sl opinions

I am about to retire my old 92 SL2 with 162K - donating to a charity - it may run fine for some time to come, but I am looking into a newer saturn. I have my eye on a 2000 SL1 with 30K on it, but I am wondering what is normal for wear and tear. The inspection at Saturn found a collapsed upper engine mount, and a cracked cylinder head (they said it would fail in about 15K) -both of which were replaced (at their expense). When the car idles - how much vibration is normal for this SOHC engine, since it seems to vibrate alot more than other engines I am familiar with. I am wondering if the car has a bad engine to start with, or if the newer designs for the saturn sl1 just have an engine which will vibrate much more...

Thanks for any input!!!

The SOHC engin idles more than the DOHC engine in your sl2 but all saturns are known for there higher than normal vibrations

thanks - I had a mechanic look at it and he thought that the former owner had overheated the engine causing the cylinder head to crack and damaged the engine - this saturn had a problem with it....

no way man dont buy it, first of all its a SOHC!! very slow besides that a cracked head and collapsed mount probally mean the car was pushed pretty damn hard so other things could be stressed or even broken. Usually engine mounts dont break(under normal driving conditions) if you do plan on buying it inspect EVERYTHING very carefully
goodluck

Actually, i dumped the first sl1 saturn i mentioned above once i got the mechanics assessment... However I did find a sweet 2000 SL2 (with 81K on it no less) - the car was well cared for and runs wonderfully - the maintenance was kept up - the major problem areas were taken care of - the exhaust resonator was just replaced (the original cracked at a weld), the engine was just retuned - new spark plugs, oxygen sensor, the outside has some nicks showing age but it's engine seems good ! This car reminds me of how I started with my last saturn - many miles to go!

The top mounts on SL's and SC's were just designed badly. Every S-series Saturn on the road has a bad top mount, unless it's been replaced. It doesn't hurt anything, except to make the engine vibrate more than usual. I replaced mine (Saturn has a better one now that they replace the old ones with), and with the new top mount and the Twistec bottom mounts she runs pretty quickly. Cracked heads are usually a bad sign, though. Congrats on finding a better one. My '00 SOHC has treated me well from mile 3 to mile 100,103. If you treat yours well, it should do the same for you.