Manual Transmission Floor Shifter Problems of Saturn SL

I recently purchased a 1997 Sl1 and on the 3rd day of owning it the shifter broke causing it to go limp. At the time I was on the 101 freeway stuck in traffic with my three children. I called my mechanic and he towed it to his shop for repairs. After making the necessary repair, he did a routine maintenance check. This was when he discovered the oil had water mixed in with it causing a white smoke escaping from the exhaust pipe. I'm certain this problem was recognized by the previous owner and most likely was the reason for selling. After reading the following complaints from car survey, I believe Saturn engineered this vehicle "by design" with these problems as a forecast for revenue.

See all problems of the 1997 Saturn SL 🔎.

I recently purchased a 1997 Sl1 and on the 3rd day of owning it the shifter broke causing it to go limp. At the time I was on the 101 freeway stuck in traffic with my three children. I called my mechanic and he towed it to his shop for repairs. After making the necessary repair, he did a routine maintenance check. This was when he discovered the oil had water mixed in with it causing a white smoke escaping from the exhaust pipe. I'm certain this problem was recognized by the previous owner and most likely was the reason for selling. After reading the following complaints from carsurvey, (complaints listed below) I believe Saturn engineered this vehicle "by design" with these problems forecasting their revenue.

Correction of information in previous submission #10166978.

See all problems of the 1999 Saturn SL 🔎.

Like many other owners of Saturn automobiles with five-speed manual transmissions, I had the bushing on the shift cable break. The repair set me back $400. . Read more...

While parking my 1898 Saturn Sl in a hospital garage, the shift lever went limp without warning. There was no way to operate the transmission. When I removed the console, I discovered that the plastic bushing that connects the manual shift lever to the shift cable was missing. There was no longer any connection between the shift lever and the cable to the transmission. The entire shift cable assembly had to be replaced to fix the problem. Saturn told me that the bushing is made onto the cable rather than being available as a separate part. If this bushing had failed in a traffic situation it could have resulted in an accident. The bushing should be designed such that if it brakes; the shift lever will remain connected to the shift cable and just cause Sloppy shifting thereby warning the driver that repair is required. I still have the old shift cable assembly.

See all problems of the 1998 Saturn SL 🔎.

Shifter arm clutch linkage bushing broke while shifting gear.

Shift cables broke while driving down highway leaving vehicle disabled. Mileage was 50700.