Do Saturns Actually WORK?

Ive been scanning these messages and im getting the overall impression that saturns break alot.

Reply to
Fighting For Kids
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That's because people here are looking for help with problems. No one posts just to tell us that everything is A-OK. That would be dumb. You'd probably get similar impressions at rec.autos.makers.pickanythingyouwanttoread.

Reply to
Ratbert

Now read any other auto-manufacturer newsgroup and compare.

Reply to
Robert Hancock

In the twelve years my wife has had her '92 SL1, we've spent about $400 in maintenance (filters, oil, ATF, antifreeze, brakes, battery, spark plugs) and about $200 on repair parts (an alternator, emission solenoid, and a motor mount). Total time the car was "out of service" was about 3 hours for the alternator and another 3 hours to replace leaky gasket on the transmission. By my calculations, that's 99.994% reliability.

Tim.

Reply to
Tim Shoppa

Now go to a doctor's office and ask the people who are waiting how well they feel.

Reply to
Fustanella

I am just posting to advise that I love my 1997 Saturn SL-1 , and that everything with it is A-OK!

How is that, Ratbert?

Stan

{Delete nospam for email}

Reply to
ssody

Well maybe except in the Toyota newsgroup, they all just congratulate themselves on owning the best cars on the planet - even if they are all in the shop.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

I did and the one group (KIA) had no new posts in the last week regarding things breaking. Considering that people have said their cars are questionable I would think it would be a daily flood of reports and questions.

Reply to
Fighting For Kids

Fighting For Kids wrote:

Consider this, the number of posts in a newsgroups depends on the intersection of several sets - the number of people who own a particular vehicle, the number of people who have problem with the vehicle, and the number of people who have internet access, and the number of people who actually post to newsgroups. One of the most active automotive newsgroups is the Ford Explorer Group. There are lots of Ford Explorer Owners. Some percentage of those owners have problems with their Explorers. Some percentage of the people that have problems with their Explorers have internet access. And some percentage of those people actually use newsgroups. In the case of the Explorer you start out with millions of Explorer owners, so the chances of a significant portion posting to newsgroups is pretty high. In the case of KIAs, the numbers are still pretty low, but increasing. Even then, most KIAs on the road are relatively new cars. As the number and average age of KIAs increase, I'd expect the number of posts to the newsgroup to increase as well. Other factors also affect newsgroup traffic. I would guess that people who are attracted to technologically advanced vehicles (or in some case gimmick loaded vehicles) would be more likely to use newsgroups. This might result in more traffic in the Toyota newsgroup because of people who own or are interested in the Pirus. Also anything that attracts media attention (like the Firestone tire fiasco) might increase traffic in certain newsgroups. Once a group becomes popular, a lot of additional traffic is generated by unrelated posts (like the global warming debate, or the evil SUV debate, or the I hate some politician debate).

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

thats because the ppl that own kia's are stuck at the dealer STILL waitin on there cars to be fixed. a friend of mine HAD a kia best thing that happened to it was the guy who ran the stop sign and hit her, thank god she wasnt hurt BUT THANK GOD her car was a total loss. it spent more time in the shop then on the road.

Reply to
Charles H.

Note: all non flamable bits removed

You mean the Ford tire pressure recommendation on the Explorer fiasco.

Steve

Reply to
Steve

$400 sounds like you've been getting a heck of a deal in maintenance supplies, if the battery was $30 and the brakes parts were $20, that leaves $350 for mostly fluids.

12 years times every 4 months = 36 oil changes. Oil and filters must be $7 on sale, that makes $252 and leaves not more than $98 for ATF, antifreeze, and spark plugs. That's if you follow a normal, low-miles-per-year maintenance schedule. If, on the other hand, you changed the oil once a year, once only for the ATF and antifreeze, and only put 4k-5k miles per year on the car, then it sounds about right.

Steve

Reply to
Steve

I can't speak for everyone on the planet, but my '96 SL2 has just passed it's eighth anniversary and I'm still happy with it.

