Saturn Maintenance & Repair
I have a Saturn SL2 from 1997. For the first 3
years, under the maintenance, the car ran perfect.
The contract expired last November(1999)and the
troubles began. The Supentine belt snapped and the
Tensioner had to be replaced. Then the spark plugs
were damaged and the cylinders were broken.
The ignition wires needed cleaning and the engine
housing collapsed. Doesn't this sound odd? The
Saturn dealer closest to our home(in Medford, MA)
advised us to call Saturn and complain. They
responded rudely saying that a car is a machine.
But when I took it to our original dealer, in
Danvers, they advised us that each dealer sets
their own price. We were overcharged!
Our car runs better now but the attitude of Saturn
has left us feeling angry. They started out as
family but now act cold and uncaring.
Just thought you'd like to know.
years, under the maintenance, the car ran perfect.
The contract expired last November(1999)and the
troubles began. The Supentine belt snapped and the
Tensioner had to be replaced. Then the spark plugs
were damaged and the cylinders were broken.
The ignition wires needed cleaning and the engine
housing collapsed. Doesn't this sound odd? The
Saturn dealer closest to our home(in Medford, MA)
advised us to call Saturn and complain. They
responded rudely saying that a car is a machine.
But when I took it to our original dealer, in
Danvers, they advised us that each dealer sets
their own price. We were overcharged!
Our car runs better now but the attitude of Saturn
has left us feeling angry. They started out as
family but now act cold and uncaring.
Just thought you'd like to know.
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
I chose the Saturn LS over the Mazda 626 based on interior room, automatic overdrive versus pushing a button, Mazda's transmission history, and leg room for my tall husband.
If you don't see a posting from me, you'll know everything is fine.
Can you verify that it was a DELCO alternator? Of course, I would expect it to be straight from the GM parts bin, so it would have exactly the same life expectancy we have seen on other GM cars. In which case, your brother's experience is completely typical.
Bruce
dave
I also had to get a new windshield wiper fluid hose, of all things it broke on me without advance notice. I sent a little note to Saturn Customer support to let them know that I am a little disenchanted with my car.
I hope they investigate and make sure this problem doesn't happen to others. Luckily, I was stranded in a good neighborhood and was not in any personal danger. There are plenty of places here where that wouldn't have been true.
it's like of like the horn buttons: The rim is a much better place for it, because in an accident, what do people often do? Honk. If you honk on the rim, the airbag pushes your hands out to the side. No damage. Honk in the middle and your hand gets smashed into your face at 100mph. Saturn moved the horn to the middle eventually, though, because every stupid car reviewer complained about the horn being in a "funny spot."
judith, i'd worry a bit about the gear thing. That shoudln't hapeen in a 5-speed. Like the racking up miles when towed. If that is happening the trans is broken.
BYW, repairs at saturn dealers are supposed to have a 1 year unlimited mile warranty.
dave
The muffler seems rather loud lately.
I'm wondering if maybe I'm paying too much attention to it.
Anyone know if noisy mufflers are common with 97 SL2's.
dave
The oil burning is weird. Some cars do and some cars don't. I heard it was the valve seals that are the culprit, not the rings. I have always used synthetic and now close to 100K miles I go through a quart about every 1200-1500 miles. Theoretically the synthetic should have prevented ring coking.
dave
The car has 150,000 miles. It uses about 1 quart of oil in 600-700 miles. It creaks, rattles and squeaks; the interior trim pieces over the doors have come loose, and rattle. The automatic belt on the driver's side has given up the struggle. The warning chime goes off when the door is open and there's no key in the ignition. The trunk lid rains water down into the trunk when it's opened, even days after a rainstorm. The cupholder broke. The windshield washer stopped working, because the hose had a hole worn in it; the Saturn dealer didn't have another in stock, and had to order it.
(By the way, one frustration has been Saturn's unwillingness to let aftermarket manufacturers offer replacement parts, so everything has to come from the Saturn dealer.)
On the plus side, the car has gotten very good mileage (over 30 mpg with an automatic), and it's been fun to drive.
I don't mean for this to sound like a sob story; I just wanted to offer my experience.
dave
have been broken for a long while. I have not seen this in any other old car I ever owned or drove (quite a few). How many years has GM been making cras (Freud slip), I mean cars... where they don't know how to design washer hoses that will last?
