Consider this: SATURN has been purchased by Penske, Inc.; and is no longer a part of GM. The “ASTRE” model is made by a GM/Opel plant in Belgium…and Opel’s future is far from clear. If you buy one of these cars, is it likely to become an orphan? I think of the people who bought Fiats, Peugeots, Daewoos, etc., only to find that the mfg. has abandoned the US market.
Of course, if Penske were to discount these cars quite a bit, they miht be a good deal…but it would still be a gamble.
Depends. Whose engine/transmission is in the car? Does Penske get the rights to parts (which are mostly outsourced anyway)?
It does sound like a red haired stepchild in the making.
I think it’s Astra, unless I’m being whooshed.
And is Opel’s future any less certain than the rest of GM? Looking at the wiki page on New GM Europe, it seems like Opel is considered “too big to fail” by European governments. Opel sells the Astra under its own brand (even uses the same name for it) so it’s no more an “orphan” than any other Opel car.
Personally I did look at the Astra when shopping for a car only a couple months ago. I decided against it because of the mediocre fuel economy, but I wouldn’t have ruled it out because of the company’s current status.
Under US law, no car really becomes an orphan- with you unable to buy parts, etc.
I looked at the Astra myself- it desperately needed a turbo.
Opinion polls are better suited to IMHO (where you will next find this thread).
I have a 2008 Saturn Aura and am very, very pleased with it. Not sure about the next generation of Saturns, though, given how up-in-the-air the whole corporate identity and future are. I’ll look closely when the time comes.
ION owner here. And ditto.
Already taken care of. Unfortunately, the turbocharged version isn’t certified for sale in the US and there are no plans to do so (would require expensive emissions equipment rejiggering since US laws allow more CO2 emissions but less particulate emissions).
I have hopes that Saturn will continue on and make great cars. I still have my 1992 Saturn SL 5 speed manual (some dopers may remember my thread when it was stolen in 2003) and despite the fact that it’s falling apart due to age, I still love her as much now as when I got her.
This summer, I’ve been getting 37mpg average – better than when I first got her!
I love my car…
My Aura is actually the third Saturn I’ve had. Before that I had a 1993 SL1 and then a 1997 SL1.
Satisfied ION owner here, ('07 Ion 2 5spd), I only have 16K on the odometer, but it’s been absolutely bulletproof, no mechanical failures whatsoever
I get 35 MPG highway and around 28-29 city
Thanks for the replies. You may remember a car made by Opel (the Cadillac Catera), which was sold by Cadillac from 1998-2004?
As far as I know, Cadillac dealrs stopped stocking the parts, and repairs on the cars were expensive and difficult. This made the resale values plummet-that is what would concern me.
As for Saturn, I don’t know Penske’s plans for the line-Saturn vehicles are built in GM factories-what happens whe Kansas City stops making Auras?
Or maybe George Costanza has a plan-as he hired by Penske?
Cite? AFAIK, this is illegal in the USA.
I checked in at a Cadillac dealer , and was told that it would be “unwise” to buy a used Catera-because of the parts issues.