My mom is going to give me some money from my investments to get a new car. Max $2000.
I have been looking and have found a 1993 Saturn SL 2 wagon with 91,000 miles for $1995/obo
I have no idea what sort of reliability Saturns have. I’ve found a number of older Toyotas (which I’m more familiar with,) but all of them are older with more mileage.
Anyone got the scoop on this?
I’ve got a 1994 Saturn SL1. It’s got 120,000 miles on it, and it’s been extremely reliable. The only problem I’ve had is that my tensioner has had to be replaced twice. Other than that, it’s been great. It’s not fast or fancy, but it gets me where I need to be. And I get good gas mileage, too, about 30 miles per gallon.
They have a lot of regular maintenace associated with them. I don’t know how this compares to Toyotas, but be prepared to get your hands dirty or take them somewhere every 30,000 miles or so. Based on this maintenace schedule, I don’t think there should be any problems with running these cars a long time if this schedule is followed. I have a 1999 with 61K on it and I don’t forsee it having problems at 91K. No major mechanical problems so far. Granted I’ll bet things changed since 93, so I’d wait for someone with more experience to respond. I’ve had fairly good luck, but I liked my 1997 Cavalier better and had less maintenace on it.
I had a Saturn. I loved it…I loved it so much, my mom got one too. I had a 96 coupe, she had a 97 sedan.
I thought it was the coolest, most reliable, awesome car ever.
Until 70, 000 miles. Then stuff just went wrong. I don’t mind replacing an alternator (or two, Mom’s went too) at 72, 000. It happens. But when everything goes all at once and then Mom’s sedan started to do the exact same things at the same milage, I got nervous. I now own a Toyota. That hasn’t gone so well either, though, so I don’t recommend that path.
As far as real information for you, I think if it has made it to 91,000, it might be okay. Never put BP or 76 gas in the car, it doesn’t react well with the fuel injectors and gums 'em up. Check the dipstick before you buy. Every Saturn dealer I know shorts the oil a half quart. Being low on oil makes the engine run hot and burn oil, then you’re a quart and a half low before you know it. Running hot will mar the dipstick, as well as maybe harm the engine. I wouldn’t want a car that had been let to run like that (including my old car since it took me a year and a half to get wise to the issue).
Personally, I’d start shopping in the $2500 range and make 'em come down in price. That $1995 car should sell for $1650, kwim?
I had a Saturn. I loved it…I loved it so much, my mom got one too. I had a 96 coupe, she had a 97 sedan.
I thought it was the coolest, most reliable, awesome car ever.
Until 70, 000 miles. Then stuff just went wrong. I don’t mind replacing an alternator (or two, Mom’s went too) at 72, 000. It happens. But when everything goes all at once and then Mom’s sedan started to do the exact same things at the same milage, I got nervous. I now own a Toyota. That hasn’t gone so well either, though, so I don’t recommend that path.
As far as real information for you, I think if it has made it to 91,000, it might be okay. Never put BP or 76 gas in the car, it doesn’t react well with the fuel injectors and gums 'em up. Check the dipstick before you buy. Every Saturn dealer I know shorts the oil a half quart. Being low on oil makes the engine run hot and burn oil, then you’re a quart and a half low before you know it. Running hot will mar the dipstick, as well as maybe harm the engine. I wouldn’t want a car that had been let to run like that (including my old car since it took me a year and a half to get wise to the issue).
Personally, I’d start shopping in the $2500 range and make 'em come down in price. That $1995 car should sell for $1650, kwim?
My ex-SO had a 1993 SL2 sedan that she got rid of at 107,000 miles. Contrary to burundi’s experience, her car was an absolutely terrible machine. It broke down constantly, both in serious ways (it went through 4 alternators and 3 fuel pumps) and in minor but annoying ways (CD player quit, climate control selector levers broke internally). She always was diligent with the maintenance and took good care of that car, so it wasn’t abused. And, to top it off, it got terrible mileage (21 on the highway!).
Even worse, the dealers treated her horribly. I would be more forgiving if it had been an isolated incident. But every single time she had to get the car serviced, they treated her like dirt. Five different dealers, in 3 different states. They were consistenly condescending and yet they were often incompetent. They covered up their mistakes with lies on more than one occasion as well. When we complained we were told we were being abusive and they hung up on her twice. I’ve honestly never been treated so poorly as a customer as when I was trying to get a battery replaced under warranty for her car.
The only reason she kept the car as long as she did was because she simply didn’t have the money to replace it. When she did finally get a new car, she traded her Saturn in for $400. Her exact words were, ‘I don’t give a s*** how much they give me for it. I just want the damn thing out of my sight forever, and this is a legal way to get rid of it.’
I realize that plenty of people have had good experiences with Saturn, but ours was so thoroughly bad that I would never, ever let one of my friends buy a Saturn without at least hearing what happened to us. So, my suggestion would be that you check that car out very carefully! Get it inspected by an independent mechanic and find out what kind of shape it’s really in. Go over the interior with a fine toothed comb. My ex’s car had all kinds of interior problems that weren’t apparent to a casual inspection, but would manifest in rattles once you got on the road. You may have found a good car there, but don’t depend on any kind of reputation of the brand itself.
