good to be true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Hubby has a 1999 SC1. Still going strong! Little repairs only. He and his friend replaced one $13 cracked plastic piece from the clutch this year, and he finally needs a new battery. He's also replaced spark plug connectors (diagnosed with the free AutoZone check) and had one other connection thing fixed at the mechanic. That's all I can remember besides maintenance for ten years. There is a weird thing where oil is in his antifreeze, but it's been like that since we were dating and it hasn't caused any problems yet, ever. He would probably only think it was worth $500 though, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Our 1996 SW2 won't die! Now, I wouldn't drive it all that far as it does have a few issues now, but it still runs. $2K does sound low. I would get it checked by a mechanic. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 We have a 1999 Saturn with 87000 miles on it. We bought it new, and it's the low end 4 door. It has been fairly reliable. The only issue was that the oil light didn't come on when it was low on oil earlier this year, so I guess there is a bit of damage on that. The interior has been the major source of frustration--it's not very high quality. But overall, we've been happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaners Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 We have a 2002 Saturn. It had about 45K on it when we bought it 6 years ago, and it has about 150K on it now. My husband has always driven an hour each way to work in it, and we have done quite a few cross-country drives since we bought it. I think it was around $10,000 when we bought it. We did need to replace the transmission on it a couple years ago, and that was around $2000. My husband tried to drive it with no transmission fluid in it, because he didn't realize a hose had come off. It would have been a lot less expensive otherwise. We had to spend a few hundred dollars with a problem with the battery where part of the cables were replaced, but they were corroded further down. My husband hit a deer in it, but that wasn't the car's fault. ;) Those have been the only major repairs that come to mind. We have had to do regular maintenance stuff like tires, alignments, brakes, rotors, etc. Nothing you wouldn't expect for the amount the car gets used, and I don't recall any issues with parts. There is something unimportant (I can't remember what the computer code said) that occasionally triggers the check engine light, but that's actually a problem with the sensor instead of whatever it is monitoring. We are considering getting a new (to us) car next spring, just because this one has so many miles on it and it won't last forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 It will depend on the make/model. A 4 year old car will be much more than a 11 year old car though. That is a big difference. Dawn When I was car shopping a year ago I looked at a 2007 saturn. It had 99000 miles. The asking price was $7000. I could be wrong but the car you mentioned sounds too good to be true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misidawnrn Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 It is probably actually a decent price. I just sold my 2001 Saturn for $1800 (had it for 2K but went down). We sold it because we have too many cars and I wanted a Yukon. It was a great little car BUT... (there is always one of those right?) it was a buggar to find parts for and the parts were expensive! For instance, my heater core went out and it was $300 for a new one. A heater core for step daughter's truck was $30. They don't make parts anymore so finding parts is hard. If you are willing to risk having to nickle and dime it, it is a good price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelAR05 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 We had a 1995 SL1. Best little car we ever had. In the end it burned oil and was always loud but we got over 300,000 miles out of it and never had to replace anything major. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 (edited) I think we win "oldest Saturn/original owner" prize! ;) We have a 1993 Saturn SL1 we bought brand new. We think it has about 135K (odometer broke over a year ago when it was at 125K). Yes, that is low annual mileage, because we haven't had to commute much in the past. It's been a super car for us! Not a lick of trouble, just the usual occasional odds and ends that need fixing in an older car, on top of the usual tune ups. Alas, it is getting old, and I understand they have a life expectancy of about 200,000 miles. Longer, if you're willing to let it burn oil a bit. Our mechanic LOVES working on it because it's such a simple and solid vehicle, and says cars with timing chains rather than belts are "da bomb". OTH, our next door neighbors bought a used Saturn SL1 that was newer (I'd guess somewhere between 1999-2002) and had a lot of issues with it -- hard to say if it just was one of those individual cars that is a "problem child", or if the previous owner hadn't treated it well. They had it for about 4 years before it finally died and they had to dump it for something newer, different, and more reliable. The real problem with buying a Saturn is parts. GM closed the Saturn division several years ago when the economy tanked, so it may be harder to find parts for repairs. BEST of luck, whatever you decide! Warmest regards, Lori D. Edited November 8, 2012 by Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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