2004 Saturn L300: Reliability Data

78
Total Complaints
68,000mi
Median Mileage
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Top Issue
4
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

21,500 25th Percentile
68,000 Median Mileage
99,850 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
10
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS
7
POWER TRAIN
4
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
4
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
3
TIRES
3
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
3
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
3
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
3
ENGINE
3

Severity Assessment

4
Crashes
1
Fires
4
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"THE HEADLIGHTS CREATED A SHADOW ON THE ROAD WHICH CAUSED POOR VISIBILITY WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT. THE DEALER INDICATED TO THE CONSUMER THAT THE HEADLIGHTS COULD NOT BE ADJUSTED TO REMOVE THE SHADOW. PLEASE PROVIDE FURTHER DETAILS. *NLM"
"THE HEADLIGHTS AND DASH LIGHTS DIM ALMOST ALL THE WAY OUT UNPREDICTABLY. THE DASH LIGHT DIMMING DRAWS THE DRIVER'S ATTENTION AWAY FROM THE ROAD, WHILE THE HEADLIGHTS DIMMING DRAWS THE ATTENTION OF OTHER DRIVERS AND THE POLICE. MANY DRIVERS THINK THAT YOU ARE SIGNALING THEM AND THIS CAN LEAD TO ROA..."
"WE JUST RECENTLY PURCHASHED OUR NEW CAR. WE WERE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT NIGHT. THE LIGHTS (HEAD LIGHTS AND DASH LIGHTS) KEPT GETTING DIM ALMOST AS IF THEY WERE GOING TO GO OUT. WE THOUGHT MAYBE WE HAD A WIRE THAT HAD NOT BEEN TIGHTENED OR THAT HAD COME LOSE. OTHER CARS THINK WE ARE BLINKING O..."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10 complaints
25th: 30,750 mi Median: 70,505 mi 75th: 97,750 mi
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS 7 complaints
25th: 7,150 mi Median: 9,650 mi 75th: 13,250 mi
POWER TRAIN 4 complaints
25th: 78,250 mi Median: 108,000 mi 75th: 132,500 mi
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 4 complaints
Median: 131,342 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

PA: 8 AL: 6 FL: 5 TX: 5 NJ: 5 MI: 4 GA: 4 NY: 3 CA: 3 NV: 3

Who Files Complaints?

37.2%
Original Owners
62.8%
Second+ Owners

Saturn L300 — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
2003626
2005301

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28