2000 Saturn S-Series

SW2 Wagon

4 - Cyl.

Automatic

1G8ZN8270YZ249630

Gasoline

Hi – you are viewing the auction for my own personal vehicle, a gold-colored 2000 Saturn SW2 station wagon. It has the more powerful dual overhead cam engine (vs. the Saturn SW1) mated to an automatic transmission. Both the engine and transmission work perfectly and I wouldn’t hesitate to drive it across the country tomorrow. Not only would it get me there but it would do so reliably with comfort AND exceptional gas mileage. All mechanical systems in the car (engine, transmission, suspension, brakes, heating, cooling, etc.) work exactly as they should; this car is ready to drive and as the buyer, you’ll see that I take incredibly good care of my vehicles. The car has just over 101,000 miles on it and I have had the oil changed religiously every 5,000 miles since I’ve owned it. The exterior is in excellent condition given that the car is 10 years old. The only exterior flaw is the outline of a 3 inch by 16 inch rectangular “static cling” sticker below the right rear side window that the previous owner put on. (You can see this in the pictures of the car.) When I removed the sticker, the bottom layer of clear plastic remained, with some slight discoloration around its edges. It has not affected the paint at all, but you can still see the outline of the sticker. There are a few very minor scratches on the car, mostly on the rear tailgate (you can see the biggest one in the pictures). Because Saturns of that era had plastic body panels and because (to my knowledge) this particular vehicle has never been in any type of accident, the body panel surfaces and fit are exceptional, especially so for a 10-year-old car. There is no money currently owed on this vehicle and the title is clear and in my hand and ready to transfer to the new owner. The vehicle was just smogged and registered last month (September 2010) and so is good to go for another year. The car is loaded with almost all options you could get on a Saturn station wagon in 2000. The only two options I have seen on other SW2s that mine does not have are a sunroof and the built-in roof-rack. However, a few years ago I purchased from our local Saturn dealer, and will include in the final auction price of this car the official Saturn brand locking and removable roof-rack. It has the upgraded stereo with BOTH a tape player AND a CD player and several speakers (and of course controls for balance, treble, bass, fade, and various equalizer settings). It has all power equipment, meaning power: windows, locks, mirrors, steering, and brakes. It has air-conditioning that blows ice-cold even on the hottest days in Pleasanton (which can get over 110 degrees in the summer). It has 3-way intermittent windshield wipers, a rear window wiper, and a rear window defroster. It has remote releases for both the gas tank and the tailgate. It has alloy wheels that are in almost perfect shape and tires that have many more miles of use on them. It has a matching beige leather interior that is in excellent condition for the years/miles, with no tears or stains. Because I’m a highly anal retentive engineer, the first thing I do with any car I buy is put seat-covers on it to protect the interior, which I have removed for taking auction pictures, but that I will include in the final sale price of the car. The front two seats have therefore been covered since the day I bought it in 2003 (from Saturn of Henderson in Nevada). The driver’s seat also has lumbar support cushions that can be manually inflated and deflated, which is very nice for long driving trips. The dashboard is in perfect condition with no fading or cracks because I also purchased and installed a fabric dashboard cover when I first bought the car. It has 4 cup-holders in the front seat area and 2 in the back seat area. It has a dimmer control for the dashboard lights and a single trip odometer. Finally, it has a front seat lock for the rear windows to keep your children (or childish adults) from using (or playing with) the back seat windows. The car will also come with numerous useful original and non-original items. These are: 1. a 2-piece locking removable roof-rack (Saturn OEM). This is actually more useful than the originally-mounted permanent roof-rack option as it can be removed when not needed (which of course is almost all of the time). The two parts of the roof rack install in about 3 minutes total time. 2. a 2000 pound U-Haul brand trailer hitch with the tail-light electrical connection. The vehicle is rated for this weight hitch, which will allow you to haul a 5x8 enclosed U-Haul trailer filled with up to 1100 pounds of material without having to worry about damaging the engine or transmission. 3. tinted windows all around (including a “sunset” strip of tinting at the top of the front windshield). Since I purchased the car used in Nevada, it came with window tinting that is apparently legal there, but may not be legal in other states (such as California). I’ve never been pulled over by the police in this car, so the issue of the legality of the window tinting has never come up for me. 4. a two-piece black bra (also Saturn OEM) (with instruction manual) that covers the front bumper and leading edge of the hood. The bra was custom-made for a Saturn SW2 and fits perfectly. 5. a dashboard cover. This cover is color-matched to the beige leather interior and is in perfect shape. I also purchased this when I bought the car, so the sun has not hit the dashboard since I’ve owned the car, leaving the dashboard in perfect shape. 6. “behind the back seat” cover (like an “internal tonneau”). This is very useful for hiding any items that you are carrying in the “wayback”. 7. “behind the back seat” cargo net. This is very useful for restraining grocery bags that would otherwise tip over and spill in the “wayback”. 8. front wheel chains (with instruction manual) fit to this vehicle. This car has taken us up to Lake Tahoe a few times in the winter, so I purchased chains in case the CHP required them. I had to put them on twice when chain restrictions were in place and the chains worked just fine. Since the car is front-wheel-drive, it actually handles pretty well in snow. (Considering I learned to drive in a 1976 rear-wheel-drive Toyota Corolla in northern Minnesota, a 2000 Saturn SW2 front-wheel-drive vehicle is a piece of cake to drive in the winter.) 9. the original owner’s manual. 