My Saturn Turned 150,000 Miles!

[The Critic]

Actually it happened a few weeks ago, but my '96 Saturn SL2 made it to 150,000 miles!

The Saturn has been in the family since new, and in that time, it has only stranded us twice. Once for a failed alternator at 63k, the other time for a broken serpentine belt tensioner at about 89k.

Over the course of 150k, it has required the following repairs and replacement of these normal wear items:

1) 2 Sets of Front Brake Pads (89k, 147k)
2) Front Brake Rotors (147k)
3) Front Calipers (147k)
4) 2 Sets of Rear Brake Pads (89k, 115k)
5) Alternator (63k)
6) 2 Serpentine Belt Tensioners and Serpentine Belts(89k and 148k)
7) A/C Recharge (Summer 2009)
8) PCV Breather Hose (60k)
9) Starter (102k)
10) Oxygen Sensor, upstream (114k)
11) Transmission Valve Body Cover gasket (50k, but fixed at 98k)
12) Valve Cover and Spark Plug Tube Seals (98k, but was leaking for a while)
13) 3 Motor Mounts
14) 3 Batteries
15) Radiator (129k)
16) Heater Core (~140k)
17) Thermostat, radiator hoses and cap (121k)
18) Water Pump (~147k)
19) F/R Struts and Front Strut Mounts (129k)
20) Rear Sway Bar End Links (Not sure, but definitely before 100k)
21) Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor (never broke, but replaced it before it would cause the infamous driveability problems)
22) Trunk Wiring Harness (wires snapped, friend respliced the wires)

Those are the items that I have fixed. These are the items that are still unresolved:

1) Cruise Control (works intermittently)
2) Intermittent Harsh Reverse Engagement (Valve body issue, but not bad enough to fix)
3) Leaking Power Steering Pump (only slight leak)
4) Headgasket (this one just developed this month, it's an external leak that has been mostly stopped thanks to Bar's Leak's Liquid Aluminum Solution)
5) A/C Compressor Clutch (slight wobble)

And it burns 1 qt of oil every 1200-2000 miles depending on the driving conditions.

So there you have it. That's the Saturn ownership experience so far after 150k. I am actually quite surprised by the amount of repairs and normal wear items it needed to get to 150k, especially since a good portion of these repairs were needed before 100k. We'll see how the Altima fares at 150k, hopefully it will be better.

 

[tinmanSC]

WOW! WHAT A DETAILED LIST!

I'd be feeling pretty good if i kept records even half as detailed as that! That's fantastic!

Grats on 150K miles. How did you go through 3 motor mounts??!?

 

[L_Sludger]

My condolences.

 

[5sfe91]

Congrats man now you have 200k in the future hopefully,

I love my HM car too!

 

[Cutehumor]

critic, you must love that saturn

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
critic, you must love that saturn

Quite far from the truth...

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
critic, you must love that saturn

Quite far from the truth...

 

[hounddog]

Thats a LOT of repairs.My girlfriends Cobalt has had in 145k one serpentine belt at 100k purely maintance.Front brake rotors urned 125k slight vibration,Pads/shoes still had 50% left.One set of spark plugs at 100k maintance,one trans service 100k maintance.One driver's door handle.It broke.Two batteries.Several cain filters.Numerous wiper blades/oil changes by the OLM with any near by Quick lube.Uss no oi between OLM changes.

 

[Jeepster_nut]

Thats ALOT of repairs for that mileage.

 

[rjundi]

You have a long way to go if you can stomach it.

By brother in law finally sold (2000 SW2) his for $300 at 297,000 miles. I would not say it was repair free but still achieved almost 40mpg for him. It had the Saturn standard trunk accessory, case of cheap oil as it consumed quart every 500-1000 miles. Also a bottle of coolant too.

I think some serious rust in "sub-frame" was the last straw for him.

 

[saberz]

Hey don't feel to bad.

My 07 G6 bought used with 30k on it needed the following in the 5k i've driven it.(now 35,742).

-Revised ISS replacement(clunking)
-Coolant Res tank and cap replacement(leaking heavily).
-Front Strut replacement(both were shot, rears probably need it to).
-Front/Rear brakes.
-Strut Links were replaced(boots torn).


Minus the brakes that quite a bit for 5k miles. I replaced the tires as well due to the OEM's being worn.

 

[Virtuoso]

I loved our SL1. Hated popping the hood in the middle of winter to add oil every other tank. One quart every 1.2-2k? Not bad!

 

[JHZR2]

Much of that Id expect. Tensioners may be a function of brand. Ditto for motor mounts. In the MB world, most aftermarket mounts fail REALLY early. Radiator is to be expected. None of our honda or toyota cars could keep a radiator past about 60k, not sure why the saturn would be different (though my chevy radiator is perfect at 60k).

Alternator, wiring harness and a few others are IMO unacceptable, but it is what it is...

 

[shrooms]

Sheesh. The Civic has about 152K and had basic wear 'n' tear replacements and ZERO engine, transmission, electrical repairs.

 

[CourierDriver]

congrats and Happy Motoring,,,,PS add a 16 oz bottle of lubegard from napa to that transmission,,the hard shifiting thing will stop. the universal bottle is the one u want, but ask them first to be sure. I use it in my lead sled 270k miles.

 

[Vikas]

Originally Posted By: Jeepster_nut
Thats ALOT of repairs for that mileage.


I don't have the guts to say that and I certainly don't want to jinx myself.

- Vikas

 

[SLCraig]

LoL @ people thinking that is a lot of repairs.

Me and my 96 have been through that much since 2008.
However, I am basically restoring it because I love it.

I honestly thought a lot of that stuff was pretty standard honestly.
For a car with 150k, water pumps and radiators and starters and things are fairly common.

 

[stockrex]

wow, my 00 honda with 200k miles needed an alternator, 2 wheel bearings (wife hit snow/ice median), front rotors and that is it other than timing belt, water pump et plugs

 

[CivicFan]

That is a lot of repairs. To compare, our 95 Civic had incurred the following expenses when it reached 150k miles:

- routine maintenance items - 3 sets of spark plugs, 3 rotors and caps, 2 sets of ignition wires, oil changes every 5k miles, bleeding of breaks every 2 years, 2 sets of front brake pads and 1 set of rear brake shoes, 2 sets of radiator hoses, ATF change every 60k, 1 timing belt and 1 water pump, wiper blades as needed;
- 3 sets of tires;
- 1 front wheel bearing;
- 1 muffler.

Now I see why people prefer Japanese cars.

 

[addyguy]

I don't think that's bad for a daily-driven, 14-year-old Saturn.

My 2002 Cavalier turned 150k at almost the exact same time as your Saturn did. It hasn't required nearly as many repairs, but to be truthful, this has suprised me, as I expected this car to need a LOT to keep going, but it just hasn't.....

Critic, you say you dislike it, but you are obviousy working hard at keeping it going - how long are you going to keep it going for?