Among GM divisions , theres your still different after all these years car company Redzed .

 

1. I saw my first Cobalt on a dealer lot today. I think the 4 door looks good.
Way better then the Cavalier! And if you line it up next to a Civic, Corrola and theat real ugly Sentra---the Coblat 4 door still looks better. Interior looks nice too.

The 2 door looks awesome.

2. The Ion and Cobalt SS S/C are not idnetical. The Coblat has 18's VS the Redlines 17's. The suspension is supposed to be more aggresively calibrated.

3. You CAN get a 5 speed in a 4 door Cobalt.

 

Taking one of our Saturns to get serviced is always a good experience and it nice to get free sodas, coffee, donuts , and etc while waiting (or get dropped off or picked up for free by one of their shuttles if needed) .

Since most Saturn dealers have only been around 15 years or less they have fewer cars to service and can usually service your car quickly and they also provide a free car wash so its always clean when you pick it up.

The thing I will miss the most about the new-generation of Saturns is that they will all eventually lose the non-denting polymer panels by 2007 and those same polymer panels helped keep my 1994 Z28 Camaro looking like new (and non-dented) for 10 years.

 

my apologies. You cannot get a 5 speed ina 4 dr LT model. But you can in an LS and just load up the options and you'd almost be the exact same as an LT.

Still dumb you can't get a 5 speed in the LT--please get a clue GM. This is not rocket science.

 

Every dealership service department that I've been in lately offers coffee, a shuttle van and "a-free-car-wash" that I didn't want to begin with. I guess the Saturn "difference" comes down to the donuts.


I think that the failure of just about every "no-dent" plastic bodied product is the reason why the feature is dying. Think about it...the Pontiac Fiero....the Lumina APV/Transport/Silhouette...Camaro/Firebird F4....the Saturn L-series.... Every plastic bodied GM product has failed to sell, except for the Corvette - but there again, they never marketed 'Vettes like Saturns. Thankfully.

When it comes down to it, some uninformed types see the plastic panels as making a car "less safe," something that just isn't true. Right or wrong, the "no-dent" marketing pitch is a "no-go." Personally, I don't trust plastic panels because they only conceal corrosion in a steel bodied car. They plastic panels are fine on my Camaro, if only because the car will never see salt, but I still have to worry about ding on those big bulgy STEEL rear fenders.

Every plastic bodied GM product has failed to sell, except for the Corvette - but there again, they never marketed 'Vette like Saturns. Thankfully.

 

>>>Every dealership service department that I've been in lately offers coffee, a shuttle van and "a-free-car-wash" that I didn't want to begin with. I guess the Saturn "difference" comes down to the donuts.

It not just those things but the whole experience of visiting the Saturn dealership is far better then any dealership (Mostly Chevrolet dealers) I have ever been too. Im sure Lexus and other luxury car dealers treat customers pretty good but for someone buying a $17,000 car its pretty cool.

I think the non-denting polymers are great and especially since it prevents me from worrying about my car getting all dinged up in a parking lot but most people just dont care enough about them and Saturns unique space-frame construction that supports them. I Dont blame GM go getting rid of the polymers to cut cost and share platforms with other GM brands and if more Saturns start looking like the kappa-based SKY then it will all be worth it.

 

Non-dent polymer is the only way to go on a car that will see daily service.

 

>>> Every plastic bodied GM product has failed to sell, except for the Corvette - but there again, they never marketed 'Vette like Saturns.

Actually the Saturn Vue (with its polymer panels) has been a sales success

 

I live 10 miles from Spring Hill TN, where the plant for the Vue and Ion is. From what I've heard, the Ion is not selling. And I can't blame people, the car is ugly, has a horrendous interior, and I thought the steering felt kinda strange when I drove one. There have been numerous times that the factory has shut down because of low demand for the Ion.

Saturn did a much nicer job with the Vue though. I like the style of the Red Line Vue, painting all that grey plastic really cleaned up and dressed it up. I still don't understand why GM has to pay Honda to put their motor in it. I believe it is the ONLY GM car with a Honda motor. Why couldn't GM have put in its 3.6 DOCH V6? Or put in the 3.8 S/C V6?

It sends a bad message to the public that GM is incompetent and cannot design a good motor when it has to pay Honda to use their engine

 

Well for one--the 3.6L DOHC engine wouldn't have been avaible in time--or at
least when GM wanted.

For two, while the 3800 S/C produuces good power it would not fit Saturns image at all. It is a rather crude by todays standards. Put it to rest please.

This Honda engine thing was all the result of GM buying the Honda engine and Honda buying GM diesels for use in Europe. Deal was a made a few years back so GM is kinda stuck for abiding by it and using that engine. Although I would hope GM's 3.6L is going to take its place now that it is in production.

I like the shorter wheelbse look of the Vue---the Equinox looks stretched and it just doesn't work.

 

1. I spent a whole day buying my Armada. I enjoyed the "haggling" and left feeling like I'd won.

2. My "non-luxury" Nissan dealership has the nicest service department I've ever seen. Between the 50" inch plasma screen in the waiting room, drive-up check-in and a free rental car - even if they're just going to have your vehicle for a couple of hours. The service manager is in a glass office (no hiding?) and you can view every service bay throught plate glass windows. You actually can watch the technicians while they work on your vehicle.

...But there were no donuts.

3. Okay, my local Chevy dealership is terrible in comparison. It might seem weird, but I never had a single warranty claim on my Z28. I guess service wasn't an issue in my F-body experience. Thankfully.

 

I agree, you get a better deal when you haggle.

Also, I never take my car to the Chevy dealership. And I will never take a car I own to the dealership, unless it is warranty work or they offer free maitence like BMW, Lexus, Caddillac, etc. You get ripped off when going to a dealership. I also believe there are a couple of punks that work in the shop at my Chevy dealership. I know if they ever had to drive my car, they would have way too much fun. The place where I go is run by old men who know what they are doing and charge $58 an hour for labor.

 

>>> I spent a whole day buying my Armada. I enjoyed the "haggling" and left feeling like I'd won.

While you might spend a whole day haggling I spent about two hour from start to finish and I even haggled the dealer down an extra $600 (Saturn delaers can be haggled even though they are not supposed to do) as well as the standard 0% financing for 5 years with a bonus $1500 rebate.

Even if I didnt buy a Saturn I would no way have wasted a whole day haggling I would just find out what invoice was on a particular vehicle I wanted and fax over my offer to 2-3 different dealer's lease-managers (bypassing salesperson and their commision) and I would get the deal I wanted even before I would step one foot on the the showroom floor.

 

I went to the dealership today and saw one. I didn't like the looks of the base model one but it doesn't seem too bad. I want to test drive one of the SS ones.

 

I would argue that GM hasnt supported/marketed some of its plastic paneled products like fiero, camaro, firebird/ta. Fiero moved 369,000 units in 5 years, Corvette would take 11 years to sell that many.