2002 Saturn L-Series Consumer Reviews

2002 L100 personal owners review

Written by: 86racer on 04/19/2008

Vehicle

2002 Saturn L-Series L100 4dr Sedan (2.2L 4cyl 4A)

Review

I bought this car a few years ago to replace an older Saturn that finally got to a point it was not worth replacing the transmission. The original 97 Saturn was ready to retire, and was replaced with this one. And it was a very good choice. Right now I have 135k miles on it, and I just replaced the original brake pads/rotors! It has a power steering leak but other than that the car owes us nothing. It has never left us walking, and gets 30+ mpgs. I will definatley buy another Saturn when the time comes

Favorite Features

No real favorite features other than the fact the car has required almost zero maintenance other than oil changes.

Suggested Improvements

Saturns are starting to get a little expensive when new, but I guess thats the way it works. But I will only buy them a year or 2 old.

3 out 3 people found this review helpful

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A good basic car

Written by: A good car on 04/08/2008

Vehicle

2002 Saturn L-Series L200 4dr Sedan (2.2L 4cyl 5M)

Review

I enjoyed owning this car. It performed well. A basic car and the anti-lock brakes saved my life once. You can steer even in a skid with these style brakes - so I avoided a collision. It had nice leather seats, and seat warmer that was nice to have in the winter. A good sound system. OK fuel economy. Could be a little quieter. My steering wheel also squeaked a little in turns. Only repairs in 5 years was the ignition key lock went out ~$400 by AAA in house repair. I believe the key repair man messed something up (shorted something- cause the next week I had to have $600 computer brain module replaced. Six months later my daughter totaled the car- but in the accident she was safe

Favorite Features

Comfortable ride - seat warmers in winter. Safety The factory stereo sounded very nice, with 6 cd changer, cassette am/fm stereo and equalizer included.

Suggested Improvements

Ignition key - should have been a recall judging by what I read on the internet. I also had issues with the ignition locking up (couldn't turn the key) but if you jiggled the steering wheel it would then work. After 5 years the ignition key switch went out completely. Squeaky steering wheel

2 out 2 people found this review helpful

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Reliable

Written by: Bruce K. Hoerner on 04/05/2008

Vehicle

2002 Saturn L-Series L100 4dr Sedan (2.2L 4cyl 4A)

Review

This car has been so reliable in the past 4 years that we have owned it. Everything works fine and I am comfortible in it. The only thing that I have run into is you have to watch the oil level between oil changes. The gas mileage on this car has been great. A 32 plus per gallon average on city and highway combined. I would recommend this car to anyone who would ask.

Favorite Features

Plenty of trunk space. Very good pick- up on acceleration. All the guages and easy to work the instruments.

Suggested Improvements

Raise the seats up. They are too low.

3 out 3 people found this review helpful

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6 years and no issues!

Written by: It's Been Great!! on 03/23/2008

Vehicle

2002 Saturn L-Series L300 4dr Sedan (3.0L 6cyl 4A)

Review

After 6 years, I have not had any major issues with this car. The car has been great - we intend to keep it until it falls apart. I bought an extended warranty which was used only once - a costly repair to the brake system which would have cost more than the warranty. This is our 2nd Saturn and we would buy another if they got better gas mileage (although when we bought this V6 gas was not $3.50 a gallon).

Favorite Features

Comfortable and roomy. Good size trunk, rides smoothly, good acceleration.

Suggested Improvements

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Looking for something else.

Written by: groingo on 03/14/2008

Vehicle

2002 Saturn L-Series L200 4dr Sedan (2.2L 4cyl 5M)

Review

I got this car used and did get a copy of its service record and immediately noticed that many things the dealer said they had replaced no 30 days ago had not. The car is in very good shape no thanks to the dealer, has decent interior room and good trunk space but my Cavalier interior is 100% better quality, material fit and finish than the Saturn. The exterior is another area where nothing seems to fit with door gaps of half an inch here and 1/8 the there, just very sloppy. When I jacked the car up to inspect the brakes the chassis flexed so bad none of the doors or hood would open. Long story short, it gets decent mileage, everything works (for now) so for sale it goes. Never again.

