Valve Train Noise

My Saturn SW2 has excessive noise coming from the area of the valve cover. I suspect valve train wear. Can you purchase engine parts from any other place than the Saturn Dealer? Has anyone else had this problem?

how old is your saturn and how many miles are on it??

mileage? any major engine repairs before? oil changes every 3000 miles? do you burn lots of oil? how long does it take for the oil to turn dark?

some peices you can buy aftermarket, but i don't think all, and with a few exceptions (rings for one) i recommend using OEM peices

The vehicle has almost 75,000 miles. I bought it about a month ago on Ebay, so I was not aware of the noise. A friend suggested that it could be the timing chain. It used a quart of oil in about 1500 miles. As far as I know the engine is as it came from the factory.

heres what i would do, change the oil with mobil one synthedic oil (most likely 5w-30, depending on area). see if the nosie goes away, and watch how fast the oil turns dark. chances are, the timing chain is starting to go, and the chain guides(plastic) is getting torn up, turning the oil to crap.