L200 / 300 owners - would you buy another one again?

I have a 2001 L300 with 36000 miles on it. I love the way it handles! I have had a few problems during this time, which have been corrected:

Road noise. Dramatically reduced when I replaced the OEM tires.

Leak in the oil cooler. Fixed under warranty.

Defective right rear tail light assembly. Fixed under warranty.

Sluggish door lock actuators (especially when cold). Worst offender fixed under warranty.

All in all, I am very satisfied with the car and its V6 engine.

I had a 1993 sl1 no problems replaced the tires changed the oil sold it one year ago got a 2001 sl2 no problems with it either I think the l series are great just out of my budget when I bought my sl2. My 1993 had 230k on it when I sold it and I still see it around town on occasion.

We have an '01 L300 - we like the car, but have had a laundry list of problems - here is what I can remember (there are probably others)

1. wheel alignment issues (countless times they said it was a balancing issue, finally a tsb with replacement parts came out - all 4 tires replaced under warranty)
2. coolant leak at oil cooler (fixed under warranty)
3. coolant leak at water pump (replaced water pump)
4. battery cracked (replaced under warranty)
5. countless misfire problems (come and go - ecu was supposed to be reprogrammed)
6. driver power seat rails failed (replaced under warranty)
7. windshield seal pulled off at base of windshield (repaired under warranty)
8. weather stripping on B-pillars cracked/failed (replaced under warranty)
9. high pitched squeal when turning left (dealer says normal - not repaired)
10. hesitation and noise when turning (repaired under warranty)
11. both foglight bulbs burst like flashcubes when we got the car (replaced under warranty - no issues since)
12. high pitched squeal/groan when turning on AC - sporadic - dealer unable to reproduce - still an issue
13. leather stains ver easily (recently found some stuff which works really well, though - Lexol cleaner and lexol protectant - made it look new again)
14. mass air flow sensor failed (replaced under warranty)

Saturn has always been good about repairing things, and they extended our warranty to 5yrs because of the issues we have had.

overall, we like the car - not sure if I would buy a new one (the fact that we don't like the front or the dash in the current version doesn't help, though) - it's comfortable, has plenty of power, and handles well - reliability-wise, it leaves a little to be desired, though (should point out all of the repairs have been for annoyance things, though - the car has never left us stranded)

I have had numerous quality/design issues with my 2002 LW300, but it is an excellent vehicle otherwise. Aside from the issues mentioned elsewhere in this post, the car handles like a dream once you get rid of the OEM Affinities. It is very quick, but falls well short of the advertised fuel efficiency regardless of how easy you drive it. It could use more rear seat legroom considering the size of the car.

Would I buy another? Not without a free extended warranty for the troubles I've had with this one! If it had been trouble-free, I surely would. However, it has never left me along the road - just spending time in the Saturn lounge. At the time, it was one of the few larger wagons I could afford. My understanding is that the L series will be replaced in the next year or so, so you may want to wait. I have my eye on a Malibu Maxx at the moment - the Chevy garage is much closer than the Saturn garage!

Well - first thing is that you don't get the warrantee extended by the dealership - we called Saturn directly and presented our case (you want it officially extended by Saturn so that you aren't limited by which dealership you bring the car to) - basically, they listen, present the info to the powers that be, then call you back and tell you what the deal is. Voiding the warrantee over not letting them rotate your tires is complete crap - basically, nothing voids the warrantee - about the only thing that can is if you abuse the car, or if you install aftermarket parts which cause a problem (in which case, that problem wouldn't be covered, but everything else still would be). We have had nothing but pleasant experiences with service departments at the dealerships we have gone to (three different dealerships in two states).

I will say this - we have not had anything fail twice - once the initial issue was officially addressed, all was well. I am also pretty anal about maintenance on the car - I haven't had to do anything to it other than change the oil+filter, cabin air filter, and regular air filter, though (it's still under warrantee)

Here is another data point for what its worth: We purchased our brand new

01 LW300 about 2.5 years ago and it had stranded my wife, who is the primary driver, 3 times. Two of which were from faulty shifter cable. The other time was the dead battery. All fixed under warrantee. We also had coolant leaks from the oil cooler which was also repaired free of charge by the dealer.

My wife still likes the car and will keep it for a while. She does not know if she'll buy it again. There are more factors in the decision process than just how reliable Saturn is.

The Loma Linda Saturn senior mechanic said, "You've lost 2 shifter cables in

My 2001 LW300 with 39K miles. For whatever reason, I still enjoy driving this car. However, its reliability leaves a lot to be desired. All the problems below were fixed under warranty. Most problems already had service bulletins or otherwise were common problems, and I have not had any problems in the last 8 months.

With the exception of a SUV, there aren't too many choices for a regular wagon in the price range of the Saturns. I'll probably go with a Subaru next.

Off the top of my head, the issues have been: Oil cooler seals failure, coolant leak. Power steering pump seal failure, pump and rack replaced Failed sensor resulting in hard shifting (don't recall which sensor) Failed O2 sensor Sticky/sluggish door locks Front seat cushions constantly come unhooked in front Allignment problems, new tires after suspension additions Turn signal handle getting hot when head lights are on Driver's seat frame was bent

This is my second Saturn, the first a '93 SL2 was a good car. A few alternators and an engine mount, both VERY common. Otherwise, no issues for 8 years.

Our other car is a '00 GMC Jimmy and it has been rock solid--I just wish it handled better.

I've had a 93 SL1, which I sold a couple years ago. I replaced only the alternator, but it did have 250,000 on it at the time, and I had installed a fairly large audio system in it.

When I sold the 93 SL1, I bought a 98 SC1, and just had my first problem about a week ago. The idler pulley spring broke, so I put a new pulley on, easy install, took about 40 minutes. I've put about 50,000kms so far on this car. I've even bought a wrecked 97 SC1, and have repaired it and about to put it back on the road now. They are a really easy car to work on, and so reliable.

I plan on buying an ION 3 QC in the next couple years, can't wait to try out a Redline when they come available in the spring, that may be my next car....

My original 93 SL1 is still around. It has 340,000kms on it now, and haven't replaced/repaired anything since they bought it from me, it had

280,000 then.

My bad for not being precise about the two shifter cable failures. What happened was the first time the park nutural switch failed, the dealer replaced the switch and adjusted the shifter cable at that time. About a year later, the shifter cable acted up again, the dealer replaced it with a new one. What is unclear to me is if the first adjustment had anything to do with the second failure. Nonetheless, the dealer did say that the shifter cable problem is uncommon with the LW300.

Same problems on 2001 - oil cooler leak and slow auto door lock on drivers side. Otherwise, great car.

hi, i have a 2001 L300 with 40,000 miles. i've had a few small issues. excellent car. i'd buy another in a heartbeat.