RoadDiesel

..need to replace the wifes '97 Chrysler LHS..was looking at a 2001 saturn Lv 200 4 dr. 40,000 miles on..and a nice 2001 Lesabre with 58,000 miles ..both are priced nice and extremley clean..does the saturn ride rough for a shorter wheel base?? is a saturn a Gloryfied Cavalier..lol ..had a '94 lexus that rode very smooth, but on trips it was too small. I've read the GM V6 engines had intake and head gaskets problems, in several of those years..the MPG is rated up to 30 hyway on the buick and up to 36 on the saturn..any comments..?.thanks..

1-2-3

My co-worker just got rid of his. After it got a few miles on it, it started running out of oil. Really, running out. Would drink three quarts about every two weeks. Only holds 4. It might be because it was a lease and he didn't think he would keep it and went the initial 4 years with the factory oil still in it. But who knows for sure.

My wife's uncle has one. It was one of the first. He swears it's the best thing since sliced bread.

nkennedy

We have an 02 Vue, and like it. Great car.

96_12V

Those Saturns (the L-series) didn't have a solid reputation overall. Not too certain of specifics. I would look at MSN.com auto and owners' reviews, usually there's a lot of them, some are quite worthless, others balanced and informative. Ignore the ones that say "worst car ever" and focus upon reveiws with positive & critical comments.

The LeSabre is a solid, reliable, if dated car overall. It's out of production now, replaced with the LaCrosse. The 3800 V-6 is one of GM's best 6-cylinder engines. All the problems I'm aware of with it are intake manifolds that can crack, and I think if you ever have it happen there's a goodwill warrenty to 100k. The trouble-some engines were the 3.1 & 3.4L V6's used in the smaller platforms (and still produced today). I have understood headgaskets are a disposable entity on these. I'd stick to the LeSabre, or give yourself some flexability in your search, there's lots of better cars out there...

drafalske

I had a 1992 SC2, biggest p.o.s. on four wheels. It burned a quart of oil every 500 miles. I never bothered to change it, just threw a new filter on every so often. The car only had about 50k on it when I got it.
Good luck finding parts for it when it breaks, and it will break.
Dave

PistolWhipt

Had a buddy with a Saturn back in 92? ... someone gave him a door ding in the parking lot when the temps were hovering around 20* or so .... BROKE THE PLASTIC DOOR SKIN !!! A big ol' crack down the side, the whole door skin had to be replaced and repainted from a door ding.

Cheers,
PISTOL

Purplezr2

Really my dad commutes in an has a 1992 sedan and my sister has a 94 wagon they drive for the mileage both have over 200K and they use maybe 1/2 quart every 3000 miles. Been really good cars actually.

roughstock

[QUOTE=96_12V;2026122]Those Saturns (the L-series) didn't have a solid reputation overall. Not too certain of specifics. I would look at MSN.com auto and owners' reviews, usually there's a lot of them, some are quite worthless, others balanced and informative. Ignore the ones that say "worst car ever" and focus upon reveiws with positive & critical comments.

The LeSabre is a solid, reliable, if dated car overall. It's out of production now, replaced with the LaCrosse. The 3800 V-6 is one of GM's best 6-cylinder engines.

I agree. Le Sabre was great. The saturns, at least the older models, were what my mechanic calls "Throw away cars". One, maybe two owners and you get rid of them. THey were kinda cheap. Think about a Crown Vic or Marquis.

74dart

We have had my wifes Lesabre for almost a year and are very happy with it. Pulling down almost 30mpg on trips and 24 combined. Ride is extremly smooth and have only had to replace the Torque Converter lockup solinoid in the tranny for $550. The car has 155,000 and still running strong. For the last 20 years my wife grandparents have bought nothing but Buicks (2 Lesabres and 1 Century) and that was the biggest reason we bought one. The only thing is my wifes feels a little out of place in it considering she is only 25. I know a guy at the Fire Department that has drove Grand Ams fro the last 15 years or so is on there third one and has never complained one about the motors in them and they all ahd the 3.8 in them.

capt.Ron

Saturn has a pretty nice looking sports car these days. I can't remember the name and don't know it's reputation but it looks sharp!!

drafalske

Yes. Really. I wish I was exagerating, but its God's honest truth. The car drove fine, and engine had plenty of power, but it used a lot of oil, it wasn't leaking it either. I guess the rings were bad, but at 5X,XXX miles? C'mon. It was a joke.
Oh yeah, I forgot about the plastic body panels... what were they thinking?
The car was constantly having nickel and dime problems, but a nickel-dime problem on a Saturn is usually a $100-$500 repair... at least it was 10 years ago when I owned it. Parts were mostly dealer-only items.
I know I just got the ocassional lemon, but that '92 I had turned me off of SAturns for life.

Dave

Hoss

My wife used to have a Saturn and we'll never buy one again. That worthless car left her stranded and in need of a tow truck on three different occasions and each time we were told that the problem was considered "normal" in Texas because of the hot summers (it had an alternator that went out every year for three years in a row). To their credit, they replaced all three under warranty.

cbtumedic

The Lesabre is a great, solid car. They ride smooth, drive great, and the 3800 series 2 is one of the best gasoline engines on the road. They did have some intake plenum problems but GM had a good will policy in place on them. If you get one and can spin a wrench at all it would be good insurance to replace the upper intake plenum when you buy the car, i don't remember the exact cost off hand but i am almost certain it was under 200 bucks, and the new plenum has a steel sleeve in the EGR port which is where they failed at in general (hot exhaust gasses ate through the plastic and into the coolant passage and would hydro lock the engine, I replaced a lot of them over the years and never saw an engine failure, just pulled the plugs and barred the engine over, changed the oil and fired them up.) Saturn makes a decent car, but they don't ride as well as the buicks, and they tend to be, as someone put it above, a throw away car. Good luck with whatever you decide.

tool

While I have never owned a Saturn I have driven a few, I always found they to be "Cheapy" poor quality plastic interiors, just not great fit and finish. However I do have some friends with them that have over 200,000 miles on them and have loved them, so who knows. That's why I'm a little bit surprised reading these negative posts.

My parents have been on the Buick kick, they had 2 Centuries and 2 Allures, loved them all.

RoadDiesel

..THANKS for all the replys..going with the Buick as I was leaning toward it in the 1st place..and I consider these reports from the field and real world.. "Confirmation"".thanks for this great site..!!