Hi Saturn Enthusiasts!
My parents bought this Red 1994 Saturn SL1 with Manual Transmission in 94, and then handed it down to me in 2004. Recently, my mechanic recommended numerous expensive repairs for it. For me, it wasn't economical to spend that much on a car that will turn 26 at the end of next month. It is still drivable without the repairs, but I don't know for how much longer.
Exterior: In good shape with only a few scratches and one half-dollar sized spot of missing paint on the hood. The front right panel lost some of its fastener points about ten years ago, but it is in no danger of falling off.
Interior: There are a few tears, and some stains. A/C and cassette player still work.
Instruments: The speedometer is dead. The odometer stopped working at 240,681. The current estimated mileage is 261,000. The gas gauge is not very accurate. The tachometer works perfectly, which I use to calculate the speed. The original instrument cluster was replaced with one from a 95 SL1, so instead of an arrow lighting up indicating the driver should upshift, a traction active light appears (the car has no traction control).
Mechanics: The engine starts without trouble and runs smoothly. The transmission and clutch operate smoothly. Brakes are fine. The expensive repairs that were recommended were: both front wheel bearings; three minor oil leaks: cam cover, crank front seal, and oil pan; suspension parts: rear studs, front lower ball joints and outer tie rods.
The car has passed two smog inspections, the most recent being in March of 2018. Both times it was near the maximum allowed for hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide.

The car is in the Los Angeles Area. Lunch money or best offer. Please send me a private message through the forum account. If anyone has any serious interest, I will see if the car will pass a smog test for the certificate. If you want it for parts, I'm sure we can make that work too.

 

That's way too nice for a parts car.

It is a diy special. None of those repairs are terribly difficult, and parts costs are not too bad.

Is this your regular mechanic quoting you all this at one time? It's actually rare in today's world for both bearings to go at the same... unless he is being proactive.

Ball joints on an S car mean replacing the front control arms as they are an integral part of the control arms.

I have never understood how tie rods get diagnosed as bad unless you cannot get the adjustment but free or if it is bent.

Oil pan is likely bleeding oil out the bottom due to rust from the outside getting through.

Do you mean cam cover gasket?

Has mechanic offered to buy it from you?

 

Hi Derf,
Thank you for your advice and wisdom. If it is not already obvious, I'm not much of a mechanic at all, so please bear with me. To answer your questions, a brief history might be helpful:
I took the car religiously to Saturn Dealerships for all maintenance and repairs until they closed. Then, I took the car to a local father and son mechanic shop near me. Despite the father's slightly abrasive personality, they took good care of the car and, to their credit, they saved me money by not recommending any repair that wasn't critical (except the time they put nitrogen filled tires on the car). In August 2018, the 'Service Engine Soon' came on, and using the paperclip trick, the car flashed out that it had a vacuum leak. I took the car to that local mechanic, and I must have caught him on a bad day, because he refused to work on it. He didn't want to dig his OBD-1 reader out of his closest, didn't diagnosis the SES error, and called the car, "that old jalopy." I thought that was the end. In desperation, I took the car to a GM Chevy dealership. The dealership's professionalism and institutionalism came through. They diagnosed the problem, did a smoke test, and because the original part wasn't available anymore, replaced the leaking hose with a hose they cut to size. Since then, I've taken the car back to Chevy dealership.

So the repairs recommended, and the high prices quoted to me are from a Chevy dealership. Naturally, if a part if available from GM, they are probably required to get it from GM at those high prices. Looking over the notes, yes, they recommended replacing the "Lower ball / both control arms." Yes, I meant "Cam Cover Gasket." No, they didn't offer to buy it.

The cost of repairing the car at the dealership is too high to be worth it to me. The number is more than the downpayment on a new car of a similar class. If I knew a local mechanic that I could trust, that might change things, but I don't want to take the car back to the guy who called it "that old jalopy."

As I stated, I'm not a mechanic, and I don't know how to replace any of those parts myself (although in 2013, I did replace the driver's side window regulator myself when that broke, and that was quite the adventure for me). And even if I did know how, I live in an apartment building and have no place where I can work on the car for long periods of time. If somehow I got it all those parts replaced, then six or nine months from now, I might just have another long lost of repairs to make.

If you have any ideas or suggestions, please tell me. It seems to me that if this car has a future, it is with someone who has the resources and knowledge to do what I can't.

 

I agree with derf about that car being too nice to part out. Too bad you don't live here in Hell (where I am). I'd be happy to do those repairs for you at very reasonable prices and you could keep the car for several more years. I have a few salvage yards that I could access any "out of stock" parts for them. Most of what you've described are what I consider "minor" work. If you don't get any bites from anyone here, put it on facebook marketplace and ask about $1,000 OBO and be honest about what it needs. You'll probably get it sold pretty quickly and have some cash in your pocket. It really doesn't need much to be reliable again.

 

Hi Greg!

I agree with the 2 previous posters that your car is far too nice to be used for parts! I, too, am trying to find an adoptive home for my 94 Saturn..it is a SW1 though. I am hoping that both of us can find someone on this forum for our babies, as everyone here seems to be true Saturn lovers and have endless knowledge and skills on how to repair and/or restore them.

Keep your ad running in this forum and be patient for the right home. I know there might come a time when you have to sell it to a non-Saturn person, but give it a chance for a future here!

Best of luck to both of us and our Saturn babies!

 

Hi Derf, Rubehayseed, and vfowler,

After your posts, I took the car to a different mechanic. They made a thorough inspection and then did not recommend replacing any of the parts that the dealership did, although they did recommend replacing different parts (the rear struts), but there was no need to do so before next year. As for the oil leaks, they said my engine was too dirty to determine anything. After a steam cleaning and a week of driving around, the only leak they found was the valve cover gasket, which they were able to fix for about 60% of what the dealer wanted. Thanks to you, I’ll be driving this car until at least the next smog inspection 7 months from now.

I feel quite foolish having had a panic attack after being told that my car’s bearings were about to seize, the rear wheels about to fall off, and the suspension shot. Since I didn’t feel or hear anything wrong with the car, I clearly should have been more skeptical. Thank you. – Greg H.

 

So glad to hear the news, Greg! And so happy that your baby Saturn will be with you for a while longer!

I, too, am glad that I did not listen to the naysayers and some mechanics and even friends who urged me to "get rid of your Saturn" many years ago and many times because they just knew it would fall apart any second.

I am not mechanically-minded like most people here are, but I went with my gut feeling, like you did in the end. If recommendations made sense to me, I certainly did them, but just to junk it without trying to fix it made no sense to me. And for the most part, all fixes have been relatively inexpensive.

I call it my Energizer bunny because it keeps on ticking...with lots of TLC of course.

So trust your gut when your baby needs help, and I have a feeling it will be with you for a good amount of time. Saturns rule!!
Vicki (vfowler)

 

For the record, NEVER take your car to a dealership in the last week of a month. The service writers are trying to meet their quotas, the techs are trying to fill out their hours, and they will insist you need a head gasket if they think they can get away with it.

Source:. Asst Saturn Service Writer, ca. 2000