Is it true there’s no negotiating?
Or do you still have to negotiate something like payments or tradein price, and argue your way out of the “special undercoating”?
Also, are the rubber sidepanels really that durable?
I’ve bought two, a 93 SL1 and a 99 SL2.
Essentially correct. You pay what’s on the sticker.
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Or do you still have to negotiate something like payments or tradein price, and argue your way out of the “special undercoating”?
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They look at your old car and give you a trade-in price that’s applied to the sale. It’s not really negotiated; they make an offer. It’s usually fairly low, since they’re determining the value of the car, not trying to make your price more attractive. For instance, the last time, they gave me $200 for an 18-year-old Chevy Chevette Scooter that was in pretty bad shape (though the engine ran OK). That was actually more than we expected. If you don’t like their offer, you’re free to try to sell it yourself.
They will finance, or you can come to them with your financing in hand (I did it both ways). They also ask if you want various features. But as soon as you say “no,” they don’t try to convince you otherwise.
They’re very low keyed all the way. As an example, the first time I went on a test drive, the salesman never said *one word[/i} about the car. No “doesn’t this corner well,” or “see how it accelerates” or “smooth ride, isn’t it?” We talked about his garden instead.
They’re plastic. Our dealer have one removed from the car that you could jump on if you wanted. It’d been there for months and showed nothing worse than some scuffing of the paint. But they do not dent. Saturn owner see the VW commercial where the guy tackles the runaway shopping card and say, “what a wimpy car.” 
I just bought a 2000 Saturn SL1 about 6 weeks ago, and I paid the price on the sticker. They were having a promotion on the financing at the time (to get rid of the 2000s), so there was no reason to negotiate. The people in the dealership were friendly and helpful, not like the characters I had come across at other (used) car places. Our salesman pounded on the side panel of the test drive car, and it didn’t make a mark at all. I love my Saturn, and next time I buy a car, it’ll probably be another Saturn.
Rose
I had the wonderful job of writing new car reviews for about four years. (God bless the First Amendment).
As a result I got to drive several Saturns. Here’s my spin: They are pretty solid little cars. They don’t have the sex appeal or personality that you get when you spend (significantly) more dollars on (fill in the blank), but they are practical, functional cars that aren’t bad to drive. They used to be really noisy, but that’s not so bad any more.
To be able to buy a “practical, functional” car without all the BS of most dealerships? Priceless.
I got a slightly used Saturn V offa ebay for $25.
…Oh, you meant the cars…
I love my Saturn SC2, bought new in Jan 1996. I have NO dents-pretty good for a car 4 1/2 years old. It hugs the road really well, and one of the main concerns of the company is safety, which was the main reason I chose my car. The fact that it is really cool looking was a total bonus, and had nothing to do with my decision to buy.
I will buy Saturn again when the time comes.
Isn’t it actually an Opel?
One of my friends had a 1998 SC2 (IIRC). It was alright, the interior was a little plasticy, and I HATE the headlights they put on all of them, but altogether, it was a good car for the price. Strangely enough, it didn’t have seatbelts in the back seat!
–Tim
I bought a 1997 SL1 as my first new car. After going around to other dealerships and dealing with slimy salesmen, or even the one guy at the Ford dealership that completely did not take me seriously and blew me off (as a young lady on her own–why, she couldn’t be buying a car on her own!); the salespeople at Saturn were a dream! Efficient, nice, and helpful, yet not a one of them was ever pushy. You go in, pay the sticker price, and drive off the lot. I loved it.
Bassguy got it right–Saturns are practical and functional, without much sex appeal, but, when I need to get from point A to point B, I don’t need to look like a goddess in her winged chariot.
I hear Saturn is coming out with an SUV. That ought to be interesting.
And, yes, when the time comes to buy a new car, I will buy a Saturn, no doubt about it.
My parent’s love their Saturn. One word: dealing with GMAC can be a pain in the ass. Beware of GMAC. Great car, tho.
I’m on my third Saturn (1997 SC-2); all have been great cars. The first (1992 SL1) went 124,000 miles, no parts replaced except for a water pump at 75,000 miles. I traded it in for #2 (1996 SL1). This car went 114,000 miles with nothing replaced, except for an exhaust clamp. #3 is a 1997 SC-2. It is at 47,000 miles, so far so good.
Overall I would say that saturns are good basic cars. They do not require extensive servicing, and the parts are much less expensive than for competing Japanese makes. I have always passed on the extended warranties, and have come out ahead. My only concern is that GM seems determined to turn Saturn into another Chevrolet. if true, this is too bad. GM is really not interested in making high-quality samll cars. I think they would rather concentrate on making full size cars and SUVs; that is where the money is.
