I owned (until today actually) a 1997 SL1 it just surpassed 131,000 miles
today when I purchased my new saturn. As for a little more punch, I have
heard that the tornado thing you put in your cars intake tubing has helped
some people in their quest for a mild improvement. Plus I think most people
can put that in themselves. I would check out autos.msn.com and under the
used car relabilty ratings it should give you some insite on what to expect
for maintances problems. I found that most things listed can be spotted or
solved during a regular programed oil and fluids change.

> wrote in message
...
> I just bought a 2002 SL1, 49785 miles on it, from my local Saturn dealer.
> It seems to be running well (I'm not a mechanic at all). It's a
> 4-cylinder, so it doesn't have that "punch" you like when merging onto a
> freeway, but I can deal with that. It's reliability I'm after. Anyway,
> what can I expect for this car? Any known problems that might be cropping
> up in the future? I plan to have regular maintenance done, along with
some
> of the extras like flushing the engine. Also, any suggestions on making
> the car a little more peppy? I don't do car work myself, so it would be
> things I would ask the dealership to do for me. (Well, I could put in
> additives myself of course!)
>
> It doesn't have cruise control. I had CC installed by a dealer in a
Nissan
> years ago, and it never did work quite right. Any word on installing CC
in
> an SL1? Again, it would be the dealer doing the work.
>
> --
> kettir at softhome dot net
> @>---->---
> "Save your tears for the day when our pain is far behind;
> On your feet, come with me, we are soldiers stand or die.
> Save your fears, take your place, save them for the judgment day.
> Fast and free follow me, time to make the sacrifice; we rise or fall"