Favorite Features

Good trany decent motor.

Suggested Improvements

Those that design them need to own one and maybe the might be competitive. This is what I call GM's K car.

2 out 2 people found this review helpful

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My saturn keeps breaking!

Written by: Tdcanales on 02/18/2008

Vehicle

2002 Saturn L-Series L200 4dr Sedan (2.2L 4cyl 5M)

Review

Problem with my Saturn L-200 series 4- dr sadan is that first the sunroof went out then the mechanism that you put your key into quit turning (which meant I could not turn the key to start it) and you can never keep a comfortable temp when using the heat or air. The way the windows fog up on the outside and theres nothing you can do b/c its on the outside! The right back break light has a short in it not to mention the left tail light seems to need me to hit it a few times for it to come on... I will never buy one again. p.s. ALWAYS ASK FOR A HISTORY REPORT!!! Found out my car had welding damage 2 yrs after I bought it the same dealership would only offer $3,000 when I paid $13,000...

Favorite Features

5 disc CD Player. Seat warmers. Window controls on middle console.

Suggested Improvements

what ever happened to quality not quantity? I would rather have a car that had quality features than feature that break right after the warranty runs out... how convenient!

1 out 1 people found this review helpful

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Has been a great vehicle

Written by: Kevin on 02/12/2008

Vehicle

2002 Saturn L-Series LW300 4dr Wagon (3.0L 6cyl 4A)

Review

We have had this LW 300 since it was new. We got all the bells and whistles including the DVD player with premium sound system, leather interior, etc. The car has never left us stranded on the road and runs strong every day. Great interior space and design. Stereo sounds amazing. We have had no problems with this car in the first 60,000+ miles and have no fear that it will let us down anytime soon. Have been running full synthetic oil since the first oil change.

Favorite Features

Great power and economy out of the V-6 engine. Kids love the DVD player, as it also works to plug game systems in for those long drives. Great looking wheels. Interior looks as good now as it did when new.

Suggested Improvements

Improve the "vent" feature of the climate control system. Unless we run AC, the air in the "vent" setting is never cool, even when the day is cool. Must run through a warm area of the engine compartment. Not a big complaint, but it was all I could think to suggest.

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This Is My Last Saturn

Written by: Last Saturn Owner on 08/29/2007

Vehicle

2002 Saturn L-Series L200 4dr Sedan (2.2L 4cyl 5M)

Review

This is my second Saturn. I had ran up 172,000 miles in my old Saturn SL2 with only about 3 trips to the dealership in 5 years. When I bought the new Saturn, I ended up having to return the car the same day I bought it for new front tires (belt blew). In the first year that I owned the car, $2,000 worth of repairs were put into it. Saturn Customer Service/Corporate was of no help. Second year, I ended up with an after market warranty (pd $1,700 for it) but, another $2,000 worth of repairs in the second year. Now, I am having problems with induction icing that no one can seem to fix (resulting in a stuck accelerator in the winter). Two more payments and the car is history. Never again...

Favorite Features

ABS, traction control, six air bags, great heater!!!

Suggested Improvements

Send it back through the assembly line and try again.

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Perfect Sized Wagon

Written by: Wag on 06/01/2007

Vehicle

2002 Saturn L-Series LW300 4dr Wagon (3.0L 6cyl 4A)

Review

This car has turned out to be a perfect fit, and I don't even know what car would be comparable. There are so few wagons out there and none this roomy. I find my Saturn wagon is roomier than many SUVs. I feel safe in my wagon and it has been very reliable.

Favorite Features

Interior space, nice dash set-up

Suggested Improvements

The window controls are a little oddly positioned, but work OK since driver and passenger can reach them.

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Outstanding Mileage

Written by: T. Stall on 04/20/2007

Vehicle

2002 Saturn L-Series L200 4dr Sedan (2.2L 4cyl 5M)

Review

Stick shift, 38 MPG mixed city highway driving in summer. 40+ on straight highway driving. Drops off by about 3-4 MPG in winter. Best economy you could wish for. Low maintenance. Change the oil and drive it.

Favorite Features

Nice handling. Sure footed on wet surface or snow.

Suggested Improvements

2 out 2 people found this review helpful

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