10. floor mats (also Saturn OEM). These are color-matched to the beige interior and are somewhat dirty, but that means that the interior carpet is NOT very dirty at all (as you’ll see from the pictures). 11. five keys and two remote key fobs. Three keys are Saturn OEM and two are generic. The key fobs have controls for: unlocking the doors, locking the doors, unlocking the tailgate, and a panic alarm. The only functional item of the vehicle that I can find or think of that does not work exactly as it should is: 1. the little light behind the odometer; it has burned out. This is obviously not a major defect, but it can be irritating when you’re trying to read how many miles you’ve gone since you filled the tank (because you ALWAYS push the trip odometer reset button when you fill the tank with gas so you can track your gas mileage for every tank you buy so you know when you need a tune-up, right?). You can still read the LCD display of the odometer, but it’s a little difficult when the sun is shining on it. WHAT I LIKE MOST ABOUT THIS CAR: It is just about the best all-around vehicle ever. I believe this because it will do everything that other cars in its class will do (that is, reliably carry five people and their “stuff” in comfort and safety, which almost every car will do), BUT, this Saturn SW2 is INCREDIBLY CHEAP to 1. BUY 2. INSURE 3. REGISTER 4. MAINTAIN 5. RUN You’ll find out about the first four of these shortly after you have fully completed the purchase transaction. To give you a specific example of item #5, I have driven this car on the 400 mile trip up and down Highway 5 in the Central Valley of California at least 25 times, going from Pleasanton, CA to the southern LA area. Because I am a scientist, I wanted to know exactly what the tradeoff is between speed and gas mileage for this particular car. To collect the data necessary for this calculation, I varied my speed on several of these Central Valley trips, driving the entire way at a very constant: 60 mph, 65 mph, 70 mph, 75 mph, and 80 mph. (If you’ve ever driven Highway 5 in the Central Valley of California, you know it takes a LOT of patience to do this drive at 60 mph, but that’s a sacrifice I made in the name of science.) The specific characteristics of the trips weren’t exactly the same, but in general, on each trip the car carried two adults, one child, and a full load of luggage. The relationship between speed and gas mileage was: 80 mph: 31 mpg 75 mph: 34 mpg 70 mph: 37 mpg 65 mph: 39 mpg 60 mph: 42 mpg which to me is amazing. When gas prices hit $5.00/gallon, this car will get over 40 mpg if you choose to drive it appropriately. In the meantime, if you choose, you’ll still get over 30 mpg driving 80 mph on the highway with a full load and the A/C on. Note that these are all “highway speed” examples. Around town, it gets about 28 mpg, which is still a pretty good average for stop-and-go driving. The reason I’m selling this wonderful car (and believe me, my daughter, who has spent her formative transporting years in the back seat, may never forgive me for selling her “Stacy the station wagon”) is that I have just purchased a used Nissan Quest minivan to carry its share of middle-school carpooling kids. I have surrendered to the call of the minivan and therefore have no need (or room left in the driveway) for this great Saturn wagon. Bid early and bid often, or wait until the last second and snipe in a bid. I don’t care – this car HAS to sell and WILL sell to the final bidder, which is why I’m setting the opening bid at $1.00 and running the auction with no reserve (as ALL eBay auctions SHOULD). At the end of this auction, we’ll all know exactly what a 2000 Saturn SW2 in excellent condition with 101,000 miles is worth. I will only release the vehicle to the winning bidder AFTER all funding has cleared and the cash is in my hand. I will also work with the winning bidder if shipping is needed. Shoot, if the winning bidder is within 50 miles of Pleasanton, CA, I’ll deliver the car for free within 50 miles of Pleasanton, CA (again, AFTER the payment is in my hand). As everyone else points out, your bid on this auction is a legally binding contract to buy the car and is NOT merely an option to check out the car. Bidders with zero or negative feedback must contact me through eBay or I will remove your bid. I will require from the winning bidder $500.00 within 3 days after the end of the auction to ensure your commitment to the transaction and the rest of the final bid amount within 7 days of the end of the auction or I will re-list the item and leave negative feedback. I’m taking this auction seriously by describing the vehicle in as much detail as I can AND by setting the opening bid at $1.00 AND running the auction with no reserve (as ALL eBay auctions should be run, of course, not like the knuckleheads who are selling 2004 Nissan Quest minivans and re-listing them 10 times with reserve prices 1% below the “Buy It Now” price). So as a bidder, please take this auction seriously as well. Thanks for your time and for viewing my auction! On Oct-31-10 at 20:03:18 PDT, seller added the following information: Obviously, eBay screwed up and indicated the mileage on my vehicle as 10,100 even though I indicated 101,000 miles both in the mileage field and in the ad. So sorry for EBAY's error!!! The vehicle has slightly over 101,000 miles.On Nov-04-10 at 16:23:54 PDT, seller added the following information: In response to a couple of questions: I forgot to mention in the ad that this vehicle has NEVER been smoked in.On Nov-05-10 at 14:09:10 PDT, seller added the following information: I just remembered one more feature this car has; it's easy to miss since it's hard to see if you're not looking for it. The car has some type of aftermarket security system that has a small electronic key. The key fits into a slot with several electronic contacts under the dashboard just under the steering wheel. When you pull the key out, it's supposedly impossible to start the car. I just tested it and the car does not start with that key removed. There is a brand name of "Safe-Guard" on the key slot, but I have no idea how much it cost to purchase or to install as it was there when I bought the car. It's just one more little security feature on this vehicle and works independently of the original Saturn alarm system that is controlled by the remote key fob. Of course, that original Saturn alarm system works perfectly as well.