My daughter has a 2001 Saturn SC-1. It does not have a lot of miles and is very reliable. Does anyone know what parts and service will be available after Saturn goes out of business next year?
Your post will raise a lot of conflicting responses!
Personally, the outlook is not great for a number of reasons. The 2001 Saturn had a unique engine, not part of the rest of the GM family. It has a plastic body, the dies of which were probably scrapped years ago. The dealerships will all soon be closed. The possible sale to Penske fell through, so the Saturn brand is history.
Although with the bailout GM promised people who bought new Saturns that they would honor the warranty, that’s only for the latest models, and those are basically rebadged other GM models for which parts will be available.
Buyers of Oldsmobiles can still get a lot of parts since these parts were common to Chevies, Pontiacs and Buicks. Oldsmobile body panels are also a lot like other GM panels.
If I were your daughter, I would sell the car while it is still in good condition.
I disagree on selling this due to heavy depreciation due to brand fate.
The SC motor is same pretty much since 1991 so parts will be made. Body parts are from the junkyard which will hang onto these cars.
I wouldn’t even give this a second thought. Mechanical and wear and tear parts will be available through the aftermarket for decades and body and trim parts can also be had either through the aftermarket, junkyards, eBay, or Craigslist, etc.
As to service, any half decent tech should not have a problem working on these cars.
Even though the engine block and head are unique, almost all of the other mechanical parts in the vehicle are off the shelf GM parts. I don’t think you need to address this issue until the engine goes bad, and my 02 SL has over 200k on it, still runs good as new.
The S series are truly wonderful cars. My SW2 (95) is over 250,000 without any major engine problems yet.
Parts and service will be readily available long after GM locks the doors on the Saturn dealerships. There’s probably millions of them on the road, and the aftermarket industry will continue to suppoort them for decades to come. Private garages will continue to support them indefinitely. The technology is pretty standard stuff, unlike, say, a Veyron, and not beyond the abilities of the average shop.
No need to worry here.
The car is old enough that it should be long gone (from your daughter) before parts become scarce. It’s already 9 years old. Does she plan to keep it another 9 or more years?
Thanks everyone for the responses. My daughter (and her husband) need a bigger car and will be getting rid of Saturn. I am thinking about buying it from them and giving it to another daughter (new driver). I’m only counting on a few more years before junking it.
“I am thinking about buying it from them and giving it to another daughter (new driver).”
Do you want some pointers on how to get the best price for the car? 