This is most likely to garner opinions or responses of an anecdotal nature, so I’ll move this thread to IMHO.
I had a '93 SL2 (DO NOT get a '92!). It was great. The reason I don’t have it any more because my wife was driving it, and a clown ran a red light and hit her right on the driver’s side door. The result - about
an hour in the emergency room, a few bruises, and nothing else. Our insurance agent said it was the worst damage he had ever seen where someone wasn’t seriously hurt. Saturns have a good body cage.
I bought a '98 SL2 with the insurance money, and it is still doing fine, though I’m a bit leery about the transmission now.
The downside - Saturn is a lot more sucked into GM than they were in '93, and Saturn dealers are not even close to being the quality they were the first time I bought one.
My Dad had a 95’ SL. While I never drove it, because it was a standard, I know he loved it. He never had to have a single repair in the three years he owned it. However, he did not get another one, though, because they wouldn’t give him anything much for trade in. He ended up getting more for it as a trade in from another dealership, and hasn’t bought another since.
More anecdotal evidence: I’ve owned/leased four Saturns in the last five years, so you could say Mrs. Lorenzo and I are sold on the concept. For the past several years Saturn has had the highest CSI rating per J.D. Powers. Our dealer is top notch. I bought my first Saturn used, a five year old '93 with 60,000 rounds. I traded it in at about 90,000 miles when I first felt the clutch start slipping. The second one was a three year lease that accumulated only 18,000 miles. Saturns three and four are currently in use on three year leases.
None of the above, however, will apply to you as you will most likely be buying an older, high mileage vehicle. Cars with more than 70,000 miles of any make or model scare the hell out of me. Alternator, starter, battery, tires, suspension, rack and pinion, a/c condenser, fuel injector(s), exhaust, constant velocity joints, heater core, water pump, you name it, it’s all fair game.
The retail price and labor of buying the parts that wear out or fail in a used car is so much greater than the value of that used car, it’s just a question of when the vehicle crosses the line from asset to liability. Some cars are used up at 70,000 miles. Others can give good service through 200,000 miles or more.
Before purchasing a higher mileage vehicle, I would want to see all the maintence receipts, which is probably impossible unless it’s a one-owner vehicle. If the previous owner did all the recommended maintence at the recommended intervals, the engine and transmission will probably last longer. But there are so many things other than engine/trans that can go wrong, it’s really a crapshoot.
If you’re looking for a car that’s going to give good service significantly longer than 100,000 miles, IMHO how the car has been driven and maintained is just as if not more important than the year, make and model of the vehicle. No matter what you buy in that price range, you’re taking a risk.
I have a 1999 basic-model four-door five-speed manual and love it. However, it doesn’t have 60K on it yet. I have always had very excellent and courteous service from Saturn of Gaithersburg.
Lorenzo has good advice: “…how the car has been driven and maintained is just as if not more important than the year, make and model of the vehicle.” While I wouldn’t go quite that far, I do agree that the maintenance and operation history is very, very, very important.
“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.”
I always thought so too, but then I was looking at a '88 Acura Legend the other day & looked it up at edmunds.com, Etc, & there were a lot of people who bought it with more than 120k miles on it & said they worked just fine & that they didn’t have to put any parts in it. This car got 4.5 stars out of 5 & that’s recently. So for a car that old, that’s pretty neat. It’s only $2000 too 
** Opal ** I’d go with the Toyota…I don’t know too much about Saturns, but Toyota’s are scary cause they last so long. My last fiance had a 1988 Camry with about 260,000 miles on it, it still had the same engine. IIRC, the only thing that needed replacing was the battery, spark plugs and brake pads.
Current boyfriend spent a lot of time in rural South America and the have the little Toyota pickups from late 1970ish and they’re still going strong…
Good luck w/ car shopping
Hondas aren’t bad either
What can you buy for 2,000 dollars nowadays? Get whatever you can that moves.
I have a Saturn wagon, a '97 SW2. I love it, and I’ve never had anything but prompt and courteous service from my dealer when I go in for oil changes and regular maintenance.
I haven’t had any problems at all.
IMHO, I’d prefer a Honda over a Toyota, but that’s just me. I had two Hondas before this Saturn, and both were great. Look around and see if you can find a Civic. I doubt you’ll find an Accord for $2,000, though.
My mom bought a 5-year-old used Toyota Camry a few years ago and the damn thing has been nickeling and diming her to death.
I would look into Nissan Sentras as well. My wife has one with 130,000 miles. We had to replace the alternator last year but other than that it refuses to die. You can tell the car had a hard life but it still runs well. It always starts right up and doesn’t stall. I like it more than my Ford Probe which has only 50,000 miles.