SATURN · vehicle model
SATURN SL
2,891 NHTSA complaints and 8 safety recalls across model years 1991–2002.
- Complaints
- 2,891
- Recalls
- 8
- Model years
- 12
The SATURNSL appears in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database with 2,891 consumer safety complaints and 8 recall campaigns across 12 model years (1991–2002). That averages roughly 241 complaints per model year. Report counts can differ between model years for many reasons; this dataset does not establish the cause of a difference.
Complaint volume on a nameplate alone is not a reliability verdict: a long-running bestseller can accumulate more filings than a low-volume niche model because more vehicles are on the road. The table below shows report counts and published NHTSA crash-test ratings side by side for each model year. The filing-year histogram shows the timing of submitted reports, not a causal trend.
NHTSA has 14 investigation files tied to this model. Investigation records, complaint reports, and recall campaigns each provide different context. Use the official NHTSA VIN lookup and the underlying notices to research a specific vehicle; PlainCars does not infer a vehicle-risk or pricing conclusion from these records.
Complaints by Year
Complaint Filing Trend
NHTSA complaint volume by year filed (not model year).
Year filed (bar labels show the complaint count).
Compare SATURNSL to Similar Vehicles
NHTSA Investigations
Electric Power Steering Failure
Electric Power Steering Failure
OUTSIDE DOOR HANDLES STICK UNLATCHED
TIMING CHAIN BREAKS, ENGINE STALL
TIMING CHAIN FAILURE-STALL
TIMING CHAIN FAILURE - STALL
TIMING CHAIN FAILURE
TIMING CHAIN FAILURE
INOPERATIVE TAIL LAMPS
INOPERATIVE TAIL LAMPS
Frequently Asked Questions
How reliable is the SATURN SL?▼
What years of SATURN SL are available?▼
Does the SATURN SL have safety ratings?▼
What are the most common SATURN SL complaints?▼
How do I check if my SATURN SL has been recalled?▼
Data sources
Data vintage: August 2026. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. SATURN SL totals are aggregated from the linked NHTSA model-year rows; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.