Saturn Repair: 1996 Saturn SL2, saturn sl2, 1996 saturn sl2

Question
I may be aquiring a 1996 Saturn SL2 from Minnesota with 99,000 miles. I currenly reside in San Diego, CA, and am concerned about the reliabilty of a Saturn that age once it reaches more than 100,000. Are their any recalls for that year I should be aware of or a common problem among other '96 Saturn SL2 owners? Any insight would be much appreciated!!
Thanks in advance!
.divinity.

Answer
Hi,
Thanks for asking my opinion.
The 1996 SL2 is an excellent car for reliability IF THE OIL WAS CHANGED OFTEN!  If not...it will not be reliable.  I know that sounds pretty basic but the engines are very 'tight' meaning that they have very little clearances between the parts that come into contact with each oter...ie. pistons to cylinder walls, camshaft to bearings, etc.  So, they need constant ftresh clean oil or else they wear FAST!  I only had 90,000 miles when mine died because of oil deficiency. In particular, there is a gizmo in the engine that puts tension against the timing chain to keep it on the sprockets. The lack of oil caused that little tensioner to get stuck OPEN and caused the chain to jump teeth on the timing sprockets and ruined the entire engine!
Ask the owner to give you oil change info, a photograph of the oil cap (the underside) to see if it looks sludged up or brown and black like it has been burnt.

If the oil has been changed on schedule (plus, those engines use a lot of opil...Saturn knows about it but refuses to do anything about it!)...get it! My 1993 SL2 has 130,000 miles and only the alternator and muffler have had to be replaced!  Mine had 33,000 miles when I bought it and the previous owner had NOT changed the oil often.  As a result, I had to replace the engine at 90,000 as mentioned above. Even though I did change the oil, that first 33,000 miles of negligence was enough to cause big problems.  The motor I replaced it with was bought on ebaY for $500 deliverd and was clean as a whistle (oil had been changed religiously) and it runs perfect! It uses about 1 quart of oil every 5000 miles...very good for a Saturn. Expect to add a quart every month...that is high but typical.

Thanks and best of luck,
Greg Moore
www.taylorgolfsupply.com