are Saturn's reliable or whats up with them? everyone seems to hate

[jalikaria24]

My friend is on the lookout for a car under $2000 cad, trying to find him something with low km's and it seems like its relatively easy to find saturn ion or saturn vue for a good price. I thought saturns would be fine since I believe they were built by gm. However everyone i talk to says there not reliable and garbage.

Is there opinion valid? it just doesnt make sense to me since I know the brand is saturn but the internals seem to be all GM. Is it that gm uses low quality parts for them or something? or is it just people trashing the brand since its discontinuted

thanks!

 

[LenZee]

Watch for rust hidden by plastic panels, and some engines have a small percentage of head cracking.
I had 2 SL models and was able to get 40 mpg out of them easily.

 

[AutoMechanic]

Well their is a reason they are extinct now lol. You do see tons around though. The only place to get parts is the junkyard usually. The few I have worked on have been money pits. Never personally owned one.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

You're better off with an Echo hatchback even if it has twice the km of a Saturn

The Ion is a rebadged Cobalt. The Vue is based on the Equinox/Torrent but came out before them.

Here are some good choices:
Toyhota Echo hatchback
Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix
Suzuki SX4

 

[Trav]

It depend on the model, they had the plastic bomber then rebadged Opels with ecotec in them some V6 and some Honds J35 powered Vue.

 

[chainblu]

My DD is a '92 Saturn. On it's 3rd alternator, 2nd A/C comp. and 2nd belt tensioner. That's it! The A/C blows 37 degree air (R-12) in the Florida summer and gets 39-40 mpg (hwy). I've had several offers to buy it, but I'm going to hang on to it until it dies.

 

[jalikaria24]

You're better off with an Echo hatchback even if it has twice the km of a Saturn

The Ion is a rebadged Cobalt. The Vue is based on the Equinox/Torrent but came out before them.

Here are some good choices:
Toyhota Echo hatchback
Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix
Suzuki SX4

thanks a ton for the info!
i tried looking for those but all seem to hold there value really good. seems like ill have him choose between:
around 2004ish pontiac g5/g6
2004 ish impala
2004 ish dodge neon
maybe a 2006 ish pontiac wave
2005 ish ford taurus
maybe a 2008 ish nissan sentra


i prefer to get him somehting below 180,000 km's just for peace of mind. he also wants automatic transmission which reduces our options
are all of these pretty comparable or is there some on the list that are way more reliable then the others

 

[350Rocket]

I worked at Saturn when they were still common. The s series was great other than oil usage (rings like on Toyota's) and automatics had some valve body issues, but were often actually repairable. We saw a ton of high mileage ones and no blown engines despite many coming in with no oil on the stick at oil change time.

 

[350Rocket]

thanks a ton for the info!
i tried looking for those but all seem to hold there value really good. seems like ill have him choose between:
around 2004ish pontiac g5/g6
2004 ish impala
2004 ish dodge neon
maybe a 2006 ish pontiac wave
2005 ish ford taurus
maybe a 2008 ish nissan sentra


i prefer to get him somehting below 180,000 km's just for peace of mind. he also wants automatic transmission which reduces our options
are all of these pretty comparable or is there some on the list that are way more reliable then the others

2004ish Impala with the 3800 would be my pick from that list.

 

[earlyre]

as 350 Rocket said... from that List the Impala would be my pick...
My nephew has an 05 with the 3400. watch for Rust (15 yr old Canadian car so of course there's Rust), but my Nephews car the Bottom of Both fenders is rusted out. i've not inspected the unibody but that's right where the subframe connects....
He's complaining about poor fuel econ, claiming only around 12mpg, but... I was a 19yr old male once... I suspect a heavy foot, carrying around a bunch of Junk, and possibly some...Deferred maintenance...

from your list... I know the Neon the Best had an '05 (in fact a Buddy's "Little bro" still has it @ Ft. Hood)
I know those are an interference engine... if the timing belt breaks, it's new Motor time unless you are EXTREMELY lucky.
not sure how many of the others have interference engines, but if they do make sure the timing belt has been changed at or near the appropriate intervals. (8 yrs/100k mi) for the neon.

okay... had to look up what a Wave was...down here it was a pontiac G3... really just a rebadged Chevy Aveo.
wow check out this High praise for the Aveo and it's derivatives:

• One of Forbes.com's 'Worst-Made Cars On The Road'
• 'Worst in overall safety' from Consumer Reports
• The Aveo and Aveo 5 placed 2nd and 3rd on Consumer Report's list of 'Worst in Fuel Economy' for subcompact cars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Aveo_(T200)

 

[ripcord]

I would say if you are looking for cheap, dependable, disposable transportation for little $$, then a Saturn S series with a manual transmission is not a terrible choice. Good mileage and lots of examples out there with impressively high miles achieved. A lot of them will burn some oil, but oil is cheap and as long as you don't let it get too low, no big deal.

