Here is my story!
It's a story about love, greed, and deception. Enjoy!
May 1998
I purchases, what I thought to be a great car, a '91 Saturn SL1. It had power everything, and ran pretty good. You don't hear many bad things about them. Saturn's are supposed to be an excellent car.
2 Weeks Later
The car, for some reason, would not start for me. The alternator was bad on the car, which caused my battery to die. That's alright. Alternators are pretty easy to install, and cheap as well. None the less, I took it in, and had the professionals work on it. I almost got a hard time, because they said that it was not covered under waranty. Now, alternators do not go on a car right away. It takes a while for those things to go faulty. That is the reason why I had it put in free of charge. Then everything was fine...
1 Year Later
I started developing this "Mass Consumption of Oil" problem. It started off slow. I only needed to add oil every now and then. Well, by this point now, I needed to add a quart of oil once a week. This was getting a little costy for me, so I decided to take it to a Saturn garage to see what they could do for me. Well, they gave me this long list of what was wrong, and what needed to be done to fix it.
I needed a second opinion. I took my car to a local garage to see if they found the same thing out. NAY! They said that I needed to replace the entire engine, because one of the cylinders was not getting enough compression.
A little depressed about my car, I had my dad take it back to the Saturn garage, and see what he could find out. He told them that he had already taken it to another garage, and asked them to check it out. All that was wrong with it now was a couple of faulty pistons and rings, a $1,000 job to fix. Well, I did need a car, and if this fixed it, I would be set. I had them try to fix my car. It took a couple of days, but when I got that thing back, it ran so nice. I was indeed a happy man.
January 2000
Needed a new battery. Nothing really major, but I did replace the alternator over a year ago. A battery, though, is not all that expensive, so I happily replaced it. When I took the car to Sears to replace the battery, they said that my alternator is going bad as well. That's funny, considering that I had it replaced not that long ago. No problems with the battery after that. The car is running a little rough, though it is still running. Runs great on a full tank of gas.
February 2000
Front tires are bald, and there is a pretty decent snow storm. Replaced the front tires so that I can get into my driveway. Still running pretty good. New front tires definitely help.
March 12, 2000
Got back from Boston. Had a great trip. Drove there in no time. When in Boston, did not drive it at all, until I was ready to leave. Drove all the way home with not a single problem. Got lost on the way home, so I took longer getting home, but not that much longer.
March 13, 2000
Got into my car to go to work. Stopped at the local store to grab a cup of coffee, like I do every morning. It was running abnormally rough on my way to the store. On my way to work, the car overheated, majorly! I did get to work though. When in work, I made an appointment to have it looked at. I dropped my car off at the Saturn garage after work, got a ride to Enterprise, and rented a car for a day while mine was being checked on.
March 14, 2000
Called the Saturn Service Center at 1:30 in the afternoon to check up on the car. My dad had called at 11:00 in the morning to do the same. I was told the same thing that they told him. The cooling belt got loose, and had rapped around a few things. A few minor repairs would fix it, and my car would be ready when I get out of work.
Got out of work, at 4:30 in the afternoon, and returned the rental to Enterprise. I got a ride to the Saturn Garage from Enterprise. When I got there, the mechanic told me that I needed a new engine, which would cost me another $1,000+. I called my father to come get me, and sat down in their chairs silently waiting. When he had arrived, he bitched them out again, and we were off. There is no way we are going to pay this money to fix the car. We have already put more money into it than it is worth. Now we have to get the car towed off of their lot, and I am in search of another car. I just need a junker to get me around here and there. I will tell you one thing, I WILL NEVER PURCHASE A SATURN AUTOMOBILE AGAIN!
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Saturn Hater