How stupid would I be to pass this up?

'94 Saturn Wagon, twincam, stickshift. 268k miles. Guy's asking $950, I could definitely talk him down a little as the registration's overdue and I doubt he'll want to smog it.

My understanding is that the early Saturns are very reliable, motors go forever. Not sure where the cutoff is, though.

Being out of reg and having to smog it does have me a little spooked, but I thought the stickshift DOHC wagons were somewhat rare.

How do these handle? Does it handle well enough to have Autocross potential (non-SCCA classing, it'd be lumped in with all the other N/A 4-bangers on street tires)?

I hear these things can get something like 30mpg around town if you go easy, any truth to that?

268k--eesh.

I'd think you could talk him down to $500. Sure, it's rare in Saturn circles, but that seems like a bit of a stretch price-wise.

In terms of reliability, it totally depends on the maintenance... the DOHCs (all SW/L/C2 years) have very small oil passages to parts like the timing chain/tensioner, etc, hopefully the previous owner stuck to 3k oil changes.

The first few early years (through 1995?) had true headers, as well as a functional (non-idiot-light) oil pressure gauge.

30mpg around town is tough to get (especially w/ 268k miles), but not completely unrealistic. They're fairly lightweight too, under 2,500 if I recall...

you would be retarded not to buy it. All 1.9 engines are hella reliable, twin cam included. Makes decent power, handles well enough, is a pretty fun car to drive all around. The earlier (pre 98 or 99) burn a decent bit of oil, so keep an eye on that. If you keep your foot out of it too hard, you will assuredly exceed 30 miles per gallon.

My girlfriend did not watch her oil burning very well, and spun a bearing after taking an on-ramp too hot. I replaced the bearings in about 4 hours of hard work, and we have put about 6,000 miles on it since then.

sorry, I meant you would be retarded not to buy it, assuming you could talk him down a little. They are not worth that much, especially at that mileage.

Supposedly he's had a couple Lemons racers try to buy it for $500, and he wouldn't sell it for that low.

I get 32mpg combined with my DOHC 5spd, 37-39 if it's strictly hi-way That is a lot of miles, but if it runs good I wouldn't be too worried. Yes, that is a tough drivetrain combo to find in a wagon, you could re-sell over at sixthsphere fairly easy if the cars in decent shape. I say get it for $700.

Good model to get.

Saturn handle well, only let down by the weaknesses of Mcstruts. The wagons and Sedans have the slower rack, which can be fixed with a visit to you favorite u-pull. You can also upgrade to discs in the rear easily. As someone already some early models came with a header; 92-93 I think.

As said before watch your oil. That is real concern maintenance when it comes to Saturns. That and a weak diff pin design. But having one of those fail seems to be like a backwards lotto, not much you can do to avoid it.

With an aggressive setup, bearings get to be a common replacement part. They just weren't designed for the stresses.

My 2001 SC2 gets 35-37MPG and is more than at home on an autocross course. Saturns do tend to be a bit light on power for track duty though, most track day cars have 60HP or more on me.

god, ive been wanting one of those SW2 wagons! Throw a set of Panasports on it, some suspension, call it a day!!

Swap a mp2 5th gear into it. Guaranteed 40+ Mpg.

Motors are pretty cheap to rebuild and can be modded for more power. 95 Sw2's are the Ultimate Wagon as they had 2nd gen interiors yet first gen styling.

91-92 is the years for the header. Also the guage cluster with the oil pressure.

I love my 94 Sw2, cheap, roomy, reliable. The car is way too handy to not have around.

I'd buy it.

Me too. I'd plan on replacing the motor, though. Robust is one thing, but 268k means borrowed time in my book. I may have a prejudice, though...

We used to own a 5-speed SW2. It was the first car that my wife and I bought together, and it was AWESOME for a Mommy-Daddy hauler for a young enlisted man.

A few years later, I had just returned from a military deployment, and hadn't seen the car in six months. Maintenance had been... overlooked...in my absence, and I failed to check before leaving. The engine expired dramatically while passing a string of 18-wheelers in York, Pennsylvania. Oil on fire, hole in the block...the whole nine yards.

It sucked extra hard because I was only about halfway to my base in Maryland at the time. That was a LONG night of alternating "I'm sorry" calls...first to my honey, then to my Gunny.

It worked out OK in the long run, but I miss the car. You could do a lot worse than an SW2 for a dual-purpose autocross/dd. I'm suddenly compelled to have one as an ST class autocrosser and HPDE rat...thanks a lot!

Id buy it. But since im a cheap bastard id shoot for $4-500, maybe $600 if forced.

Its definitely a cool car.

ReverendDexter wrote: Supposedly he's had a couple Lemons racers try to buy it for $500, and he wouldn't sell it for that low.

Then he hasn't sat on it long enough. Time is your friend with these kind of things...having a dozen or more people laugh at his price will eventually give him a clue.