1996
Saturn SC

Starts at:
$12,195
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New 1996 Saturn SC
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Consumer rating
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Not rated
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NHTSA tested vehicle score
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Available trims

See the differences side-by-side to compare trims.
  • SC1 Manual
    Starts at
    $12,195
    29 City / 40 Hwy
    MPG
    4
    Seat capacity
    Front Wheel Drive
    Drivetrain
    See all specs
  • SC2 Manual
    Starts at
    $13,295
    25 City / 35 Hwy
    MPG
    4
    Seat capacity
    Front Wheel Drive
    Drivetrain
    See all specs

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Consumer reviews

90% of drivers recommend this car
4.1 / 5
Based on 10 reviews
Write a review
Comfort 3.5
Interior 3.1
Performance 3.0
Value 4.3
Exterior 3.5
Reliability 4.0

Most recent

  • By Saturn Family Guy from Chicago, IL
    Owns this car
    May 18, 2014

    Best GM car ever, maybe best U.S. car?

    [Comfort] This is a very small car. It's smaller than a Honda Civic, but despite this I'm over 6 feet, and I can fit in the car comfortably with head room to spare. The suspension is fir, but not harsh. It handles bumps well. It's sits pretty low to the ground. The seats are nice and supportive and comfy enough to go on long car trips and still be good. The back seats are small on intended for children, but I can fit back there. [Performance] Good for such a cheap basic car. It's light, small, and sits low with a 100HP punchy 4-Cylinder. The manual transmissions are really nice, and the Automatic's come with a Normal, and Performance mode. It handles very well. [Exterior Styling] I think it is a very good looking car. It stands out amongst other cars in its class, and is very curvy for an older car. These cars came available with lots of nice colors, and plastic body panels which I thought were stupid, but now I wish all cars were plastic. [Interior Styling] Plain and simple. Simple, but unique look. A nice big gauge cluster along with big easy to use switches and buttons. Very practical design. [Value for the money] Really good! Cheap to buy, reliable, and easy and cheap to fix. A good Do it Yourselfer Car! [Reliability] Really good overall; However, there are a few things to watch out for. The Catalytic converters go bad faster than you average car. It burns more oil than the Average car. With Automatics, the shifts into Reverse a little rough when the car gets hot. I put Synthetic oil in and the oil doesn't burn that much at all. I've driven mines for 50,000 miles I'm the 2nd owner. It now has 220,000+ miles on it still running. Always starts right up on really hot days, and really cold days. Nothing, but daily maintenance has been done to it. I just recently bought another Saturn. Now I own a 1985 Toyota Corolla, 1996 Saturn SC1, and a 1994 Saturn SL2.
    • Purchased a Used car
    • Does recommend this car
    Comfort 4.0
    Interior 3.0
    Performance 4.0
    Value 5.0
    Exterior 4.0
    Reliability 4.0
    5 people out of 5 found this review helpful. Did you?
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  • By Watertiger from Pensacola, FL
    Owns this car
    November 15, 2013

    Best car I ever owned!

    I have no complaints about my 1996 Saturn SC-2. I have owned the car for over 11 years and that alone speaks for itself. The car is very reliable, has great gas mileage, and decent performance. Mine has the 5- speed manual. I have rarely had to work on the car besides regular PM. When I have had to do any work on the car it is easy to work on and access components. Currently my Saturn has 190,168 miles and still running strong.
    • Purchased a Used car
    • Used for Commuting
    • Does recommend this car
    Comfort 5.0
    Interior 4.0
    Performance 3.0
    Value 5.0
    Exterior 4.0
    Reliability 5.0
    3 people out of 3 found this review helpful. Did you?
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  • By saturn nut from texas
    Owns this car
    February 18, 2011

    best car i ever had

    i owned a 96 sc1 from 2001-2008, 5spd, no criuse control. and in those 7 years, it was the most reliable car i ever had when i bought it, it had 74,754 miles on it. When i got rid of it, it had 191,520 miles. if i still had it, it would have 295,000 the only reason i got rid of it, was because my daughter was born and when i got rid of it the only things it needed was for the clutch to be blead there was air in the line, new e-brake, and a new a/c whitch was broke for the last 3 years i had it (bad in the west texas summers) fuel milage even running at 75, i would return between 37-40 mpg bottom line GM made a huge mistake in cutting saturn but smart for geting rid of hummer
    • Purchased a Used car
    • Does recommend this car
    Comfort 3.0
    Interior 3.0
    Performance 2.0
    Value 5.0
    Exterior 4.0
    Reliability 5.0
    2 people out of 2 found this review helpful. Did you?
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  • By Karebear883 from Niagara Falls, Ont
    Owns this car
    April 15, 2010

    Love this car!

