I have a '96 Saturn SL2 here in San Diego which I believe has just blown a head
gasket at 148k miles. I'm no car nut and drive conservatively but this car has
been a bit of a disappointment for me. I bought a Saturn because way back when
they had a great reputation. The car still looks pretty decent on the outside
and I can't really bear to just give it to the scrapyard but that's what I will
have to do if necessary. I suspect that the car is actually worth less than the
cost of repairs. But I thought I might post on a few of the Saturn forums to
see if there is anyone who needed a parts car or who was into fixing these
things up.

I knew this was coming and that I would have to junk it so there has been quite
a bit of deferred maintenance because I didn't want to sink any more money into
it. Things wrong with the car:

Head gasket blown. It's been leaking oil for ages. I have dutifully kept it
topped up checking at every fillup. It has needed a quart a week! The past week
it started losing a lot of coolant. It never completely overheated but
approached redline a few times. This past week I have had to put coolant in it
every other day. Then I was just driving it down the road and it quit.

Brakes are worn out.

A/C compressor bearings and clutch are shot.

Damage to the front bumper.

Drivers side and rear passenger side automatic windows do not work properly.

I have not opened the sunroof in two years after I once opened it and it almost did not close again due to faulty switch.

Minor thing that really ticked me off: A few months ago I was driving at night
and needed the map light. So I pushed the button. *snap* the button broke. The
next night I needed the map light again, pushed the passenger side map light
button and *snap* it broke too. After 9 years of use they both broke within 24
hours of each other! What are the odds?!?!

There have been many other problems with the car which I have fixed over the
years, more than there should have been I think.

Anyhow, I am going to unload this car one way or another in the next few days.
If it sits on the side of the street more than 72 hours it will get a ticket
and I am not going to be pushing it to a new place every few days.

So if anyone wants it email me at treed@ultraviolet.org and we'll talk. If
nobody is interested, then to Ecology Auto Wrecking it goes.
~

sorry, not interested, but i don't remember ever hearing of 1.9 truely blowning a head gasket. where is the water leaking? this could be a very good cheap fixer upper for somebody.