What breaks most · 1991 to 2002 model years
Saturn SC problems by year
Owners have filed 296 safety complaints with NHTSA about the Saturn SC across model years 1991 to 2002. Three years stand out: 1994 for seats complaints, 1995 for seats complaints and 2002 for electrical system complaints. The quietest years are 1991, 1998 and 1992.
- Years to check closely: 1994, 1995, 2002
- Fewest complaints: 1991, 1998, 1992
- Complaints on file
- 2961991 to 2002, all trims
- Worst year
- 199451 complaints
- Crashes reported
- 497 fires · 34 injuries · 2 deaths
- Typical failure mileage
- 86kMedian where owners gave mileage
- Recall campaigns
- 20Across the years shown
Complaints by model year
Raw filings with NHTSA, not adjusted for how many were sold.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Recalls | Most-reported component |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | 1 | Seat belts (3) | |
| 16 | 0 | 2 | Seat belts (11) | |
| 23 | 4 | 1 | Seats (9) | |
| 51 | 8 | 1 | Seats (21) | |
| 39 | 10 | 2 | Seats (14) | |
| 26 | 4 | 0 | Engine and cooling (6) | |
| 33 | 4 | 3 | Electrical system (10) | |
| 13 | 1 | 0 | Powertrain and transmission (4) | |
| 24 | 5 | 1 | Engine and cooling (7) | |
| 7 | 2 | 7 | Tires (2) | |
| 21 | 3 | 2 | Electrical system (5) | |
| 38 | 7 | 0 | Electrical system (12) |
What fails on the 1994 Saturn SC
| Component | Share of complaints | Filings | Crashes | Parts for this job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | 41% |
21 | 2 | — |
| Seat belts | 22% |
11 | 2 | Check recalls for seat belts on NHTSA.gov |
| Air bags | 10% |
5 | 5 | Check recalls for air bags on NHTSA.gov |
| Engine and coolingRadiators, thermostats and cooling | 8% |
4 | 0 | Shop all engine and cooling parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Powertrain and transmissionTransmission parts | 6% |
3 | 0 | Shop all powertrain and transmission parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Electrical systemAlternators, starters and ignition | 6% |
3 | 0 | Shop all electrical system parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Brakes (hydraulic)Brake pads, rotors and calipers | 6% |
3 | 0 | Shop all brakes (hydraulic) parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Speed control and throttleThrottle and pedal sensors | 4% |
2 | 0 | Shop all speed control and throttle parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
One complaint can name more than one component, so shares add to more than 100%. "Unknown or other" is NHTSA's uncategorized bucket and is shown but never ranked.
In owners' words
Complaint narratives as filed with NHTSA, trimmed for length.
-
Car burns oil every 500 miles. See webpage "saturnexposed.com" to see the many other saturn owners who have the same problem. *ak
-
With ABS brakes; when braking on curve on wet road surface, owner lost control when brakes were applied, resulting in an accident/injury. *ak
-
The spark plug wires are arching and sparking which could potentially cause a fire. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who initially changed the spark plugs. Dealer contacted the division office which told him to put the old spark plugs back on the vehicle. *ak *mr
How to read this page
Every figure comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's public complaint database, which holds every safety-related defect complaint filed by owners since 1995. We refresh it monthly and count each complaint once per component it names. Data through September 6, 2026.
NHTSA only accepts safety-related complaints. Rattles, paint, infotainment bugs and other annoyances are under-reported here, so this page is a map of what fails in ways owners consider dangerous, not a full reliability score.
Counts are raw. Use the year-over-year shape and the component mix, not the absolute numbers. Where a component maps to parts we stock, the row links to that category filtered to the year you are viewing. Air bag and seat belt complaints link to the recall checker instead, because those repairs are almost always covered.
Common questions
Which Saturn SC years have the most problems?
By NHTSA complaint volume, 1994, 1995, 2002 carry the most filings on the Saturn SC. The 1994 alone has 51 complaints, led by seats.
What is the most common Saturn SC problem?
On the 1994 model year, the most-reported component is seats with 21 complaints. The table above lists the top components for every year.
At what mileage do Saturn SC problems start?
The median mileage at failure across all Saturn SC complaints that include mileage is about 86,000 miles. Older model years skew higher; the per-year figure is in the "at a glance" card.
Are these complaints verified?
No. NHTSA publishes complaints as submitted and does not investigate individual filings. Patterns across hundreds of complaints are meaningful; a single one is not.