High Milers, how many miles on your Saturn?

2001 L200
Engine runs good at 93000.
Tail light problems (see 2001 tail light assembly thread)
Front stabilizer bar broken
Now ignition (can't get the key out)

Have a great day
Jim

 

My '92 just turned 95K. Only thing I had to do was alternator, several
batteries, and one wheel bearing. And at 90K I had to finally replace the
original front rotors. The rest of the regular maintenance don't count.

Oh.. and forgot, had to recover the headliner last year.

James

 

1996 SL2 136K and going strong.

 

The most extreme high mileage example I've personally witnessed was my
brother's 2 wheel drive '85 Toyota 22R truck. He bought it from a
package courier service (like a mom and pop Fed Ex) in the southwest
desert (reeeeaaally long stretches of open road) for $800 in '90. It
had 360,000 miles and had even been rolled (had a rebuilt title). He
put another 250,000 on it and then sold it for $800 or so to a painter
for use as a work truck back in the late 90's. He still sees that
Toyota driving around! It's paint splattered. It must have 700,000
miles on it. All my brother had done to it was a head gasket and a new
radiator I think. I drove it a few times. It still had some punch to
it. It was beat to hell but got regular oil changes. Everyone got
their money's worth out of that rig.

 

I thought the question involved saturns? I can name off hundreds of
other makes in the 700k range. I know plenty of chevy cargo vans in that
range that dont burn oil and had hardly any repairs done to them.
Alternators and fuel pumps are about as serious as the repairs got. And
they hual loads regurally.

 

94 SL2 with 169,000

Clutch, engine mount, idler pully, water pump, brake pads (once)...and the
headliner's sagging. I've personally replaced all but the clutch...for a
total repair cost of about $250.

Not bad for ten years of driving. I had 90,000 after three years, but I
live closer to work now...

But, get this, original alternator!

Oil changes every 3,000

I'm making money every day I drive this car!

Barry in Cville

 

....I've never had any vehicle over 130k other than maybe my import pickup
who odo's broke at 129,999 miles many years ago. I've got 90k on my 97SL2 -
can't image 700k on anything (that's a lot of hours in the driver's seat,
eh?)...

 

Yeah, most cars/trucks/vans with that kind of mileage were used in some
sort of delivery service for a company. You'd ahve to keep and drive the
same car for 20 years or more to put 700K on it.

 

Yup, thats how their making their living. Most of the vans are late 90's
with vortec engines.

 

Traded my '93 SC2 on my '04 Ion when the reverse gear went out of the
automatic tranny at 201,201 miles. (I still drove it to the dealership and
it hit 201,219 at the time I got there.) Had replaced alternator twice,
radiator once, motorized restraint (driver's side) twice, driver's side seat
(the metal frame in the back of it broke! But after 169,000 miles...),
and...I added electric windows, which it did not originally come with...

 

92 SC = 140K

I just got it painted. Burns a bit of oil, but otherwise is going strong!

 

'94 SL just died of catastropic engine failure (a rod or a bearing) at 168K.

Only repairs EVER were torque axis mount early, rotors once, belt tensioner &
clutch cylinder at about 140K. That's it, all else was original with almost no
maintenance. Most reliable car I've owned.
E
now in '04 Ion

 

I just had my 95 SW1 in for its 345,000 km oil change yesterday.
Although it's had a few repairs over the years, it's been the most
reliable and trouble-free vehicle I've owned. It uses about 1/2 a
litre between oil changes (every 5000 km) although over the past month
it went through two litres (probably a stuck ring - I'll deal with
that at 350,000 when Ithe plugs are replaced).

Most of the repairs include:
oil pan (welded nut broke off) ~200,000 km
head gasket (minor leak) ~ 200,000 km
quill bearing (did clutch for cost of parts at same time - clutch
wasn't worn out - preventative) ~300,000 km

The car has been maintained almost exclusively by the Saturn dealer.
Its oil is changed every 5000 km (and that seems to be the biggest
secret to longevity with these cars). Other maintenance/wear items
have included:
ball joints/tie rod ends (I think they've all been replaced once)
muffler (3 - salty Nova Scotian roads)
tires (I'm on my third set of Michelin X-One's - and I'm hoping these
ones wear out while they're still under warranty, too!)
brakes (front done twice, rear... original equipment)
lights (a half dozen side marker lamps, one brake lamp and one low
beam headlamp - everything else is original)
battery (once -original died last winter)

The biggest thing I have to deal with at the moment is some rust:
perforation in the rocker panel under a door sill and some surface
rust on part of the space frame (I'll be breaking out the POR-15 in a
couple of days)

All in all, it's been a really good car.

Tim Delaney
'95 SW1 5-speed 345,000 km
'84 Mercedes 300SD 208,000 km
'97 GMC Safari 166,000 km

 

I also commute by highway 35 miles each way. I just replaced my '93 SC2 at
223,000 miles. Its oil consumption was increasing. I think I only went
about 900 miles on the last quart I added. I know, it could be lots worse,
but the previous quart went over 1000 miles, and I didn't like the trend.
But the car was very reliable. I changed the water pump once (at about
60,000) and the clutch slave cylinder (at about 200,000). I ran Mobil 1
synthetic, and was getting 35 mpg up until I stopped driving it. Most used
car buyers seem a little worried about the 223,000 miles on the clock when
they look at it.

Steve

 

97 SL1 5 spd

120,000Mi

3 sets of rotors (the original set warped and the dealership turned them and
warped again).

Two sets brake pads each rotor.... Lotsa city driving.

Power steering pump under warranty since it was spraying the hood.

Alternator just 3000Mi ago.

Idle Air control valve.

And the usual maintenance of oil, plugs, fuel filter, air filter, tranny
oil, etc...

 

1994 SL with 190K. From 90K to 180K involved high speed driving from
southern California to Sacramento putting on 1000 miles a week. I invested
$70 in parts, one MAP sensor, and one upper engine mount. I put a new
alternator on about 2K ago. Most reliable car I've owned. I've used
synthetic oil since purchased with 7K on it. I use less than 1/2 a quart
every 3000 miles. I only change the filter, and add replacement oil. I do
a full oil change between every 18 to 25K, whenever I get time. I've done
this on all my vehicles, they are all high mileage, including a 99 SW2,
and none burn any oil worth talking about. I've never cracked the engine
or tranny open on any of my vehicles. Oh yeah, I did replace the clutch
on the SL at 35K. 16Y/O daughter learning to drive while I was in Korea
for a year. Wife forgot to tell her to keep her foot off the clutch. The
replacement clutch is still in service.