Saturn Longevity?

[itjstagame]

Hi all,

It's been a while and I see a lot of posts on Saturns, but none specifically covering longevity.

Anyway, for me, my truck has been giving me a lot of issues lately and while I love the Festiva I have another baby on the way and need more than what's basically a two seater. I was thinking about it for a while and while I'd love the diesel variants of the BMW 335d or Audi A3 that I drove in Germany, I see they're not slated until 2010 for US and will be waaay too pricey to buy first year.

Anyway, so then I remembered the Saturns. I definately want a wagon for more space for more baby stuff but still want higher than 30MPG (the 50 in the Festy is spoiling me).

So my question is, looking around my area, I see SW2's going for anywhere from $500 to $2000. I definately want a manual because I just don't trust older automatics (or any automatics really) and thankfully most are.

The question is though, will a seemingly 'ok' cared for '96-'98 SW2 5speed for ~$1200-1600 with ~150k-180k seem like it will last me well for 2-3 years? At what milage do you start to worry? Like will 180k have a 50/50 shot of going 30k over 2-3 years? I know they have timing chains but interference engines worry me.

Also there's a '95 SW2 5speed with newer clutch and pretty ok looking for $500 and the cheapster in me really wants it, but it has 240k miles. Is this a major worry? Have people hit 300k with these? 200k seems more than doable, but where should I really really start to worry? Will the $500-1000 I save by getting the $500 be enough for most repairs/etc I run in to in 3 years or do you guys think I've got an 80% shot at catostrophic failure?

I know I could just replace the timing chain and remove most doubt, but that's a lot of work, I really want to try driving and forgetting about most maintance for 2-3 years.


Also what about mods? I know about the 5th gear swap and seems like good bang for buck, but will doing that and cruising in 5th at 35MPH put undo strain on the old engine? I mean I know how to not strain and engine and can tell when I am and the Festiva is an underpowered 200k+ something as well.

What about WAI? How much does this shorten life? I think I'm just leaning toward being happy with the 33MPG or whatever it'll get stock as long as it greatly decreases my chances of problems.


Thoughts, questions, joyous outbursts?