1998 SATURN SL — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 161 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: POWER TRAIN (28 complaints · 17.4%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 23
  • Fires 2
  • Injuries 31
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 1997 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution POWER TRAIN appears in 28 of 161 owner complaints (17.4%) in this vehicle snapshot. POWER TRAIN: 28 complaints, 17.4% of reports POWER TRAIN 28 · 17.4% · 4 crash reports 1 fire reports ENGINE: 23 complaints, 14.3% of reports ENGINE 23 · 14.3% SEAT BELTS: 15 complaints, 9.3% of reports SEAT BELTS 15 · 9.3% · 3 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 12 complaints, 7.5% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 12 · 7.5% VISIBILITY: 12 complaints, 7.5% of reports VISIBILITY 12 · 7.5% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 10 complaints, 6.2% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10 · 6.2% · 1 fire reports STRUCTURE: 9 complaints, 5.6% of reports STRUCTURE 9 · 5.6% · 1 crash reports AIR BAGS: 8 complaints, 5.0% of reports AIR BAGS 8 · 5.0% · 7 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 5 complaints, 3.1% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 5 · 3.1% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 118 complaints, 73.3% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 118 · 73.3% · 16 crash reports 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
POWER TRAIN 28 17.4% 4 crashes · 1 fires
ENGINE 23 14.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 15 9.3% 3 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 12 7.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 12 7.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10 6.2% 0 crashes · 1 fires
STRUCTURE 9 5.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 8 5.0% 7 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 5 3.1% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 118 73.3% 16 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1998; the first recall shown was reported in Apr 2009. 1998-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 1998-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q1: 28 owner reports 28 1999-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 1999-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2000-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2000-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2001-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2001-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2003-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2003-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2003-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2003-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2004-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2004-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2004-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 Owner reports Jan 1998 Oct 2014 Recall campaign 09E012000 ◆ Recall campaign 09E012000
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1998-Q1 Owner reports 2
1998-Q2 Owner reports 7
1998-Q3 Owner reports 2
1998-Q4 Owner reports 6
1999-Q1 Owner reports 28
1999-Q2 Owner reports 2
1999-Q3 Owner reports 7
1999-Q4 Owner reports 4
2000-Q1 Owner reports 5
2000-Q2 Owner reports 3
2000-Q3 Owner reports 3
2000-Q4 Owner reports 4
2001-Q1 Owner reports 3
2001-Q2 Owner reports 6
2001-Q3 Owner reports 5
2001-Q4 Owner reports 4
2002-Q1 Owner reports 5
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 3
2002-Q4 Owner reports 4
2003-Q1 Owner reports 5
2003-Q2 Owner reports 4
2003-Q3 Owner reports 3
2003-Q4 Owner reports 5
2004-Q1 Owner reports 8
2004-Q2 Owner reports 5
2004-Q3 Owner reports 1
2004-Q4 Owner reports 3
2005-Q1 Owner reports 3
2005-Q2 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q2 Owner reports 1
2006-Q3 Owner reports 2
2006-Q4 Owner reports 2
2007-Q2 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 2
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q2 Owner reports 1
2010-Q1 Owner reports 1
2011-Q1 Owner reports 1
2012-Q2 Owner reports 1
2013-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 2
Recall campaign 1 09E012000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 09E012000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    DECREASED LIGHTING VISIBILITY MAY RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
    Remedy:
    SABERSPORT WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND OFFER A FULL REFUND FOR THE NONCOMPLIANT COMBINATION LAMPS. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON MAY 11, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT SABERSPORT AT 1-909-598-7589.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 161 complaints · page 1 of 7

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources