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That’s an awesome review! My mom owned a 1999 Saturn SL2 for ten years. I drove it in high school/college until I could afford my first car. I didn’t like the car that much but it was good on gas and it survived over a dozen hail storms before we finally had a storm that actually could put a dent in it.
Thanks. Glad it was a good car for you and your Mom. The S-Series' hood, roof, and trunk, of course, being of sheet-steel and not having the advantage of the plastic side-panels, was not quite as dent-resistant, but was still like a tank compared to the unbelievably thin sheet metal used today (for weight and cost reasons) even on some premium luxury-vehicles. In my own condo-development, I can't park in my (assigned) parking-space, under a big oak tree, from late August through early October because of dropping-acorns and dings...only the squirrels benefit from that LOL. For about six weeks or so, I have to use an unassigned space (if open and available) away from the tree.
As far as the S-series side-panels go, even baseball bats couldn't dent them...as the Saturn reps would demonstrate at auto shows, and I myself, at the show, verified.
I agree with you, though, that the S-Series, itself, was nothing special to drive...aside from its reliability and interesting/innovative features, it was basically just another GM compact sedan, with a 4-speed automatic that drove and felt more like a CVT than a conventional 4-speed. And the early S-series were quite noisy...much better by 1999.
The one thing I disliked the most on the 1999 version was those awful (and awkwardly-located) horn-buttons...do you agree?
Hands down the noisiest car i ever experienced on the highway. A friend had one. He took me some distance once and all that noise was exhausting.
I had a girlfriend who had an SL1 Saturn, I drove it back to DC from Ann Arbor, MI with all of her worldly belongings. Man, was it loud and terrible on the highway...yikes.
She made it worth my while though LOL
Oh and Mike, that picture you posted. That was part of the customer retention system I used to sell to car dealerships back then, pretty cool to see that!
I had a girlfriend who had an SL1 Saturn, I drove it back to DC from Ann Arbor, MI with all of her worldly belongings. Man, was it loud and terrible on the highway...yikes.
Must have been one of the early ones. Yes, they were known for engine-racket. And, though I'm not positive on this, from what I remember, I think the SL-2 also had a little more sound-insulation for the higher price. And that 1.9L engine, by 1999, though, had had a lot of improvements.....including more refinement.
She made it worth my while though LOL
I take it you two tied the knot?
Oh and Mike, that picture you posted. That was part of the customer retention system I used to sell to car dealerships back then, pretty cool to see that!
Thanks. I don't know if you were living here back then, but that Saturn shop was in the old loop-row of dealerships north of Silver Spring, right off Route 29. Although Saturn is gone, that group of dealerships, of course, is still there, comparable in some ways, to the big group at Chantilly except significantly smaller.
Thanks. Glad it was a good car for you and your Mom. The S-Series' hood, roof, and trunk, of course, being of sheet-steel and not having the advantage of the plastic side-panels, was not quite as dent-resistant, but was still like a tank compared to the unbelievably thin sheet metal used today (for weight and cost reasons) even on some premium luxury-vehicles. In my own condo-development, I can't park in my (assigned) parking-space, under a big oak tree, from late August through early October because of dropping-acorns and dings...only the squirrels benefit from that LOL. For about six weeks or so, I have to use an unassigned space (if open and available) away from the tree.
As far as the S-series side-panels go, even baseball bats couldn't dent them...as the Saturn reps would demonstrate at auto shows, and I myself, at the show, verified.
I agree with you, though, that the S-Series, itself, was nothing special to drive...aside from its reliability and interesting/innovative features, it was basically just another GM compact sedan, with a 4-speed automatic that drove and felt more like a CVT than a conventional 4-speed. And the early S-series were quite noisy...much better by 1999.
The one thing I disliked the most on the 1999 version was those awful (and awkwardly-located) horn-buttons...do you agree?
I didn’t realize those panels were metal as well. I didn’t get a single ding on the car despite it spending most of it’s time being outside during Oklahoma storm season. Someone put a big dent in my bumper back in college and it popped out on it’s own. Even having a deer ram my driver side door didn’t dent it. I had holes in my door, blood stains, and shattered window but no dents. It feels like every other car I’ve been around gets dings much easier than my Saturn ever did.
The transmission was okay for a cheap car. The car was so lightweight that it was fun to drive sometimes. I would have preferred the manual version though. I never knew those were noisier. I never actually found a 5-speed version to drive.
I totally agree with you about the horn buttons. I didn’t think much of them until I drove more cars. It was a really weird spot looking back at it. I also thought the radio was really weird too. My mom ended up putting an Aiwa CD player in it since it didn’t have a factory CD or cassette player back when she used to drive it every day.
Must have been one of the early ones. Yes, they were known for engine-racket. And, though I'm not positive on this, from what I remember, I think the SL-2 also had a little more sound-insulation for the higher price. And that 1.9L engine, by 1999, though, had had a lot of improvements.....including more refinement.
It was the first gen Saturn, this one:
It wasnt really the engine, it was just a loud highway car, lots of road and wind noise, steering had a huge head spot in the center...
I take it you two tied the knot?
No lol
Thanks. I don't know if you were living here back then, but that Saturn shop was in the old loop-row of dealerships north of Silver Spring, right off Route 29. Although Saturn is gone, that group of dealerships, of course, is still there, comparable in some ways, to the big group at Chantilly except significantly smaller.
It wasnt really the engine, it was just a loud highway car, lots of road and wind noise, steering had a huge head spot in the center...
Yes, I was well-familiar with it. Did some test-drives when they first came out. I didn't like the odd half-moon gauges in the early ones as much as the (far better) 1996+ gauge-panels either....and the later 1.9L engines were noticeably quieter.
No lol
OK, wasn't trying to be nosy....I just thought that the lady you described with the Saturn (that you said made your day) may have been the one you married.....now with a Pacifica.
Yep, I was here.
My Flight Instructor (who I was close friends with, and still am today) lives just a few blocks away from that dealer-row, off Old Columbia Pike, near Burtonsville, so I was in that area quite often as it was.
Here is the official photo taken at the retailer on the delivery day (I still have it)...Saturn, back then, took an official photo of each new customer, the staff, and the vehicle.
That's me, on the left, in red. (I told you all I was a big boy LOL) . Kimberly, the lady who was the sales-rep and who ordered the car for me, is at the right, and the Sales Manager in the middle. When I ordered the car, she was engaged, and got married shortly after .
re
(That's an old photo, taken with conventional film, so it doesn't have the crispness and clarity of a digital-camera)
I remember when Toyota used to do this in my area at the time. Was a nice touch
Originally Posted by mmarshall
Yes, sorry about that. I used the wrong phrase. Reminds me me.
I really liked that instrument panel. Some on Car Chat disagreed with me, but I thought it was one of the best and clearest analog-designs I ever came across. Also liked the fact that the speedometer had 10-MPH increments (10, 20, 30, 40, etc...) instead of 20-MPH increments, which IMO are not as easily read at a quick glance.
Very nice simple gauges. They look better than what is on some of the modern cars. It reminds me of Honda gauges at the time.
My 1st press fleet test driving job company had the Saturn account. There was nothing impressive about any of the Saturns. I particularly hated the 2001 3 & a half door sedan & the Vue had the worst steering of any vehicle I have ever driven in my life!
My 1st press fleet test driving job company had the Saturn account. There was nothing impressive about any of the Saturns. I particularly hated the 2001 3 & a half door sedan & the Vue had the worst steering of any vehicle I have ever driven in my life!
Well, the 1Gen VUE, despite its plastic body panels and space-frame, was certainly not one of Saturn's better products. I agree with you on the steering.....it was one of the first attempts at electric power-steering, and produced just about what you would expect in terms of steering-feel (none). Later versions of the VUE had slightly better steering, but lost the plastic bodies, and became (more or less) just rebadged versions of other small GM crossovers.
In my experience and test-drives, the 2Gen / 3Gen S-series and the later conventional Aura sedan were the best products Saturn came up with.
Dad had a '96 SL2, it was an ok car. Dad had bought Toyota's since '68 so why-how his mechanic talked him into this was For the first 5 years dad was pleased. Good MPG, nice engine and it was simple maintenance only. The interior seats had broken down at about the 8 year mark. As a reference dad was a tiny guy at 5'6" and 115#'s so he's not the type to be hard on seat cushions.By the 10 year mark it was eating his wallet with all sorts of issues. He began wondering why he didn't buy the Corolla which he had thought of. By '07 it was having pretty severe issues that they determined was due to a faulty ECU. (We know now that is was that generation of leaky capacitors.) He had managed to get it to just about 140K miles which I thought was pretty decent. The ECU fix was just shy of $2K and there were other issues with the car that would add up. He let it go.
03-26-20, 08:32 AM
Glad it was a good car for you and your Mom. The S-Series' hood, roof, and trunk, of course, being of sheet-steel and not having the advantage of the plastic side-panels, was not quite as dent-resistant, but was still like a tank compared to the unbelievably thin sheet metal used today (for weight and cost reasons) even on some premium luxury-vehicles. In my own condo-development, I can't park in my (assigned) parking-space, under a big oak tree, from late August through early October because of dropping-acorns and dings...only the squirrels benefit from that LOL. For about six weeks or so, I have to use an unassigned space (if open and available) away from the tree.
. Kimberly, the lady who was the sales-rep and who ordered the car for me, is at the right, and the Sales Manager in the middle. When I ordered the car, she was engaged, and got married shortly after 
For the first 5 years dad was pleased. Good MPG, nice engine and it was simple maintenance only. The interior seats had broken down at about the 8 year mark. As a reference dad was a tiny guy at 5'6" and 115#'s so he's not the type to be hard on seat cushions.By the 10 year mark it was eating his wallet with all sorts of issues. He began wondering why he didn't buy the Corolla which he had thought of. By '07 it was having pretty severe issues that they determined was due to a faulty ECU. (We know now that is was that generation of leaky capacitors.) He had managed to get it to just about 140K miles which I thought was pretty decent. The ECU fix was just shy of $2K and there were other issues with the car that would add up. He let it go.
