My Saturn Experience

I bought a 99 Saturn SC2 in June of 2003 from a used car lot. Beautiful exterior... very clean interior. power locks and windows, alarm, cruise, cd, 3rd door, ac, sliding moonroof, spoiler, daytime running lights, 4cyl., automatic. i loved it! when i first got it, i washed it i think every other day... wax... vaccuum... whole nine. it was my baby.
I still have it. im not here to down saturns because it has been good to me, but im just tired of it. compared to other sporty cars, its just so basic. it was my first car so i cant complain cuz other people have to drive a lot worse for their first car, but to be honest, im ready to upgrade.
Even tho it was a beautiful car, like i said, it was my first, i didn't really have the knowledge about cars in the least when i bought it. I just wanted sumthin that looked good and had a cd player... haha. I am a female... haha!
well anyway, i bought it with 102,000 miles on it...(whoa..i kno!) and now that i know a lil bit more about cars, im concerned that the previous owners didn't take real good care of it. the prive of the car was 7500. my dad talked them down to 6500. after finance charges and interest, i paid over 10000. my percentage was at 21%! did i also mention that i wasn't too enlightened about finances either at the time!? u bet ur booty i just refinanced that shizzit!... my rate is now 11%.
being my first car, i had no idea on costs for maintence and upkeep. since ive had it ive had to replace a tie rod... i think thats the only major thing. but soon after i bought it, the wipers rusted out which i have yet to replace. one of my rear speakers blew(stock) so then i just had to go buy sum explodes! i think a week after i had my explodes, then 1 of my front speakers blew, which was also stock! so now i have to replace those. Also, my moonroof quit sliding and makes a funny noise when u try to open it. My horn died... which still has to be replaced and inspection is cummin next month. ive had to buy 2 new rear tires cuz the car would vibrate so bad that it felt like the engine was gonna jump out and get me! it was only tires tho...who knew!? and adding to all the costs, many many oil changes! i also didn't know that value decreases no matter how good u take care of ur vehicle! hmmmm!
but it is very good on gas and gets me from point A to B... and even tho my baby is gettin old, i still look good in it! but i dont think ill ever buy one again. it drives well, but its just so light and doesn't have a whole lot of power... but i think thats cuz its 4cyl.
i just wanna get away from the stock bull%#*!... i dont want sumthin thats wicked tricked out... but just a complete sound system, maybe sum custom paint and or decals... tires & rims, lights, and clear break covers could be pretty hot... sum tint on the windows. and also i need to learn standard cuz all the hot cars are standard!
i still love my "falling apart" saturn, but it im ready for bigger and better things. and i dont think that it would be worth putting all that work into my saturn just for it to fall apart in a short while. but ive got a while to go yet cuz i just got a second job to start saving for a new car but first i have to pay off 7 credit cards! but from now till then, ive got my eyes peeled on a few things... civic, celica, eclipse... haha! the grand ams are soupable! hyundia tiburons aren't half bad... as well as cavaliers. so from now till then, ive got a lot to learn, money to save and choices to make... any advice or your experiences would be helpful.

The circumstances you bought your car under sound similar to mine. I bought my used SC1 because it was purple and it had a spoiler :) I also ended up paying like 21% interest because it was my first car and I was a teen. It is a great car, but if I kick myself for not knowing that SC2's existed at the time.

I don't believe that saturns will fall apart if you add stuff to it. They will live a lot longer. I too have credit cards to pay and had trouble with the dealership in getting a good interest rate to finance with mine. I'm still gonna give her new suspension parts, exhaust and many engine enhancements (spswebpage.com) before i sell mine, then im gonna save up a huge down payment for an Evo VIII. Sure it won't be for a couple of years, just more time to enjoy my saturn. And don't buy a cavalier, get either an eclipse or a civic cuz they have the most parts out there.

I don't believe that saturns will fall apart if you add stuff to it. They will live a lot longer.

that all depends on WHAT you add and what you do.

Nothing lasts forever on a car, many things will need to be replaced sooner or later.