With all the negative posts about Saturn reliability, I thought I would sum up my experiences with my 95 SW1.
I bought the car in October 2002 after starting a job which pretty much has a 100 mile a day round trip commute. (It is from Sudbury MA to Beverly MA for those of you in the Boston area).
Car had 135,000 miles on it when I bought it, now has 175,000. I have replaced the thermostat and thermostat housing, the serpentine belt and tensioner, battery and a set of tires. I did put a starter in it, but I think that I botched the diagnosis and it was really the battery beginning to act up. I still have the starter I pulled out of it.
That is pretty much it. The starter was $20, the tensioner and belt were about $80, the battery is a $39 Wal-Mart special. The front end is starting to make some noise, I have traced it to the bearing tops of the struts. I have it on my schedule to replace them and the struts when I get some time, and after I put a clutch in my wife's Acura and fix the overdrive on my Volvo and paint the house and .....
All and all, I am very impressed with the reliability of the car, and now that we have $2 gas, I am happy with the 35 to 38 MPG I am getting.
In a month the car will go to my 17 year old daughter when she gets her license, and I will probably go back to commuting in my 88 Volvo turbo wagon. I'll miss it. I would consider buying another, but we have 7 vehicles and no more room!
-David