Used 1997 Saturn S-Series Consumer Reviews
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Awesome car
I bought my SC2 with 120,000 miles on it and it has been the best little car. This is my second saturn and i rate the second one higher than the first. I had to put a valve cover gasket and fuel filter in which the cover gasket was the only non-routine thing. SO after about a total of $55.00 and an afternoon under the hood i have a best car. I would NOT recommend visiting saturn dealerships for service. The people in the service department "dance around" the problem and will drive you crazy.
The only Reliable American Car
I have owned a couple of Saturns and they have all been great. I am speaking of the reliable aspect of the vehicle. My first Saturn (1993) I sold to my sister and she still drives it today with 240K on it. My current Saturn has 220K on it. It runs very well and I have to put nominal money into it- just regular maintenance. There is road noise like wind, tire, and engine however. That I can do without. But, when you drive a honda, it is no different. The only difference is the Saturn is American and is much cheaper to repair.
1997 Saturn SL
Bought this car new from Saturn of Albany. These cars have similar problems that go wrong, like coolant temperature sensors/tensioner pulley/burning oil in later years/EGR valve cleaning/ throttle body cleaning/upper motor mount/ etc. These cars are easy to work on and inexpensive to own if you do your homework.. I now have over 180,000 miles on my Saturn and expect it to last another 180,000 miles.
Lemon
I had originally purchased my saturn with the hopes that it would last me several years and well over 100,000 miles. I been extremely disappointed with its performance. I have had to replace the alternator, air conditioning system, emissions system, head gasket, both rear cylinders, all 4 pistons and rings, motor mount and now having to replace the entire engine and the car hasn't even turned 80,000 miles yet. I wonder if the whole thing is just going to fall apart soon.
Best car ever owned
We had to sell our truck when we found out we were going to be parents. We decided to look for a small car that would be good on gas and most important a reliable car. We took a look at this green saturn wagon and decided it was great so we bought it. It has been the best car we could have imagined. It now has 157,000 miles on it and still runs great. I have had to replace the ECT, crank posistion sensor, and just maintaince stuff which if pretty easy on this car. Even with the AT I get 38+ MPG on the highway, and highway driving is almost all I do. It was really nice when gas was 4 bucks a gallon to have this car. The brakes are the second set and still at 40%. I love it