I bought one of the new, midsized LS1 Saturns about 2 months ago, and there was absolutely no hassle/negotiation. I don’t know how they handle trade ins, but I paid $1000 less than what was on the sticker (as well as special financing). They were having a “market adjustment” which meant that the sales on the LS series were lagging, so they reduced the price by $1000 across the line. As far as no pressure sales, I didn’t even have my saleswoman with me when my SO and I took a test drive. She was more informative than the VW, Honda, and Toyota salespeople that I talked to were, and she still knew when to leave my SO and I alone to discuss things. So far the car has been a dream to drive.
Homer: I know that the LS series is based on GM’s Opel Vectra platform, the manual transmission comes from Saab, and the brakes also come from GM Europe, but the interior, engine, styling, and plastic body panels are all Saturn.
I think you may be right on the money, there.
My '93 SL2 compared unfavorably to my poor abused '86 Honda Accord in terms of fit & finish, rattles, and leaks (sunroof) even though the Honda was much older and had many more miles on it (177K vs 130K). When it came time to trade in one or the other to get a pickup truck, it was a hard choice. The Saturn won out in the end, and we just live with the rattles.
It is fairly durable in fender benders. Ours has been in a couple and still never been to a body shop.
After 150K miles, I must say that maintenance wise I am pleased that we’ve only had to replace a couple of alternators.
I, too, wish they had kept the older sloped headlights. The new vertical ones look too generic.
Not only is there no negotiation allowed on the sticker price of new Saturns, there’s no negotiation allowed on the price of used Saturns sold at the dealerships. I bought a 1993 SW2 in December 1996 with 60,000+ miles on it, and they wouldn’t let me talk them down one bit on the price.
Where they did turn on the “hard sell” was when they offered me an Extended Warranty on the used SW2. This is typical of consumer-electronics shops too: they make most of their money selling warranties that never (or hardly ever) get exercised. On average, you’re actually better off if you don’t buy the extended warranty, because it covers stuff that hardly breaks down anyway (e.g. the powertrain). My SW2 now has over 170,000 miles on it, and the only serious failure it’s had in that time was the fuel pump, which quit on me 90 miles from nowhere on Christmas eve and is hidden away behind the fuel tank so the nearest service-station garage wasn’t equipped to fix it, grumble grumble. Oh, and the circuit that controlled the automatic door locks and cigarette lighter shorted out once 'cause I spilled root beer on it. And while the dealership was fixing said short, the battery died.
Plenty of used ones from bestoffer.com:
http://www.bestoffer.com/buyers/search/result1.jsp
Great cars, no hard sell. I have a '92 SC2. The only “selling” was when the sales folk metioned that i had not asked for floor mats, but they were in the model I had selected, and did i want them. No “undercoating” or polymer overcoat, or any other ripoff. Wonderful.
I had a bad accident (the other guy’s fault) about a month ago in my '96 SL2. I T-boned a Volvo, my airbags deployed, and both drivers walked away from the wreckage.
I believe the insurance company totalled the Volvo, but paid $5500 to rebuild my front end, and at 85,000+ miles my car looks showroom perfect!
Buying the car was very easy and I’m still good friends with my salesman. Once I locked myself out about a mile away from the “retailer” (they aren’t called “dealers”), called my salesman and he drove a key over to me at no charge.
My total repair bill to date 4.5 years/85,000 miles later: $15.00 for a new cap for my coolant tank.
DO NOT BUY THE WARRANTY…YOU WON’T NEED IT!
Like the Mobil stations used to say…Happy Motoring!
(a) I absolutely recommend buying a Saturn. I bought one and have not regretted it for a second ('98 SL1)
(b) however, I did have one very serious problem, in which a head gasket got busted and the entire engine needed to be replaced
© however, I had paid for an extended warranty, and the entire engine replacement was covered
(d) and they even gave me a free loaner car while it was in the shop
(oh, I’ve had one other problem, which is that the ignition key gets kinda stuck unless you put it in at a sharp angle)
but overall, a very positive experience
and it’s definitely true that you can whack the crap out of the side panels without leaving a mark
From The Onion, a joke newspaper:
I bought a Saturn SL2 on New Year’s Eve 1999. We’d done some investigating previously, so when we walked in we knew what I wanted. (I went shopping with my parents, who helped pay for the car). No pressure, which made my mother very happy (bad experiences shopping for the last 2 cars she’d helped to buy). Actually, I don’t really have much to contribute, just wanted to add my name to the list of satisfied Saturn owners.