Originally Posted by MadMan
Depends on the Saturn. Parts are available, in general. Automotive aftermarket parts can be had for just about any car (unless you need a water pump for a V12 Jaguar). There are some exceptions, though. One of my customers used to have a Saturn L3000, and it was a bitch to find engine parts for it. And that was BEFORE Saturn kicked the bucket! It has an Opel 3.0L v6, and it kind of sucked. They sold it, thankfully.
I miss the old Saturns. The originals. The OG's. Those cars were about the best basic econobox you could ask for. With the possible exception of the transmission, which was a butchered Honda knockoff. God knows why they chose to imitate the ONE car company with weird transmissions.
Some of the models in the middle of their life were neither Saturns nor GMs, but a bastardization of both. Those really aren't very good cars. The later ones are mostly Chevy's or Opels (European GM), so they're ok. And the early ones are... really awesome, in their own way. In the beginning, they were legitimately and entirely their OWN company, despite being sired by GM. They had their own engineers, designers, factories, engines, transmissions, and parts. It gave them the freedom to do their own things, and it worked. If you're a Chevy guy and you work on a Saturn for the first time, you'd never think it was a GM if you didn't know better. They are THAT different.
As for the door, especially if it's one of the older Saturns, the door skin is a separate plastic panel which is easily replaced... assuming the door itself is not damaged. At any rate, a junkyard is going to be your only option for a door, and that's in no way because Saturn is a dead marque. Aside from brand new cars, doors are not available new, period. For any car.
In the old days, Saturn DID sell the plastic door skins new, it was sort of their shtick. If you somehow managed to break one, you just bolted on a new one.
Why don't you get back to me with the exact year and model, and I'll let you know what to expect. Which, incidentally, is not always very easy. Nearly all of the early and middle Saturns are NOT badged with the model designation. You kinda just have to know what it is, or look at the registration, title, or look up the vin number.
PS - Oldsmobile got the ax many years after Saturn started.
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