Any Saturn V-6 owners?

[JGmazda]

Hi guys,
I have an option to purchase a 2000 Saturn Wagon with a 3.0(?) V6 engine. I heard somewhere that Saturn had a timing chain problem.

Question- Are these engines any good? V6 only. What advice would you give me in regards to buying this car? It's well maintained and has 76K on it. Am I asking for headaches?

Thanks! Appreciate your advice!

 

[ThirdeYe]

I remember reading some reviews on those cars and they usually get really poor reviews because so many things tend to go wrong, especially with the electrical system it seems. I haven't really seen any complaints about the motor though. I'd stay clear if I were you though.
http://www.edmunds.com/saturn/lseries/2000/consumerreview.html
I'm assuming it's the L-Series, if not, try looking up some reviews before you purchase, it could help a lot

They seem to be really hit-or-miss.

 

[GearGuy]

www.saturnfans.com
Check the forums.

 

[WishIhadatruck]

Here is another source for common issues with a specific model of car.

 

[Anduril]

www.carsurvey.org is another one, nothing but reviews from actual owners.

 

[JGmazda]

Wow... THANKS GUYS! After reading about it more, I've decided to not purchase. Too many issues and expense. Especially with the dealer parts and working difficulties.

Thanks everyone for the heads-up! You guys are great!

 

[Seth]

3.0 DOHC v6 was made in ellesmere port, england by vauxhall. It was designed by Opel and was used in various shapes and form in Saab 9-5, Cadillac Catera and Opel omega. L-series was based on platform originally designed for vectra-b. BTW, both opel and vauxhall are you guessed it owned by GM. It is a great car and gave me trouble free 115k miles when I had it. I dumped it but in retrospect, engine was the best part of the car. Rest was dinosaur but plastic panels are rust proof. Very safe car too. It endured couple of brutal crashes and a truck was totalled leaving me with slightly bent frame rail. Only problem that was endemic on these v6s were that oil cooler seals leaked which was fixable. BTW, these things have kevlar reinforced timing belts and not timing chains (2.2 ecotec has chain)

 

[JGmazda]

Seth, good to know... Thanks! But I think the Car I'm looking at might not be so great... $75 k and I've read it's not much better to keep these things past 100K. (Unless you like spending lots of $$$)

 

[The Critic]

Oil Leaks. Expensive Timing Belt. Suspension problems in the VUE itself. Body Control Module (BCM) problems, very expensive. VUEs aren't really good buys...

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

The so-called mid-size Saturn L series isn't a bad car, assuming you've purchased a 2003 or newer. The 2000-2002 had electrical problems and other goofy issues.

IMO, the real sleeper is the 2000-2003 L series with the Ecotec 4 cyl engine mated to the 5 speed manual. Not many of these exist unfortunately.

However, my friend owns a 2002 L series with the V6 and hasn't had a single problem in 3 years. Go figure.

To a point, I agree with The Critic about the Vue not being a good buy. The 2006-2007 were the best models as much of the little nonsense was worked out by then. My 2004 needs anti-roll bar bushings every 20K or so as it likes to crunch like a breakfast cereal at every bump. The BCM was replaced once under warranty. And the Honda V6, which is a blessing, will require a new timing belt every 100K or so....

 

[Brogy]

I may be just me, but a v6 saturn seems like a contridiction. I thought the market for them was for people who wanted cheap, reliable, no frill cars.

 

[BGK]

I have a 2001 V6 Saturn. Actually 2001 IS the best year. The fuel tank was enlarged (it was too small previously) and side curtain airbags became available. I read that 2002's and later years had the automatic transmission slightly downgraded in quality (at least on the V6). The last couple of years the front end styling was horrendous, in my opinion. Mechanically mine has been pretty good since new but GM screwed up a European car that could have been a success.

 

[NYEngineer]

My wife has a 2001 L300 with that euro six. At about 75,000 miles it lost the oil cooler. The entire cooling system filled with oil. I took the cooler out, Plugged the ports and ran an external air to oil cooler. Car now has 105,000. I bought spark plugs for it and for the first time realized I need to disassemble the outer portions of the intake manifold and remove the valve covers to access the plugs. Wow.
We went to the dealer to buy a new Outlook. When we told the salesman what other Saturn we had, he chuckled and said "Oh, that's the Opel six". I didn't like his attitude so we ordered a GMC Acadia instead.
The L300's been very dependable and trouble free, aside from the oil cooler and one failed fuel pump. It's serving now as my stepdaughter's first car. A fitting end.

 

[DriveHard]

Quote:

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Oil Leaks. Expensive Timing Belt. Suspension problems in the VUE itself. Body Control Module (BCM) problems, very expensive. VUEs aren't really good buys...

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Please state a year with your statements. They switched from a GM sourced V6/trans. to a Honda sourced V6/trans. in 2004. Here is the reliability in 2004.

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/reliability.aspx?year=2004&make=Saturn&model=VUE

 

[RippyMan]

I saw an L-Series of this vintage that had conked out in the driveway at the post office. I have no idea of whether this was caused by owner neglect or poor design. Either way, it certainly doesn't improve my opinion of these cars. I don't believe that it was a V6, because it was lacking the V6 emblem.

 

[The Critic]

I was referring to the pre-2004 models mainly. But the BCM problem was still an issue with some of the 2004 models. And the timing belt is still pricey with the Honda 3.5.