2001 SC2 Yellow

[Yellow 2001SC2 Owner]

Just got my beautiful 2001 SC2 Yellow (my 2nd saturn out of 3 cars owned) and I'm in love. More pics for everyone! Also has anyone noticed a slight intermittent burning smell in the new cars, or is this typical of all brand new cars.... I've only bought used in the past. Here's some photos!

http://members.aol.com/klaypeeple/yellow2.html

and of course, the old ones of someone elses car
http://members.aol.com/klaypeeple/yellow.html

[wei_]

Welcome to the Saturn family!
The burning smell is not normal. Is it persistent? I had the same worry when I first bought my car, but it turns out that many cars in northern VA stink.
Otherwise, bring it back in for a quick lookover.
-Wei

[Fred in Northern VA]

Congrats on your new 2001 SC2. I just picked up my Blue 2001 SC2 a week ago today! No, there was NOT a burning smell in mine, so you may want to do as Wei suggests and take it in for a checkup!

Did you get a manual with yours??? I'm curious, as I did NOT, they claimed they are already backordered and out of print! Saturn is shipping me a 2000 manual temporarily!

Good luck with your new car! Pictures of mine can be seen at:
<!--http--><a href="http://www.radix.net/~fdeitz/mysaturnsc2.html" target="_blank">Fred's Saturn SC2!</a><!--url-->

Fred

[SpeedPlayer 97sl2]

Hey there, congratulations on your new coupe. Is the burning smell coming from under the hood/under the car? That's normal for most new cars. I had it in ALL of my new cars (except for the Mazda...the only thing that smelled on that car was the air-conditioning). This smell comes from the hot metal burning off any excess grease or oil that's been slathered or dripped on them. The smell should go away after about 200 miles. If it persists far after that, like past 500, then you may want to have it checked out by your retailer. Good luck with your new car!

Acevedo 97sl2

[Yellow 2001SC2 Owner]

The burning smell went away. My sales rep said it's the silicon spray they slop all over the parts under the hood to make it look shiny, the smell went away after i hit about 125 miles. Yes my manual was for the 2001 S series, and was present upon delivery. I think they should throw a manual in the glove box of the car at the factory, instead of supplying them to the dealers to hand out... Makes better sense to me. Anyway. I love my new car, but my only beef with it is the gears are WAY too short. I am suggested to gear into 5th at 35mph... what's with that. Anyone know how much it would cost to alter the gears a bit (& take the lightbulb off of that shift suggestion light) for my model car? I know we have a few experts on the board, and some advice would be appreciated.
Jim

[Yellow 2001SC2 Owner]

addendum to above:
would altering the gears, even if done by a saturn dealership, void my warranty?
Jim

[Fred in Northern VA]

About the gear shift indicator light - was this on a hill or under heavy acceleration that it came on at 35 mph to shift into 5th gear. Mine doesn't come on until around 40 mph or slightly above that. Then again, I've been careful not to accelerate at full throttle while in the break-in period (I now have 305 miles on the car as of lunchtime today). I think it is really from full stops that you aren't supposed to full throttle, but in any event I'm being gentle with it. Actually, for me that light rarely comes on as I shift before it comes on. I mostly seem to get it from 3rd to 4th gear, somewhere aroudn 30 mph or so.

Fred

Altering the gear ratios in the car would be next to impossible. Well, next to impossible at a reasonable price. Anything is possible with enough money. As for the upshift light, there's probably a fuse that would turn it off if removed. My '92 SC does the same thing though, recommending an upshift at 35 if I'm just cruising along. I usually try to keep it in the highest gear possible. And I'm gettting 33 mpg, so I think it's working.

[John10]

2001 SC2 Yellow- There is no need to alter the gears. I have a 96 SL2 with stick shift and I also think the shift indicator light comes on early at times. It was explained to me that the light is programed to indicate the shifts that make driving most efficient. When you wish to drive in a pattern other than what the indicator shows, just ignore the light. I do that all the time when I want to get up to high speed quickly and neither I nor the car is any the worse for it.

[Dr. Bob]

Yes, the shift light is optimized for economy.

Too bad they don't have a shift light that's optimized for driving fun!

[HumpMan]

Uh, I think they do. It's those red numbers on the tach. <img src="http://www.saturnfans.com/cgi-bin/UltraBoard/Images/Wilk.gif" border="0" align="middle">

the HumpMan

[Yellow 2001SC2 Owner]

Yeah but you'd think a person buying a car with manual transmission would know how to drive it without being instructed. I'll try to ignore it... BTW, My beautiful shiny new yellow car was REAR ENDED!!!! with 700 miles on it and 16 days after driving happily out of the showroom... The greasy old guy in the neon is buying me a new bumper because I told his insurance company flat-out it will not be buffed out... Grrrrr... I always did hate neons... (the P.T. Cruiser is a just a neon under the hood, so watch out).

[wei_]

That's awful. Are you okay? Was the bumper the only damaged component?
He was probably too busy admiring your car to realize he was going too fast. <img src="http://www.saturnfans.com/cgi-bin/UltraBoard/Images/Wilk.gif" border="0" align="middle">
-Wei