    I have owned a 5 spd 96 SC1 for 4 years now. I love mine!! GREAT on gas, comfy, and fun to drive. Other than regular maintenance, (knock on wood, lol) I have not had any problems, and mine has just over 250,000km on it. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a car that gets 600+km to a tank for @ todays rate of $35 a fill up!
    • Purchased a Used car
    • Used for Commuting
    • Does recommend this car
    Comfort 4.0
    Interior 4.0
    Performance 4.0
    Value 5.0
    Exterior 4.0
    Reliability 5.0
    1 person out of 1 found this review helpful. Did you?
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  • By krazyking01
    Owns this car
    February 7, 2010

    Shame to see it go

    I have owned this car for 9 years now and have to say, it has been a great car. Had to replace the engine early on, but that was due to the previous owners lack of upkeep. Had great power for its size and great gas mileage. The only reason I am looking at getting new is the transmission may be going and will cost me 3k to replace. Now that the brand has been discontinued parts are going to be harder to come by. Its going to be a shame to see it fall by the wayside, but I just won't have the money to keep it up.
    • Purchased a Used car
    • Used for Commuting
    • Does recommend this car
    Comfort 4.0
    Interior 3.0
    Performance 3.0
    Value 5.0
    Exterior 4.0
    Reliability 4.0
    1 person out of 1 found this review helpful. Did you?
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  • By Mike The Rookie
    Owns this car
    March 22, 2009

    Very good car for the money

    I bought my Saturn used with about 100,000 miles on it. I now have close to 200K on it and it is still going strong. A little general upkeep and these car will last a long time.
    • Purchased a Used car
    • Used for Commuting
    • Does recommend this car
    Comfort 3.0
    Interior 3.0
    Performance 3.0
    Value 4.0
    Exterior 4.0
    Reliability 5.0
    2 people out of 2 found this review helpful. Did you?
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  • By Hoping to hit the lottery... from In the country, IN
    Owns this car
    November 2, 2007

    Stay Away

    I bought my 96 SC2 as my 2nd car. At first I thought it was really cool, but then the problems started. At about 120,000, alternator went out, and since then the flashers make a buzzing noise and don't work, plus the bright light icon doesn't appear either. The rear defrost button has another short and I believe is what fried the Alternator. Now, alternator went out again, so now I have to crawl underneath and try to repair it. The lights are a joke, can't see very well even with the brights on. It has a very rough ride, but it is really close to the ground too, so that's expected. The stereo is not very good, speakers are not very good quality. The transmission is starting to go out too... I'm not sure if my car was mistreated before or what but it isn't that great, wish I would have kept my 89 Pontiac Bonneville....
    • Purchased a Used car
    • Does not recommend this car
    Comfort 1.0
    Interior 1.0
    Performance 2.0
    Value 1.0
    Exterior 2.0
    Reliability 1.0
    0 people out of 0 found this review helpful. Did you?
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  • By Saturn Stud from Indianapolis, IN
    Owns this car
    October 25, 2007

    Awesome First Car

    I had this car for my first car and it suited my needs as a student really good. It had everything I needed from traveling to and from school to going out on the weekends with friends. It's roomier than it looks and it drives pretty well. I've stuck with a Saturn since then and found that these are pretty reliable little cars.
    • Purchased a Used car
    • Does recommend this car
    Comfort 4.0
    Interior 4.0
    Performance 3.0
    Value 4.0
    Exterior 3.0
    Reliability 4.0
    1 person out of 1 found this review helpful. Did you?
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  • By Cruise the Streets from Orange, CA
    Owns this car
    September 25, 2007

    Exceptionally Reliable

    I bought this car a year ago and I have had very minor problems with it. The only problems were not expensive to fix and were typical of older cars to have. The car has a lot of great qualities, like power locks and windows, sunroof, and many other great qualities. It gets EXCELLENT gas mileage and it costs very little to fill up.
    • Purchased a Used car
    • Does recommend this car
    Comfort 4.0
    Interior 4.0
    Performance 3.0
    Value 5.0
    Exterior 2.0
    Reliability 3.0
    1 person out of 1 found this review helpful. Did you?
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  • By buying a new car from Arlington, VA
    Owns this car
    November 29, 2006

    First car

    I got this car used and have had it for 6 years and have only had a few problems. For 5 out of 6 years I have really enjoyed the car and had a lot of fun driving it. It ran exceptionally well and got excellent gas mileage. My only hesitation in recommending the car is that, despite relatively low miles (96,000) and good maintenance, the car is in the process of dying - the transmission is practically dead and there are several electrical issues, so unfortunately at this point it'd take more money to replace the transmission then the car is worth.
    • Purchased a Used car
    • Used for Commuting
    • Does recommend this car
    Comfort 2.0
    Interior 2.0
    Performance 3.0
    Value 3.0
    Exterior 3.0
    Reliability 3.0
    1 person out of 1 found this review helpful. Did you?
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FAQ

What trim levels are available for the 1996 Saturn SC?

The 1996 Saturn SC is available in 1 trim level:

  • (2 styles)

What is the MPG of the 1996 Saturn SC?

The 1996 Saturn SC offers up to 29 MPG in city driving and 40 MPG on the highway. These figures are based on EPA mileage ratings and are for comparison purposes only. The actual mileage will vary depending on vehicle options, trim level, driving conditions, driving habits, vehicle maintenance, and other factors.

Is the 1996 Saturn SC reliable?

The 1996 Saturn SC has an average reliability rating of 4.0 out of 5 according to cars.com consumers. Find real-world reliability insights within consumer reviews from 1996 Saturn SC owners.

Is the 1996 Saturn SC a good Coupe?

Below are the cars.com consumers ratings for the 1996 Saturn SC. 90.0% of drivers recommend this vehicle.

4.1 / 5
Based on 10 reviews
  • Comfort: 3.5
  • Interior: 3.1
  • Performance: 3.0
  • Value: 4.3
  • Exterior: 3.5
  • Reliability: 4.0
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