I just read in foreword of one of the Lemon Aide books about how Chrysler put aside 1 billion dollars for warranty claims. And then consider the Ford Fuc-us with 12 safety recalls. Many Japanese cars are probably better made but you pay for it up front. So it's pay me now or pay me later.

Reply to
Box134

I suggest you don't repeat the meida crap. Even Firestone admitted that

26 psi was at leat 4 psi higher than the minimum safe pressure for an Explorer. The whole Explorer fiasco was a lawyer inspred media driven fiasco.

Why not read -

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Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

I own 3 cars

95 honda...oil change, spark plugs, brake pads only, 120.k., 90 regal 170 k same as honda + weel bearings + oil pan + galipers + rotors +mufflers + odometer + transmission oil seal. 98 sl2 saturn.......automatic transmision valve body...temperature sensor...brake rotor and galipers...oxigen sensor...egr selenoid... muffer...cataliser...and many things i tried to forget....no rust ( outside) doors frame are so rusted --polimer panel are olding the doors together !!!!!!!!!!!!! "Tim Shoppa" a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...
Reply to
D. Gignac

Heh, I like that analogy.

Lane [ l a n e @ p a i r . c o m ]

Reply to
Lane

Nice! Mine's running just fine, too.

Reply to
Ratbert

That's fine, I won't repeat the media crap if you don't repeat the Ford crap or anything the government has to say about something between Ford, Firestone, and the consumer. I have worked for only 5 years in the tire business, but have been surrounded by over 170 years of combined experienced by the salesmen, owners, and long time auto and tire techs here.

Steve

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Reply to
Steve

Saturns may be more likely to attract people who are interested in fixing their own cars. The original Saturn enjoyed a fairly long production run with relatively few design changes, they are straightforward to work on, and you can find other Saturn owners with whom to swap advice. Sort of a cult following.

Reply to
Detector195

Don't forget the important facts (you don't have to trust Ford or the Government for these facts):

- Explorers with Goodyear tires of the same size inflated to the same pressures did not experience an unusual number of thread separations.

- Despite all the problems with Firestone tires, Explorers have one of the lowest rollover rates of any mid-szed SUVs. The only similar size SUV from the late 90's with a lower rollover rate is the Jeep Grand Cherokee

- Firestone continually changed their story, tried to shift blame, and finally in congressional testimony admitted they had approved the Ford recommended pressures. They even admitted that the tires should have been safe on the Explorer if inflated to only 20 psi

- Other SUVs sold at the same time as the Explorer recommended similar tire pressures for similar size tires (Nissan Pathfinder for one).

I can understand why someone who works at a tire store might try to shift the blame to the vehicle manufacturer. However, if you look beyond all the media driven hype, it is clear that Firestone was responsible for the Explorer tire problems. Trying to shift the blame to Ford was a cowardly act. I don't think Ford got the credit they deserved for offering to replace all the defective tires. However, I do blame Ford for installing third rate tires on new vehicles. I have owned 3 Fords and 1 Audi that came with Firestone tires ('78 Fairmont, '81 Audi Coupe, '92 F150, '99 Ranger) and they were all crappy tires. The 721's on the Fairmont bumped like heck and I had to replace them in less than 10,000 miles. The Audi developed a huge bubble in the sidewall of one tire and it had to be replaced. Although Firestone offered me a new replacement, I decided they weren't worth the risk and bought Michelins instead. The tires on the F150 picked up every nail in the road but they are still in use - as gauge wheels on a piece of farm equipment (with tubes installed). Ford paid to replace the tires on the Ranger, although two of them had already failed because the thread split in the middle (not a separation, just a split).

Amazingly I am very happy with the Bridgestone tires on my Saturn Vue. I have no idea where they were made, but so far they have been great. Hopefully Bridgestone/Firestone has learned their lesson (after the Radial 500, 721, and the Explorer fiasco you would think they'd get the message). My previous experience was Bridgestone tires was not a success. I installed a set on a Mazda I owned and was not happy with then (although I did not think they were dangerous). If the tires on the Vue continue to perform as well as they have so far, I'd definitely consider buying another set from Bridgestone.

Regards,

Ed White

Steve wrote:

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Reply to
C. E. White

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