Why saturn cars are so bad, what went wrong
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Date: 2020-05-05
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Comments and reviews: 9
dusanmal
Well, I from long experience with 1997 Saturn SW2 consider the 2nd gen Saturns to be one of the best US made cars. For what those were: cheap, reliable, cheap maintenance, easy maintenance. I maintained that car myself and after years and 145000 miles, long after it was paid off, had another benefit-they sold used in my NE area of US as hotcakes. I listed it for 3500, in three days it was gone for cash 3500. You needed to maintain the engine, oil/filter needed to be changed at 3000mi, AT fluid needed to be changed at specified time. no engine/transmission problems over 145000miles. Brakes were more adequate than on most modern cars, pads lasted 40-50K, at 145K car still had ORIGINAL disks. The most serious issue encountered over that time was dead fan assembly at about 120K. Not to mention spotless (powder coated) frame despite salty NE winters and plastic body that looked like new after years and years/miles and miles. However, that was my one and only Saturn as after the 2nd gen they started making crap. 1st gen was decent but all early issues were ironed out in 2nd. If I found a clean one today-would buy it. Secondary testimony for engine reliability-it is popular and used in light aircraft. But one must understand that those cars were intended to be cheap/economic/reliable spartan transportation, something hard to find today.
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Well, I from long experience with 1997 Saturn SW2 consider the 2nd gen Saturns to be one of the best US made cars. For what those were: cheap, reliable, cheap maintenance, easy maintenance. I maintained that car myself and after years and 145000 miles, long after it was paid off, had another benefit-they sold used in my NE area of US as hotcakes. I listed it for 3500, in three days it was gone for cash 3500. You needed to maintain the engine, oil/filter needed to be changed at 3000mi, AT fluid needed to be changed at specified time. no engine/transmission problems over 145000miles. Brakes were more adequate than on most modern cars, pads lasted 40-50K, at 145K car still had ORIGINAL disks. The most serious issue encountered over that time was dead fan assembly at about 120K. Not to mention spotless (powder coated) frame despite salty NE winters and plastic body that looked like new after years and years/miles and miles. However, that was my one and only Saturn as after the 2nd gen they started making crap. 1st gen was decent but all early issues were ironed out in 2nd. If I found a clean one today-would buy it. Secondary testimony for engine reliability-it is popular and used in light aircraft. But one must understand that those cars were intended to be cheap/economic/reliable spartan transportation, something hard to find today.
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prioris55555
My 1999 Saturn SL1 still runs fine. Over 300K miles on it. I bought it new. I forget what buying a car use to feel like After the Saturn S series, quality and build really took a real dive. You talk about paint falling off. no paint has fallen off mine yet Saturn S buyers rave about these cars Paying 3000+ more to buy toyota corolla. no thanks The seats in toyota corolla were built for little people like scotty. i am 6 feet Honda's and Saturn S both had good leg room unlike the Toyotas back then Not sure if things have changed My seat has some holes in it though. scotty saying. aah haaa i told you it's crap Maintenance costs were very low. My most expensive maintenance cost happened while traveling. i had to choose between Sharky's garage, Rip U Off garage, Sneaky's garage Very reliable car. Even the electrical has help up. Outside fine too. I don't need to drive much anymore since i am retired recently so just hope it lasts 2-3 more years Even my A/C still works
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My 1999 Saturn SL1 still runs fine. Over 300K miles on it. I bought it new. I forget what buying a car use to feel like After the Saturn S series, quality and build really took a real dive. You talk about paint falling off. no paint has fallen off mine yet Saturn S buyers rave about these cars Paying 3000+ more to buy toyota corolla. no thanks The seats in toyota corolla were built for little people like scotty. i am 6 feet Honda's and Saturn S both had good leg room unlike the Toyotas back then Not sure if things have changed My seat has some holes in it though. scotty saying. aah haaa i told you it's crap Maintenance costs were very low. My most expensive maintenance cost happened while traveling. i had to choose between Sharky's garage, Rip U Off garage, Sneaky's garage Very reliable car. Even the electrical has help up. Outside fine too. I don't need to drive much anymore since i am retired recently so just hope it lasts 2-3 more years Even my A/C still works
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Storm
We all have our own opinions. Personally, I would much rather have a mid to late 90's Buick or Olds than an early Saturn labeled product. 12 years ago, I paid 2500 for a very clean late 90's Buick. Even today, it still starts, runs, drives, rides great. The AC and heat work great, the interior cabin is quiet in any driving condition, all original drivetrain and management components, no check engine light or issues. It gets about 21 mpg in daily mixed, and 26. 5+ on the highway. It has been one of the least expensive and least troublesome vehicles to operate that I've ever had. It is a Canadian built Buick. I clearly understand, that GM quality has taken a steady downward slide shortly after the early 2000's. Just for reference, there is a newer Toyota product that parks next to the Buick!
