1996 Saturn SC problems
Owners have filed 41 complaints with NHTSA about the 1996 Saturn SC. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 17% of complaints. Next are electrical system (15%) and brakes (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 41 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 17% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 8 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 80,000 miles 17 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 4 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 0 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 3 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 6 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 2 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 17 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 80,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 8 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 92% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1996 ranks 8th most-complained-about out of 8 model years of the Saturn SC with enough data (13 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Ligthly applied brake to slow down to stop at intersection; though I had foot pressing hard on brake car would not stop, entered intersection and struck a passing car; this was within an hour of picking up the car from garage where repairs had been done because of this problem; air bags did not activate at impact
I drive a 1996 saturn sc-1. While trying to back out of the driveway yesterday, the gearshift went "limp" and I was unable to put the car into gear and drive. I removed the center console, and found that what I later found out to be the "shifter linkage bushing" had broken in half, and would need to be replaced. Should have been a simple fix.
As the original owner of a 1996 saturn sc1 with 68,000 miles, this car has had four head gaskets replaced originating when this car was under a year old. In addition to these repeated catastrophic engine failures multiple replacements of alarm systems, radio, electrical issues and a defective front seat. This is what I purchased from saturn and I have all documentation. The most recent head gasket failure occurred in november '06.