I need a work car to drive 80 miles round trip every day.  I found a 1993 Saturn 4 cylinder 16 valve 1.9 liter.  It has 87,000 miles on it and it runs great and is very clean.  Is there any reason I shouldn't buy it for 3695?  I don't know anything about saturns so I am asking.

i don't know anything about saturns either except the following:

friend of fiance had a saturn, alternator went out.  what should have been a normal do-it-yourself fix, turned into a $900 shop job because the engineering required the alternator to be place UNDERNEATH the engine.  the engine had to be rocked to gain access to the alternator.  caveat:  since i know nothing about saturns i don't even know if this is true.  but i wouldn't want to find out the hard way.

second thing:  no power.  not that i need a 700hp stock car engine, but i want to be able to get out of the way of the semi in the right lane when i'm merging on the highway.  also, there's nothing more irritating to me than a car that pulls out in front of me on the highway and he's only going 35!   and it takes him a full mile to hit 40!!!!!!!

and finally, i won't drive a car again (excepting my dream car).  after driving a truck for the past 6 years i don't feel comfortable (or safe) sitting with my arse dragging the ground and being in the line of fire for every other vehicle's bumper.

of course, that last one is just my personal opinion and is only loosely related to the saturn.

I've owned 2 Saturns, a 1992 SL1 and a 1994 SL2.  They were both great cars and I would still have the SL2 if I hadn't needed a truck.  I say go for it.

-kill-9

My dad and my wife have both owned Saturns with high miles (> 150,000) and neither of them have ever had significant problems with them.

Yes they're small and somewhat anemic, but they get decent gas mileage and are fairly reliable.

I vote yes, because they are a decent car.  I had friends with a '94 that served them very well.  Friends car had a manual transmission so it wasn't too slow as long as you wound the engine up a little.  Only negative I noted was the lack of gutters on the roof caused water to fall into the seat when the door was opened on a rainy day.  As far as the price goes I haven't a clue what they're worth.

As far as serviceability goes: I haven't yet found a front wheel drive that is easy to service.

The only thing I can say to counter ARLady's post is think of the gas money you save if you don't get killed.  And on the bright side, if you do get killed you won't ever have to go to work again.

Ian

I would consider it. My last car was a 93 saturn SC1. I had it until it was totalled last december, it had 186,000 miles on it and I was still driving it 110 miles a day. The SOHC engines are really reliable but not known for their performance. It was still getting about 37 mpg when it was totaled. I wouldn't reccomend the DOHC models because saturn had a lot of problems with their early DOHC engines. The price seems a little high. It would have to be in really good shape and have maintanence records at that price. I replaced mt saturn witha 93 acura integra. The integra is the ar-15 of the car world, there is no limit to the number of accessories. And I wanted a faster car.

THe above alternator problem had to be due to a bad service station. I personally replaced my alternator and I have also replaced one on my sisters 92 SL2 (her DOHC engine sucks) and neither job should take a decent mechanic more than 3 hrs. It is hard because the alternator is behind the engine down low. But it is pretty easy to service from below. The alternator on my integra is harder.

I have a '91 SL2 and a '95 SL2 Wagon.  I bought them both new and they've been GREAT cars.

1) I don't know what ARLady is talking about wrt the alternator.  The only problem I've had with either car was a dead alternator (about 6 years after I bought the '91) -- cost me a little over $100 to install a replacement.

2) FWIW, I have 2 early DOHC Saturns and have never had any problems with them.

3) Yes, indeed they don't have a lot of power but they seem to have as much as many other small cars I've driven.

- CD

i wondered about this.  of course, there could have been other things wrong/needing to be replaced that added to the cost.

I had a Saturn and loved it.  Fun to drive, great gas mileage, reliable.  It had enough power for a little car like that.  I had to sell it and get a minivan when we had more kids, but often still wish I had kept the Saturn too.  It would be a perfect car for long range commuting.

Go for it.  Today gas mileage is getting extremely important.  I'm thinking about selling my Jeep TJ for something which rides better and better gas mileage.  12-13mpg in a jeep is expensive.  

Try this url:

[url]www.kbb.com[/url]

Just for fun I priced it as if it was in Chicago:

[url]http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/kw.kc.ur?kbb;957412&;p&722;Saturn;1993%20SC1&10;SN;A4&[/url]

I know a guy who has had Saturns for many years & has been very happy with them.  On the other hand he took his daughter to the same dealer to buy a used Saturn & the sleazy dealer sold her one that had been through a flood.  Needless to say, he will not be buying any more Saturns from them.  He's a fairly influential guy in his community so they are going to loose a lot of sales over that one.  BTW, they did go back to the dealer & talked to them about it & got no satisfaction so it's not as if the dealer did not have a chance to make it right.

Go for it Bob.  I sold my '64 Thunderbird (another story) to purchase a '93 SL from the factory.  250,000+ miles later I sold it for market price ($600).  Big mistake.  I had over 45 people call in 3 days hoping to get this car.  I should have sold it for twice that since the man I sold it to simply drove it 3 miles and put a new price tag on it for $2300.  Sheesh.  It was clean, but burning oil like a monster, and still getting me 126 miles a day to and from work.  I miss that little car since it handled like a gocart and saved my bacon on at least 3 separate occassions.  Never had to do anything more than replace brakes, alternator (not for $900), and battery plus the usual stuff like tires.

-White Horse

i've got an '85 chevy citation II i can make you a helluva deal on.

[url]www.autotrader.com[/url]
[url]www.kbb.com[/url]

The engines for < 10yo vehicles will last 200k+ miles, with oil changes every 3-4k miles.  With a 10yo vehicle, expect maintance costs, split axles, boots, brakes, water pump, timing belt (and anything else I've missed) which all seem to go out at 100k.  These costs are $2-3k for a saturn.

If the interior is in very good condition go for it.

Right about at that mileage, the fuel pump is known to go out on Saturns.  I don't remember how much the repair was because it was covered under the extended warrenty.  Beer_Slayer is also right about them burning oil, so carry some with you in the trunk.  Other that that, it will go forever if you do the regular oil changes.

Saturns don't use a timing belt.  They use a chain.

I worked at the Saturn dealership in Omaha, NE for almost a year.  On the showroom floor sits a '93 SL1 w/ 275,000 miles on it.  The guy loved it so much he traded it in on a '97 SL1.

Insurance is L-O-W because they are very safe. IIHS ratings help to determine insurance policy.  Check them out.  Resale value is high.  Scratch and ding resistant (part of our demonstration was to pound on the doors or fender HARD w/ no dents.  We also jumped up and down on a spare door panel to show how tough they are) due to the polymer panels.  Gas mileage is wonderful.

If it only has 87,000 miles on it, I'd say check the service history.  If it was serviced at Saturn, they have a record of it, and can give you all the service history that they have (pray the guy you're buying it from serviced it there).

CB,

I just got rid of my 1993 Saturn SC2.  I unloaded it with 209,000 miles on it.  Not one problem until the end.  It was very reliable.

I had a 93 SL2 . I bought it with 80 some thousand miles and sold it with 230,000 miles for a 1000 bucks . As far as I know it's still running .