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We all have our own opinions. Personally, I would much rather have a mid to late 90's Buick or Olds than an early Saturn labeled product. 12 years ago, I paid 2500 for a very clean late 90's Buick. Even today, it still starts, runs, drives, rides great. The AC and heat work great, the interior cabin is quiet in any driving condition, all original drivetrain and management components, no check engine light or issues. It gets about 21 mpg in daily mixed, and 26. 5+ on the highway. It has been one of the least expensive and least troublesome vehicles to operate that I've ever had. It is a Canadian built Buick. I clearly understand, that GM quality has taken a steady downward slide shortly after the early 2000's. Just for reference, there is a newer Toyota product that parks next to the Buick!
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Joe
I had a 95 that I bought used in 04 for 1500. It had 114K on the clock, I drove that thing for 14+ years and easily put over another 100K on it without much issue. Transmission was rock solid it did have the common reverse slam but that was easily mitigated. Only issue it really had was when the input shaft nut worked loose, 80 kit off eBay fixed that never even had to take the trans out of the car. That one there I'm willing to bet needs the valve body replaced (common problem) then it should shift fine. All in all I'd say they're very reliable (those S Series anyway, though I will admit the 1st Gens are the best of the bunch. Also the S-Series only ever had the 1. 9L 4 Banger, the Honda V6 was used in the VUE along with that crappy 54 Degree V6 that GM had.
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I had a 95 that I bought used in 04 for 1500. It had 114K on the clock, I drove that thing for 14+ years and easily put over another 100K on it without much issue. Transmission was rock solid it did have the common reverse slam but that was easily mitigated. Only issue it really had was when the input shaft nut worked loose, 80 kit off eBay fixed that never even had to take the trans out of the car. That one there I'm willing to bet needs the valve body replaced (common problem) then it should shift fine. All in all I'd say they're very reliable (those S Series anyway, though I will admit the 1st Gens are the best of the bunch. Also the S-Series only ever had the 1. 9L 4 Banger, the Honda V6 was used in the VUE along with that crappy 54 Degree V6 that GM had.
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Justin
You are out of your mind scotty. 2004 saturn ion was a very reliable car. Always started whether it was 100 degrees out or -30 out. I delivered pizza in it for 4 years and never had any issue except the oil pressure sensor and that was very easy to change. At 192000 it still ran flawlessly. I also had a 95 camry with 150000 miles that broke down every other week. It looked good and was rust free but it always needed something fixed. The saturn was 3000 when i bought it. A toyota corolla the same year would have been at least 5000. You have not done enough research on saturns to be putting out bad information about them. You probably dont even know that the 2004 saturn ion had the aisin transmission that toyota uses. That you talk so highly of.
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You are out of your mind scotty. 2004 saturn ion was a very reliable car. Always started whether it was 100 degrees out or -30 out. I delivered pizza in it for 4 years and never had any issue except the oil pressure sensor and that was very easy to change. At 192000 it still ran flawlessly. I also had a 95 camry with 150000 miles that broke down every other week. It looked good and was rust free but it always needed something fixed. The saturn was 3000 when i bought it. A toyota corolla the same year would have been at least 5000. You have not done enough research on saturns to be putting out bad information about them. You probably dont even know that the 2004 saturn ion had the aisin transmission that toyota uses. That you talk so highly of.
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Steven
You re completely incorrect. The Saturn S-Series was ONLY available with a 4 cylinder engine, never a 6 cylinder. I put 180, 000 miles on mine and I bought it used with 110, 000 miles on it with an automatic transmission. And it was a 1999. Was the second 99 I bought because they are essentially bulletproof. Any car that vintage that isn t maintained will have issues. They are not inherently poorly engineered. You don t know what you re talking about. The Saturn Vue was the only one that had the Honda engine available. And that wasn t released until 2003. So you re incorrect on both counts. You said it doesn t have a tachometer and yet there s a tachometer staring you right in the face. Are you kidding?