I have a 1997, and it has 112K and is doing just fine. Don’t know how the earlier models stack up. This probably should go into IMHO though, since there is no single right answer. Check Consumer Reports for aggregrated anecdotal evidence.
Mine has needed a new altenator at 105K, but that’s the only major repair I’ve needed. It does burn a little oil.
More anecdotal evidence.
I have a 1994 SL2 with 185,000 on it. I bought it used in 1995 when it had 19K. I commute 100 miles round-trip with it every day (highway miles, no stop and go) and it is fine. It has, by far, been the most reliable car I’ve ever had (of course, it is in competition with a 1984 VW Jetta, a 1983 (salvaged) Toyota pick-up, and a 1979 Mazda GLC). I replaced the alternator at about 160K and that is it. I do all of my own routine maintenance and the Saturn is set-up pretty nice for oil and air filters, plugs, front brakes, etc., although the fuel filter is in about the most inaccessible place you can imagine. It does rattle a little, the mileage is not as good as when I first got it, and it does burn a little oil. I would definitely follow Telemark’s advice and check Consumer Reports. I think they also have a “Best Buy” section for given years. In any case, for two grand I think you can do alot worse.
BTW, I hope you’re making a list of all the people who recommended one so that when it blows up in the middle of rush hour traffic the second day you have it you can let us all know!
Opal, if you go to the Car Talk website, they’ve got a section devoted to listener’s comments about their cars. You can look up specific years and models and get oodles of information about them.
Stripped of the marketing, Saturn’s are pretty much generic General Motors vehicles (most parts come from the same factories and suppliers that are used for other GM vehicles). They might have a slightly higher used car rating than their coporate brethern because of their plastic body panels, though.
Toyotas (along with Hondas) have excellent records for used car reliablility. Of course, as with most things, they also cost more. This site will let you compare the results of JD Powers’ customer surveys for different models of cars.
I have a 93 SL1 with 102,000 miles. There were a few problems in the early years (all fixed under warranty). This year, I’ve had to replace the brakes and exhaust system, but that was the first time for both, so I figure 90,000+ miles for them is pretty good. Some problems the last time I took it in, but that was after several years of nothing but routine maintenance.
The dealer is good overall and the car’s been very dependable. I bought a second Saturn and will probably look for another when the first finally falls apart.
I’m buying from a private seller, regardless of what type of car I buy, btw. I am not gonna deal with a used car dealer.
I’m leaning more toward another Toyota… I’m from a long line of Toyota owners, and I’ve had 3 myself (the one that just died, neccessitating this new car purchase, is a Toyota) and my mom has had Toyotas since before I was born.
I have a 95 SL1 and I am praying for the car gods to send me the money for a new vehicle. I hate that car!
I’ve replaced the alternator twice, the belt assembly three times, a CV joint, the driver side automatic window roller-downer, temperature gauge, and several other things. The parts are ridiculously expensive. My wonderful mechanic has said that he doesn’t recommend Saturns if you’re planning on keeping them past the warranty stage, or after about 40,000 miles.
Now my first car was a 72 Toyota Corolla and you simply could not kill that car. It’s probably tooling around town right now.
I considered on once, but I asked the person for the paperwork that they do on these cars. You See, there is supposed to be a database of anything & everything that ever happened or was done on these & you can order the report from them. He said it would take two weeks, but who knows.
I had a '95 SC2 with around 80,000 miles on it. The only problems I had were:
On top of that, the production quality just wasn’t very impressive. (I’ve noticed the same about a lot of GM cars.) The materials on the interior were cheap and flimsy, the dash rattled, etc.
However, it wasn’t a bad car. It was pretty zippy, handled very well, and never had any real showstopping problems.
According to Consumer Reports the ‘93’ S series had average reliability. They recommend anything with average or better. I would recommend getting a Carfax report on any car you buy.
Autooninfo has a scoring system for reliability.
The O’Neils approach the subject a little differently.
Did you check the fuse? I’ve gone through 2 fuses on the cigarette lighter because of what appears to be a poor design. It’s real easy to pop the fuse on those, once with a phone charger and once with a radar detector. I’ve never had that problem on another car, but I have spare fuses now.
epinions.com should also have opinions on cars & just about anything you can buy. I like that site. I read there recently when considering a Kia.
I just bought a 96 SW2 with 73000 miles. I hope it will be a good car. If the Saturn you’re looking at has been well-maintained, it should serve you well.
Realistically, any car you pay $2K for is gonna be older with high miles. Guess what? Old cars with high miles break. Old cars with high miles need things replaced (alternators, hoses, clutches). No matter what you get, Toyota, Honda, Saturn, whatever, you’re probably gonna spend some money on it after you buy it.
And if you had a Toyota, $2000 will fix a lot of stuff. Have you considered that?