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Neighbors daughter has a 1994 Saturn SC 1.9L DOHC 4 door sedan, my buddy Mark and I are going to replace the shifting cable on this thing tonight (ok, I'm gonna drink beer while he tries to squeeze under the dash, he is 40lbs heavier but doesn't drink beer so he has dash detail, I don't make the rules...it's good times! :Banane35:). It burns some oil too from what she said about it smoking when she starts it.

She has said twice she wanted to sell it, mentioned a $400 offer from a dealership and thought about just having someone come and get it for salvage.

So it's got 175K miles on it, a busted windshield, bad front fender (standard, not my fault, girl interrupted accident) and this car doesn't know the meaning of maintenance.

What kind of mileage can this car get in normal mechanical condition? What generally goes out on these cars around 200K miles? What is it worth in GOOD (it's currently in poor) condition?

Oh and it's PURPLE. :D - Dale

Hey, color can always be changed with a few hundred dollars in a paint booth. ;)

Hey, color can always be changed with a few hundred dollars in a paint booth. ;)

It can be changed for allot less with $.89 per can spray paint from walmart!!!!!!! Heck go with the flat black and murder the sucker out.

I have done many low budget race car paint jobs with rattle cans - they don't look too bad from 50 yards and 50 mph either:rolleyes:

Anyway. It's probably not worth much more than the few hundred the dealer offered her. It could be a nice second car with a few hundred put into it for a new(used) windshield and a tune up. Forget the fender and make sure you have 4 good tires and decent brake pads left.

That being said those were pretty good and reliable with no real weak points that I know of (but I'm not a GM/saturn tech), I do know several people who have owned them over the years and they all seemed to enjoy them and I don't recall any "catastrophic failures" ever happening.

Oil burning for a Saturn is a factory feature that was included free on all trim levels.:p I've heard that in many cases it can be cured by putting new rings on the pistons and putting it back together. One of my son's friends has a '97 SOHC that is still going good at nearly 200K miles. As for mileage, my son's car is basically the same car as the one you've described.

I had a Saturn SL once. A 1996. Replaced a lot on it, with over 210,000 miles when I got done with it.

I remember replacing the radiator, starter, wiper motor, and front-end work that I have to do on all my cars because of Maine's crummy roads.

I've heard that head-gaskets are prone to failure as well, though it wasn't a problem with mine. Mine burned a quart of oil every 1,500 miles.

As for fuel economy, I don't think I ever saw less than 40 mpg.