As far as I'm concerned... that's a safety defect amd Saturn should give a new set to anyone who asks...
for free! Yeah right.
As far as alternators go... almost everyone I know with a GM car has had to replace theirs prematurely.
Oil burning... mine does a quart every 400 miles.
Saturns excuse is that the oil was not changed frequently enough in the beginning.
Otherwise it's fun to drive... but I'm getting tired of sitting on the ground with the roof on top of my head feeling like I'm riding a wild horse every time I hit a bump!
You'll find everything you need to (and don't want to) know on your Sattys.
You'll learn about the "normal" overheating temp gauge, oil-burners, top engine mount deterioration, warped rotors, and rattles and vibrations.
We no longer have our 98SW2, mainly outgrew it into an '01 minivan. Bought in 09/97 and 3 years is all I want with this car, before I really have a problem with it (also since it's the wife's and toddlers ride). Saturn too needs to dump the no-haggle pricing, it's an aged concept and a disadvantage in keeping with the competition.
Good luck and enjoy.
An approach you might want to consider is to discuss with the service manager the fact that Saturn engines have a history of siezing oil rings, and tapering cylinder walls, both causing high oil consumption. If either of these is present it should be a warrantable condition. Taking it to another Saturn dealer in hopes of a different response is probably not viable, as all Saturn dealers are computer linked and your vehicle's repair history will show up as soon as they key in the VIN.
Marcina...sell the car....I'm doing excatly the same thing and DONT BUY ANOTHER SATURN EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LET THE BUYER BEWARE WITH SATURN!!!!!!!!!!and don't say you havn't been warned.
The failure of a company to instruct their consumer base of this typical vehicle fault and this type of deceptive practive is certainly the basis for litagation.
I didn't care *THAT* much, i always check my oil every week, and top off if necessary. Everyone should. Of course, i'd prefer if i didn't have to do that! I'd say to just just use normal oil, change it every 3,000 and top it off ar $.70 a quart sale junk whenever necessary. I passed emissions with flying colors, regardless.
Still, you'd think saturn could do better. They've pissed off a lot of people with this issue. Don't get me started on the warp-o-matic brake rotors, though.
dave
Bob
Thanks !
After 8 years of driving Saturns, I'll be leaving for a new Mazda Minivan....if only GM and Saturn had come out with a Saturn Minivan, I would have bought one! Saturn was a great concept that seems to have withered. I hope it can return to it's former glory.
Todd
Saturn dealers no help at all; one I bought it at sez there's nothing they can do unless it's doing it when I bring it in; other dealer far outta town wouldn't work on it when it WAS doing it, b/c I didn't have an appt...
This problem, and the notorious nasty engine noises (especially on high-speed deceleration) bum me out, but overall, I like the car a lot. I can provide a rundown of good and bad points on request, if that'd help anyone.
Anyway, back to the point: WHAT COULD CAUSE INTERMITTENT POWER LOSS ON MY '98 SL2?
As for your flywheel, that probably just overheated from slippage or got gouged by a destroyed clutch plate.
I think if everybody's 1994 Saturn clutches were burning at 15K-17K, we would have heard about it by now, but certainly they could have installed a bad batch.
Dealer I called told me about the problem and that they will pay for part of the costs and towing... (I originally called to ask the price for a head gasket and then he proceeded to tell me about the SL1 problem) (I have a '96)
FYI... (engine oil was leaking into my coolant was the first problem noticed)...
(It has been using oil and my alternator was replaced at about 90,000 miles.)
I bought a used 1995 Saturn SC2 less than a year ago. Brought it in to Saturn for service for it's regular maintenance and was told a year previously the car got a new engine. I thought, "lucky me", 5K later it blew a ring. Saturn told me I didn't change the oil often enough & it was my negligence that caused the piston to blow. On further research I found the car is now on it's 3rd engine (4th owner), total odometer reading is less than 80K. By the way, Saturn is "giving" me a 20% goodwill discount (the previous owner got a 55% discount to replace the engine) so it'll only cost me $4K for a new engine.
I plan to take this to my local consumer news advocate and also contact clarkhoward.com (a nationwide consumer action center) - maybe others should too. At minimum I think Saturn has an obligation to their customers (especially people who've never owned a Saturn) to disclose the engine's oil related issues. My last car was a Nissan & the engine died at 210K miles.