Three years ago this Memorial Day weekend 2002, I went looking for a new car for my then wife. This was a necessary purchase since the 1989 Pontiac Sunbird we had had a blown engine, and the 1992 Saturn SL1 was on it’s last legs so to speak. We researched several types of vehicles, but kept going back to the Saturn. I’ve personally seen Saturn’s get wiped out on the highway, and the driver walking away from them. We decided on a 2002 Saturn SL2, 4dr Sedan from the local Saturn dealer. The vehicle was a demo model which had about 8,000 miles on it. Because of this, we received a reasonable deal on the cost of the car, added to the 0.0% interest rate for the auto loan, making the monthly payments $264.58 affordable.

This car came equipped with all the standard equipment; AM/FM radio with a Compact Disc player, electric door locks and windows, driver and passenger air bags, air conditioning, performance handling package, sport wheels, Halogen headlights, and dual sport mirrors. I’m sure there was more, but it’s been almost three years now since I last sat in the vehicle.

This auto ran with the best of them on the different roads in the local area. It was a strong, quick, agile little car. Whether the roads were smooth interstates, local country, or unpaved roads, this car handled decently under normal speeds. However, at higher speeds on the interstate highways, it felt too light in the front end.

As I said above, it Was a good vehicle, until the night of 28 June 2002. I was on my way home that night from work, driving along a local four lane highway, when another vehicle race up on my right side and cut in front of me. At this point, the car in front of him hit the breaks, the car that cut me off hit the breaks, and I hit the barriers along the side of the road three times. I tell people “I know what a pin-ball feels like”. I missed hitting the car that cut me off and he kept going.

After the world stopped spinning, I was able to shove the driver’s door open and get out of the car. I started looking at what was left of my new car, which wasn’t much. The rear end was pushed in about 6 inches, the tires and rims were in bad shape, and the front end was demolished. The front bumper and hood were ripped clean off the car. When it came time to drag it up on to the flat bed truck, we couldn’t find the head lights or the front license plate. There were a few other pieces lying around on the road that I wasn’t sure of where exactly they came from, somewhere under the hood was all I could figure.

Now, what am I getting at with all this? This vehicle took the force of an impact into a cement barrier at approximately 45 miles per hour, was totaled, and I went home and slept in my own bed that night. The only injury I had to deal with after this accident was sore muscles and lump on the back of my head from the seat belt post, (Yes, I was wearing my seatbelt). If this vehicle had side curtain air bags, I doubt I would have even had this injury.

Side note, no, the front air bags didn’t deploy because the impact points were on the corners of the car; none were a straight front end impact.

The next morning, my then wife made me take her to the garage where the car was hauled off to to see what was left of “her” new car. She even took pictures with our digital camera so she could show her on-line friends what I did to the car.

I still have the pictures of what was left of the car. I even gave copies to the local Saturn dealer where we bought the car, so they could show them to perspective buyers. I was in there just two weeks ago, they still have them and still show them.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the car long enough to work out what the actual fuel mileage was, or to take any family trips in it. So I can’t speak to the miles per gallon, or the roominess of this vehicle. I can however say that overall, this was a great car, I would recommend a Saturn to any parent for their family member to drive, and I would feel safe if my oldest, soon to be driving, son were to want one for himself.
Amount Paid (US$): 15,975.00
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: SL2, Automatic