 

[Kira]

A fellow who sold them told me to consider a manual only. This came from a brief conversation which featured no other details.

 

[jalikaria24]

thanks for the help so far but sadly my friend only wants automatic car

 

[slacktide_bitog]

thanks a ton for the info!
i tried looking for those but all seem to hold there value really good. seems like ill have him choose between:
around 2004ish pontiac g5/g6
2004 ish impala
2004 ish dodge neon
maybe a 2006 ish pontiac wave
2005 ish ford taurus
maybe a 2008 ish nissan sentra


i prefer to get him somehting below 180,000 km's just for peace of mind. he also wants automatic transmission which reduces our options
are all of these pretty comparable or is there some on the list that are way more reliable then the others

TBH I'd take a Toyota with 300k over any of those. They hold their valve for a reason. I found this Echo for $2200 with 183k

The automatic transmission doesn't limit things too much since they're more popular anyway, and many cars are auto-only.

The Taurus and Neon are awful, and a transverse V6 can be impossible to work on. The Pontiac Wave is a Daewoo and not a very good car. They later renamed it G3, but it is still terrible. Ditto the Chevy Optra and Epica, also rebadged Daewoos (in teh US, they were called Suzuki Reno, Forenza, and Verona).

Even if you don't exactly have a wide selection of cars in your price range, just get the least rusty car you can afford

 

[addyguy]

$2k CAD doesn’t buy you much of a car up here, definitely not a safetied one.

Cavalier/Sunfire/Cobalt/G5 might be found for that price in decent shape, or a Focus. With all those you will have to watch for rust.

 

[jalikaria24]

TBH I'd take a Toyota with 300k over any of those. They hold their valve for a reason. I found this Echo for $2200 with 183k

The automatic transmission doesn't limit things too much since they're more popular anyway, and many cars are auto-only.

The Taurus and Neon are awful, and a transverse V6 can be impossible to work on. The Pontiac Wave is a Daewoo and not a very good car. They later renamed it G3, but it is still terrible. Ditto the Chevy Optra and Epica, also rebadged Daewoos (in teh US, they were called Suzuki Reno, Forenza, and Verona).

Even if you don't exactly have a wide selection of cars in your price range, just get the least rusty car you can afford

thansk for all the help! i will for sure avoid those cars and post about a better car if i find!

 

[slacktide_bitog]

thansk for all the help! i will for sure avoid those cars and post about a better car if i find!

To be fair, for under $2000 it's mostly about condition. If you can find a rust-free car that can pass inspection, it's probably worth buying (even if it's a Pontiac Wave/G3)

You'll see cars with under 100k that are piles of scrap, along with cars over 300k that are in good shape. Mileage is not a very good indicator of condition in the low price market.

If low mileage is still a priority, a Buick or other car popular with old people is most likely to meet your requirements, since they usually have low miles /km due to them not driving much.

 

[jalikaria24]

sorry i wanted to add a few more cars that i found with around 150k-180k km in the price range
2005 ish chrysler intrepid
2005 ish chryslyer sebring
2004 ish ford focus
2006 ish dodge caliber

any thoughts on these?

 

[jalikaria24]

To be fair, for under $2000 it's mostly about condition. If you can find a rust-free car that can pass inspection, it's probably worth buying (even if it's a Pontiac Wave/G3)

You'll see cars with under 100k that are piles of scrap, along with cars over 300k that are in good shape. Mileage is not a very good indicator of condition in the low price market.

If low mileage is still a priority, a Buick or other car popular with old people is most likely to meet your requirements, since they usually have low miles /km due to them not driving much.

ahh gothca thanks i just like lower mileage for peace of mind but you are totally right, you cant tell coniditon with mileage


i just want to find him the most reliable car that can last him 2-3 years with minimal repair/no repair at all, he could care less about condition as long as its minor

 

[slacktide_bitog]

You'll have to go by each individual example, each specific car that you find. If you can get one that was maintained and not a pile of rust and in good mechanical and decent cosmetic condition, it's worth considering.

sorry i wanted to add a few more cars that i found with around 150k-180k km in the price range
2005 ish chrysler intrepid
2005 ish chryslyer sebring
2004 ish ford focus
2006 ish dodge caliber

any thoughts on these?

Out of those, I'd pick the Focus, especially if it's a hatchback or wagon. But again, it's about each example. The Focus had a few different engines available in 2004: the SPI, the Zetec, and the Mazda 2.3 that Ford refers to as "Duratec." In 2005, Ford replaced the SPI and Zetec with a 2.0L version of the Mazda motor.

Out of the Chryslers, I'd go Caliber, then 4-cylinder Sebring, then Intrepid, than V6 Sebring. I'm not a fan of transverse V6 due to being hard to workj on, but the Intrepid actually has a longitudinal V6, so it should be easier to work on.