Just had one of the worst driving experiences in my life

[DGthe3]

Nothing bad happened to me while driving ... it was the car itself. No, it wasn't a Mustang either . It was 1997 Saturn SL2. See, I had to borrow my parents car tonight to get something in town, it was blocking me in. I had driven that thing for a good many years before I bought mine. I know that the seats, size, horse power, stereo, material quality, and just about everything are not what I'd like. But that wasn't the problem, because its all familiar to me. No, the problem is the exhaust. Namely the exhaust clamp that broke off recently, which was there to fix a hole . The sound is horrendous. I would rather listen to a ricer fart can, its less obnoxious. I think I coasted about 20x more than I had my foot on the gas, simply to keep the noise down. I felt like an idiot when I started it up in the parking lot because everyone around saw that it was me who made all that noise. Driving around, people just noticed the car but couldn't really see it was me at the wheel. I don't know how anyone could stand driving it like that but my Dad doesn't seem to be in much of a rush to get it fixed.

[FenwickHockey65]

I saw 1997 and Saturn and that explained everything.

Hooray for plastic rattlebuckets!

[Justin]

I have to say, my sister's 92 Saturn is STILL kicking, and I don't know HOW.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by Justin

I have to say, my sister's 92 Saturn is STILL kicking, and I don't know HOW.

Oh, they'll last forever, which can be a good thing and a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

Good thing because you never have to replace it...bad thing because the rattling will eventually drive you insane.

My dad's '93 Saturn SW2 drove him to work and back for 13 long years, over 243,000 miles.

[69 rs/ss]

My wife has a Saturn Aura and it is a great car. We love it. to bad they closed the plant. Before that we had a 2002 L-200 that is still in the family with 140,000 on it.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by 69 rs/ss

My wife has a Saturn Aura and it is a great car. We love it. to bad they closed the plant. Before that we had a 2002 L-200 that is still in the family with 140,000 on it.

Fairfax Assembly is still open. It's currently producing Ep-I Chevrolet Malibus and LWB EpII Buick LaCrosses.

[DGthe3]

I should add that this short little drive was worse than riding in a sunfire for 20 hours, straight (minus gas/food stops). At least for that trip there were only 4 of us, still a bit crowded though. I shudder to think what would happen with 5.

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

I saw 1997 and Saturn and that explained everything.

Hooray for plastic rattlebuckets!

motorized tupperware . But hey, no body rust or dents to worry about! And it keeps the weight down enough that ~100 hp can accelerate the car if you step on it. Though gaining speed while on the highway takes a bit of time. I don't think they have the guts to go 90 mph, certainly not 100. I wouldn't like to find out though, they don't like going past 70.

Originally Posted by Justin

I have to say, my sister's 92 Saturn is STILL kicking, and I don't know HOW.

Mechanically they're great. Reliable and efficient. Just don't expect anything else from them.

[Mindz]

Yeah, my car is running like a champ, but vibrating door panels are a PITA.

[SleepWarz]

We had this 87 chevy astro once.

OMFG worst pos ever, roof leaked, windows leaked,rad sqirted the car in front of you, door handles broke, running on 3 freaking cyls with what sounded like a hole in the exhaust manifold....

AND SOMEONE STILL STOLE THE BACK SEAT WTF....

And the pin for the trailer hitch....

That vehicle was freaking CURSED.

[DGthe3]

Turns out that it wasn't the clamp repair job that failed, well it did fail but that was weeks ago. It was the bolts on the exhaust flange. Left about a 2" gap. Essentially the little 1.8L 4 banger was running without any exhaust.

[IROCanSS]

i just got a 91 S10 with 241K on it that had the same problem. I first noticed a baseball size hole in the muffler. THinking thats what was making the HORRENDOUS noise, I got new muffler. It was not till I was under the truck to fix it that I noticed the pipe no even connected to the cat. Nice... a stright pipe dump on a 91 2.8L S10... My ears are still bleeding! It is fixed now and sounds much better. Now all I hear is the bad throw out bearing whining! Cant complain, 241K and starts everytime!

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by SleepWarz

We had this 87 chevy astro once.

OMFG worst pos ever, roof leaked, windows leaked,rad sqirted the car in front of you, door handles broke, running on 3 freaking cyls with what sounded like a hole in the exhaust manifold....

AND SOMEONE STILL STOLE THE BACK SEAT WTF....

And the pin for the trailer hitch....

That vehicle was freaking CURSED.

Our '89 Safari lasted forever with nothing more than a new transmission after 200,000 miles.

[SleepWarz]

Wild fen, just wild.

[Epitaph]

LMAO! I know exactly how you feel. I was driving to school one day & the exhaust manifold just started chattering.. I thought something was broken...Just happened to be the bolts were coming loose. I had no pride for the rest of the week. A few months later, Reverse stopped working...I couldn't park anywhere that had a parking bumper =D I was so happy to get a new(er) vehicle.