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You re completely incorrect. The Saturn S-Series was ONLY available with a 4 cylinder engine, never a 6 cylinder. I put 180, 000 miles on mine and I bought it used with 110, 000 miles on it with an automatic transmission. And it was a 1999. Was the second 99 I bought because they are essentially bulletproof. Any car that vintage that isn t maintained will have issues. They are not inherently poorly engineered. You don t know what you re talking about. The Saturn Vue was the only one that had the Honda engine available. And that wasn t released until 2003. So you re incorrect on both counts. You said it doesn t have a tachometer and yet there s a tachometer staring you right in the face. Are you kidding?
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OllamhDrab
My housemate had a pretty nice Ion 3, with the stick and the VVT engine for a long time, the biggest problem was replacing sun-damaged trim and stuff like that down here, and I don't know how many plastic clutch pedal bushings I ended up replacing cause we couldn't get good parts. (I was going to do that nice with a fresh clutch master cylinder when I was going to do a clutch job, but we punted on that due to someone else needing a car in a hurry while we were renovating the house, garage included. ) Anyway, it seems from the Saturn forums that a lot of em could be pretty good cars, just the plastics are wearing out by now, and, yeah, those automatics aren't worth throwing money at.
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My housemate had a pretty nice Ion 3, with the stick and the VVT engine for a long time, the biggest problem was replacing sun-damaged trim and stuff like that down here, and I don't know how many plastic clutch pedal bushings I ended up replacing cause we couldn't get good parts. (I was going to do that nice with a fresh clutch master cylinder when I was going to do a clutch job, but we punted on that due to someone else needing a car in a hurry while we were renovating the house, garage included. ) Anyway, it seems from the Saturn forums that a lot of em could be pretty good cars, just the plastics are wearing out by now, and, yeah, those automatics aren't worth throwing money at.
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Damian
Hey Scotty, Off topic. But I have a 2007 Renault Clio 1. 2 (I know they don't sell Renault's in the US anymore, it seems fine to drive usually but often it gets jerky between 2000 and 2500 rpm, almost like a misfire? I have read multiple threads online and some say it could be bad plugs (im doubtful) and some say it could be to do with the air intake or filter that needs changing? it's only got 72, 000 miles on it so it can't see it being down to anything in that regard. Any view on what it might be? Both of those are easily doable but i want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Regards, Damian
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Hey Scotty, Off topic. But I have a 2007 Renault Clio 1. 2 (I know they don't sell Renault's in the US anymore, it seems fine to drive usually but often it gets jerky between 2000 and 2500 rpm, almost like a misfire? I have read multiple threads online and some say it could be bad plugs (im doubtful) and some say it could be to do with the air intake or filter that needs changing? it's only got 72, 000 miles on it so it can't see it being down to anything in that regard. Any view on what it might be? Both of those are easily doable but i want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Regards, Damian
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hamskyxxx
Hey Scotty, great video as usual. I have a question for you please; Some months back I had a P0171 and P0174 CEL code on my 08 lexus IS350 to indicate that my car was running lean on bank 2. Further down the line I changed both upstream 02 sensors and the codes went away. However I noticed the SFT and LFT on bank 1 are 2. 3% and 10. 1% respectively whereas that of bank 2 are 2. 3% and 14. 8%. I've checked under the hood for hissing noises or leaks but nothing. The car runs great however the mpg (14/17mpg) isn't very good. Please what does this indicate?
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Hey Scotty, great video as usual. I have a question for you please; Some months back I had a P0171 and P0174 CEL code on my 08 lexus IS350 to indicate that my car was running lean on bank 2. Further down the line I changed both upstream 02 sensors and the codes went away. However I noticed the SFT and LFT on bank 1 are 2. 3% and 10. 1% respectively whereas that of bank 2 are 2. 3% and 14. 8%. I've checked under the hood for hissing noises or leaks but nothing. The car runs great however the mpg (14/17mpg) isn't very good. Please what does this indicate?
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