Hello! I'm a noob... Just got a 2004 L300
 

Hello! I'm Ryan but my nickname is Hooch and I purchased a 2004 Saturn L300 today. It's a 4 cylinder and I'm excited to get good gas mileage! I just sold a 2002 Ford Escape with a V6 to get this car and honestly wasn't all that excited. But then again who is about getting an economy car... But after picking up the car and driving it around a bit today it has grown on me. It's a very decent car. So if anyone has tips for these cars... What goes wrong... What not to fix... Etc. Let me know... It's good to have an active forum for Saturns here. I look forward to browsing and learning about my 'new' car.

Btw I'm a musician so if anyone digs music search for the band Achachay. We are funky and fun original music! Take care.


Hooch

Welcome to the forum, Hooch. Other than keeping an eye on your oil level, Saturns have proven to be damned good cars. It's a shame that GM didn't get behind the brand better and try to keep the public interested. Most guys I know at the part stores tell me that they don't sell many parts for them. Most requests are for Chevys and Fords.

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Welcome to the Forum -- but I do have a minor comment --> the 2004 L 300 series are all 6 cylinder engines, not 4 cylinder (L300 = 3 liter 6) ... More likely, you have the L200

Yep kinda like my 1965 Camaro with the 442 package 4cly,4speed,twin turbo, a 4cly L300 was not built.

Welcome to the Saturn Forum

welcome

Thanks for the welcome!

Wierd wild stuff going on if this isn't an L300. Well it definitely has a 4 cyl. I changed the plugs and gave it a one over yesterday. I swear it said L300 on the back of the car as well... I'm too lazy to go look at it right now but I'll check in the morning. It's strange that the dealer would have incorrect information as they would get the information from the VIN. We will see tomorrow.

It's good to hear there are few problems with Saturns in general. I think I need to balance the tires. There is a bit of a vibration above 65 mph. The car was towed behind a coach for several years so who knows the last time the tires were balanced.. There is also a dull roar that I didn't notice when driving it before but it could just be road noise. It's not very loud but starts from 15 mph and stays basically consistent at any speed. I'm pretty picky about noises so it's probably nothing... .

Check, balance, rotate, and if necessary, replace the tires -- your "roar" will probably go away...

Hi there and welcome to the home of "no longer being made" Saturns and stray noobs.
As stated, new to you car and dull roars can be a bit hard to track down. One of which can be tires. To my way of thinking dull roar is generally a noisy tire tread pattern or a wheel bearing (front or rear) in some form of a failure mode. Some of the other things pointed out to might be also generally cause a vibration that can be felt either through the steering wheel or through the seat of your pants or some times just seeing something vibrate like the rear view mirror or something on the dashboard.
I bought a new Mitsubishi with Yokohama tires on it one time. It had a dull roar to it from day one which was the tire tread pattern. I was too cheap to buy new tires so some where about 32,000 miles later when the 1st tire wore far enough to justify replacing it, I bought 4 new tires and never bought a Yokohama tire again.
If you can put the car in neutral at speed and the dull roar does not change, what ever it is it is not being caused by the engine which eliminates one possible source.

Welcome to the Saturn Forum.