Originally Posted by tomlct
This is a great thread. I also like to keep cars for way longer than the average person probably would. My daily driver is a 2003 Saturn LW-200, with 213K miles. It has the L61 engine, 2.2 Ecotec, and I worry about the timing chain problems that these early versions of this engine have had reports of. I change the oil around every 5K with full syn (now Valvoline high mileage full syn) and an AC Delco/Hengst oil filter. Last week, I replaced the crank sensor (AC Delco) as a preventive maintenance thing, and I may take it to a GM dealer to have them inspect the timing chain tension and install the current design timing chain tensioner. I bought it in 2004 from a Saturn dealer with 17K miles. They had been trying to sell it for a few months for $14K, and when they dropped the price to $12,500, I drove it & bought it. I think it is the best value for money of any of my car purchases. The original sticker was $21K. I still enjoy driving it, and like the practicality of a wagon, but I would probably give up on it if the timing chain broke or something else catastrophic like that.
Some parts are getting hard to find, like the rear short parking brake cables. Most of the L's had rear disc brakes, but starting in 2003, the 4 cylinder L's went to rear drum brakes. I had to order them on EBay Germany, for an Opel Vectra B. If you can't get mechanical parts, that is also a reason to give up on a keeper car that you really like.
I also have an 88 Dodge Aries, which I purchased new. These days, it is just a fair weather fun driver, and also the occasional car show. I had a big repair done on it last month - new heater core (weak heat, new core was cheap) and new A/C evaporator, to replace a leaker. Of course, both were done at the same time.
I also had a 91 Plymouth Acclaim (2.5 4 cylinder) that almost made it to 200K miles until the engine developed a bad shaking at idle, and a 91 Buick Century 3.3 V-6 which also got close to 200K miles, and then went to my mother-in-law, and was her last car.
Sounds like you have gotten your money's worth out of that Saturn! And you're right, some parts are hard to come by on those Saturns. Who knows? Maybe that thing will never experience the chain problems they were known for? I owned a Honda Accord once, kept that thing nearly 17 years (the only time I really went pretty long term on a car), and those things were known for transmission failures, well I never experienced it, if I had I probably wouldn't have put a tranny in it...I probably never would have kept it to 282,000 miles. And that's alaways been my problem, I've never done that big repair to keep something going. But like other have stated, it may be worth it.
