Last Sunday night as I approached Atlanta (actually at exit 224 on I-75 which is Stock Bridge/Eagles Landing) my 2001 Saturn turned 500,000 miles on the odometer.
I bought the Saturn in June 2001 new (it is a 4 door SL2) and I have driven it all over the country. It has been in most states except in NE above Pennsylvania and upper mid-west. I am still driving it about 40-45,000 miles a year.
It is first car I have kept careful maintenance records on and I have normally had the oil changed every 4-5,000 miles. At about 400,000 miles I had to replace the transmission and at 490,000 miles I replaced the motor. It is the car I drove out to the west coast in July 2011 with Carl Bramell. It saw Crater Lake, Yosemite (lots of mountain climbing, San Francisco, the redwoods, etc.
I still have my 1986 Buick skylark I also bought new and this car was second to replace as primary car, the first was a 1999 Saturn which in 2001 Saturn offered such a great trade-in I got the one that just turned 500000. The Skylark has 288,000 miles on it and I mainly drive it locally.
The Saturn has been a good car and is going strong. Too bad GM no longer makes Saturn having shut it down in the bankruptcy of 2009.
Picture of odometer at 500001 (img src="IMG_6293editc5l-4x6.jpg">.
Dwight
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