'92 SC2 problems?

I'm considering buying a '92 sc2 for 1600. I have been doing a lot of research but I can't find any info on common problems that these saturns have, so I was wondering if anyone here could give me the rundown what to look for when buying one.

Also, the sc2 i'm looking at now has 172k and the odometer no longer works. What kind of money am I looking at to repair this?
The owner also indicated that 85 percent of these miles were interstate.

He indicated about 1qt of oil needs to be added every 1,000 miles. This seems to be a problem I hear a lot about saturns...but he says it is mainly comming out mainly thru the valve stems and seals. If that is true then how hard and how costly is this to fix?

Basically i just want to see if you guys think its worth buying. I'm looking for a car that gives better gas mileage with a sporty look and feel and i'm a car enthusiast of all sorts so I'm definitely gonna be looking to mod it.

Thanks for your help.

thats what i paid for my 93 with 162xxx. my head gasket cracked like 2 weeks after i got the car. my car burns oil and i also need to add more oil. i havent payed attention to how often i have to. i also have leaked all my tranny fluid out. the leak is coming from my outer half shalf seal thats on the tranny. only a $7.31 part but i have to pull out the half shaft to change it. i plain on doin the head gasket once im done with that. its a descent looking car and pretty cheap but seems to be problem prone. someone i used to work with also had a 92 sc2 and she threw a rod. so i dont have much good to say about them. but thats just my expirence. im sure there some good ones out there? also buying a car and planning on modding it with those kinda miles you are just asking for problems. not to mention who knows how many are on the car. the odomiter coulda stopped working awhile ago and it could be well over 200xxx. worse case scenario they disconnected it to stop the miles from goin up so they could try and sell it. which it is illegal to tamper with the odometer by the way. the more wear and tear you put on that car the worse the oil consumption will get. id at least try to talk em down a little. choice is yours but doesnt sound like the right car for what you want.

hmmm.....thats a strong case you've made. If i sold my car now (95 caprice) for around 2800, i'm thinking i'll have 1300 to fix any problems. It is for sale by a private person and not a business and he said the odometer is actually stuck on 162k and that 175k is an estimate that he believes is over. The only real mods i plan on doing to it is intake/exhaust, clutch, shortshifter, and pcm reprogramming. But I would definitely fix the oil leak, odometer, and any other major problems that occur first. But like you said....theres no way of telling just what will go wrong and i have to decide if i'm willing to put up with the problems.....

Thanks for your help,

anyone else who has any input please reply.

That is to much money for to little car. That is the right price for that car when it has closer to 125000 miles on it. I think for the money your looking to spend if u look around enough you can find a much better car maybe even for less $. And not to burst your bubble but there are no pcm mods for our cars unless you have an auto trans or a good hacker buddy.

i am correcting my last post. my $7.25 seal wasnt the only leak. these cars are piles the more i look under the car the more i find wrong. if they pay you then it might be worth it other wise run away as fast as you can. unless you wanna buy mine lol jk i wouldnt do that to you. i might try to sell it back to the dealer that sold it to me though.

That car sounds like it has too many issues. I would not buy from an onwer that drove without the odo working for 13000 miles. That kind of thing I would have fixed in less than a week.

If you are looking to mod the car then I would find one in better working condition, that is closer to 100k.

I have had my saturn for a month and a half. It is a 98 sc2 with 97k miles that I got for 3000. The only issues I inherited was a bad coolant sensor, bad top motor mount and overtighted oil pan bolt. Now it runs perfectly. I have no leaks, but I do seem to be burning a quart in 1500-2000 miles.

no offense but thats sad. a 98 with that many problems. that just prove my point saturns suck. thats a lot of oil for such a new car. im sure its fine car now but still.

no offense but thats sad. a 98 with that many problems. that just prove my point saturns suck. thats a lot of oil for such a new car. im sure its fine car now but still.

For a 6 year old econ I don't think it is too bad. Camaros definately do not have a sterling track record either. And they have been out for decades.

The oil was just an estimate. I drive 2k miles a month. So far I have put almost 2500 miles on it. Before I changed the oil, my light was coming on. So that is just my preliminary guess. In a month or two I should be able to give a solid answer.

This is my beater car :) So I am not too concerned. I am not afraid to work on my cars so I don't consider what I have done to it to be much, except the oil pan. I had my mechanic do that job :)

IMO, most of the american competitors to japanese 4 cylinder econs suck. GM and Ford do not see it worth there time to build them and make them look good or perform well. In the last few years they are getting better, but they have a lot of catching up todo. 3k could have gotten me a 10+ year old civic (maybe) in CA.

my first car was an accord it was given to me from my parents. that was totalled not my fault. then i got my saturn for a winter beater had for a couple months and its already taken a shit on me. and now i am thinking about getting another accord with only 98xxx and no im not paying 3 grand im only paying a 1/3 of that. and will never own another saturn again. not even if someone paid me. plus this is about beaters which my camaro is not but then again i dont want to disgrace the name beater by saying a saturn is one.

well i've abandoned that idea but i'm still looking for a new car. I found an 86 cutlass 442 that looks damn good and I loved my 85 cut supreme like a mother. Right now i'm drivin a 95 chevy caprice 9c1 (cop package, LT1350) and I am getting fed up with repair prices and problems that i'm selling it. Thanks for the posts.