I bought a new '96 SL in December '95. Now has 210K on the clock, mostly city miles. Its been a damn good car. I have spent very little money on it for repairs. Its only been at the dealer twice, otherwise I have been able to fix it myself. It still has the original rear brake shoes (getting thin) and original hoses. Engine and trans don't leak any oil on my driveway.

I've had to replace the alternator, starter, radiator, fuel injectors, a few sets of plugs, both O2 sensors,water pump (twice) fan belt, front pads (twice) clutch hydraulic actuator, CTS sensor, battery(5 times Arizona is a battery killer), many tires and a cooling fan. thats it in 15 years! Had a couple of other things break that I was able to fix with no parts.

I change oil every 6K or so. It needs a quart between changes. Love them 5 quart jugs!
Still runs great, but lately mileage has dropped from 35mpg to 27 mpg, I'm suspecting CTS sensor.

This is nearing the end of my experiment I'm afraid. I bought the Saturn because at the time it was the most reliable small U.S.A. made car, and didn't have a timing belt to change every 80K. I decided to not waste money changing out parts and servicing things until they acted up or failed. Looking back I saved a couple grand probably.

How long can this thing stay running? I kinda want to get a new car, but I want to see how far it will go before a major repair makes me put her down.

 

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It'll keep running as long as you keep maintaining it. I bought one about five or six weeks ago with 291,000 showing on the odometer. It still runs good and looks pretty good too. I plan on keeping it around until I can no longer find parts for it. A little maintenance here and there is still a LOT cheaper than a new car payment.

 

Like a wife, it's cheaper to keep her.

 

Evan if you rather not.

 

Hello and welcome to the Saturn Forum...............

 

Wow, 291K! Maybe I can milk this thing out a few more years. And it is NOT cheaper to keep her, I got divorced 6 months ago, and the child support payment is half or less of the money she blew every month!

 

Parents are going through that, not fun.
I agree with proper maintenance, about a year ago my grandfathers car (sitting for about one and a half years) fell into the hands of me, a 17 y/o with a heavy foot. mainly a city car, but for the past 15K hard driven miles all ive done is some proper maintenance (with the exception of a few mods.) and it still starts everyday, runs great, and still beats alot of the fart cans that try to race off a light.

 

As to how long the can last, dunno. I'm the second owner on mine a 94 purchased in 96. I don't have the miles though. AZ is also hard on tires, clear coat paint and plastic. But up in Cottonwood a friend ran a wrecking yard and would salvage wrecks, and sell them rent to own. Made a fortune off of Saturns. As he said at the time, love'm. Easy to fix and they run forever on neglect. I've gottem out there with 400,000 miles. Not really in agreement on the neglect part but the danged things are sure nice cars. Too bad GM's plan for the road to profitablity did not include selling cars. Something that used to be an objective of a car company.