One problem related to gasoline engine has been reported for the 2001 Saturn SL2. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
We noticed that sometimes the car was engine was racing when coming to a stop and you have to hold extra pressure on the bake pedal to keep the car from moving forward. The idle speed increases from a normal 750 rpm to approximately 1750 rpm while in neutral, intermediately, sometimes right after starting the car, sometimes after driving for a while. The car engine when it does this will exceed 1100 rpm while in drive with your foot on the brake. The car was taken to the dealer numerous times under while under warranty and one time specifically while it was exhibiting the high idle and no cause was discovered, no parts replaced; the problem still exists today. The dealer is unable to find the problem, even though we took it in while the engine was high idling.