Previous to this car, I had a 1993 Eagle Talon. When the timing belt blew and cost me $5000 to replace the blown engine, I decided I would never trust that car again, and wanted something with a warranty. However, I really liked the way the car looked, and found a similar shaping in the Saturn SC2.

For the most part, I am pleased with my purchase. I love the way the car looks, the gas mileage is good, and with good snow tires, handles well on slippery streets. It provides fairly good feedback from the road, although it has more body roll than I would like (a sportier suspension would be nice). The stereo is great (I REALLY like my tunes . . .) and the interior fits me well (although the lumbar support sits a little high on me even with the seat raised up). I got all the creature comforts, air, cruise, tilt, power windows, door locks, remote entry and security system, power sun roof (although I wish this had a one-touch open), and leather-wrapped steering wheel (nice in a cold climate!). The company has been great about replacing small things on warranty (heater fan was blown, rear tail reflectors cracked, one speaker blown - surely not my fault!), and regular maintenance has been quick and courteous. I generally get about 500 km to about 38 litres of fuel (usually all I can get in at a time!), which is fine for mileage, but the tank is pretty small. The brochure says it has a 45 litre tank, but I have never been able to put that much in, even if I've been driving on fumes for 3 days.

My biggest complaint about this car is the paint. It's got to be the cheapest paint job ever! It doesn't help that mine is black, which naturally shows every little flaw, but with only 55,000 kms on it so far, the hood looks polka-dotted, with white undercoat showing thru the black paint. It doesn't matter how well I wash it or wax it, it looks like crap. The paint also scratches easily. VERY disappointed with this aspect. The engine also leaves a little to be desired, pep-wise, in order to get any real power to merge into traffic or pass on the highway, I pretty much have to rev the crap out of it. At about 4500-5000 rpm, it starts to respond decently. But when red-line is 6500, it doesn't seem smart to do that all the time . . .

To summarize, I am still satisfied with my purchase, but am unconvinced that I will be in the market for another Saturn when I decide to trade this one in.
Amount Paid (US$): 18,000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: standard 5-speed, air, tilt, cruise, power everything