My curiousity was piqued recently when I noticed that a lot of new and soon-to-be Prius owners mentioned that their last or current vehicle was a Saturn. It just seems like there are a whole bunch of current and former Saturn owners on PC. I was wondering how many of us there are out there/here?? I currently own a 1996 Saturn SC2 with nearly 180K miles, which I will be gladly giving away to a friend of the family when my Prius comes in next month. The 'extra options' featured on my car are power door locks, power windows, cruise control, and....um....I think that's it. Oh, wait, air conditioning too-it wasn't 'standard'. So the fully loaded Prius will be a ginormous step up in the automotive world for me.
Very observant, Rancid, and, for "lower-middle"-to "middle"-class Prius owners---like moi---makes perfect sense. From '91-'97, Saturn WAS the most "promising" car company, and they actually delivered the goods in producing the American car that combines the greatest interior space with the greatest MPG. I owned '93, '95 and '97 Saturns, and loved 'em all. Drove my '97 to Alaska! Got 44 MPG on the '97 on I-15 for 600 mi. in cruise, going 75! (Saturn's secret was always in their transaxle gear ratios---which any manufacturer can do, if they're willing to sacrifice the acceleration, which they're ...NOT.) They were pretty high-tech, too, but just not in very noticeable ways. I thought the plastic body was genius, even if it did mean a moderate amount of body rattle because of the way they had to fasten the panels to the frame. Their engine was the best new 4-banger in the business. I liked the way they produced daytime running lights before everyone else. But they just aren't sexy enough, and they plateaued after filling their niche. I bought an '02 SC (3-dr., another great idea) with sunroof for my college-bound daughter a few months ago---for $7500---with only 28K miles. It never gets less than 35 MPG (5-spd., SoCal climate). Used Priuses were/are still too expensive to buy her one. IMO the Saturn experiment was the best thing GM did in the last 20 years.
Ah, yes, the suicide door. I remember those on the later-model SC's. I have an automatic and have never gotten better than 30mpg (highway). I average between 24-25 as it is right now. As much as I love my car, I will never buy another Saturn again. I had a very bad experience (long story) with the local Saturn service dept (Huntington Beach) in early 2004 and it has changed my views of them completely, to the point where I don't even want to buy domestic as a result.
I admit it!! Progression to date: '73 VW Bug (13 years), '95 Saturn SL (10 years) and now 2004 Prius. As others have already said, when Saturn started up it was innovative in many ways and offerred a great car with very good milage at a great price. Personally, I thought the bullet-shaped body design on the Saturns pre '96 (when they turned into boring box cars) and any year SC are quite lovely. Still do. But they didn't keep up the innovation. And when I read about the Prius, I wanted to support the technology, since breathing is important to me. So they did close the plant? I didn't know that. That's too bad.
I also fit the profile. My first car was a '68 VW Minibus. I bought a '97 Saturn SL1 after getting my first job out of college. Gave the SL1 to my brother and bought a '05 Prius earlier this year... EDIT: clearly, '95 Prius is an impossibility. fat-fingered it, I guess.
I have a '97 Saturn Wagon that I will be trading in (hopefully soon)for my '06. I love my wagon, but saturn isn't making it anymore. My saturn dealer is wonderful to deal with. I am going to miss that with the new car. I didn't like the toyota dealer when I had a tercel. Maybe things have changed since I last dealt with them.
"Gave the SL1 to my brother and bought a '95 Prius earlier this year..." Really? I should have jumped on the band-wagon back in high school.
1995 Dark Blue Saturn Station Wagon - on it's way out of usefull service. Both the transmission and engine are shot, and would be $5K+ to repair. Car's worth $1000 tops... I really am fond of that car, but after 12 years, it's time for something new - like a Prius. -Ken
We still have our Saturn. OK, here's the story... I drove a Toyota Tacoma for commuting, etc. until we got the wifes new Prius. She had the '96 Saturn SW2. She put $3000 into repairs in the spring of '04 against my advice; the car just wasn't worth the expenditure. OK, now we have a Saturn worth $3000+ to us and she decides she needs a new car. Hence the 05 Prius. I'm thinking we'll never get $3000 out of the Saturn and I don't want to give that $ away. Then comes $3/gal gas. OK, park the Tacoma (drive it once a week), and commute with the Saturn. The Tacoma gets 22-23 mpg, the Saturn gets 35 mpg (approx). Drop the comprehensive insurance on it and it costs next to nothing for a commuting car. I never get stuck in traffic, it's all 50-65 mph driving and only 13 miles so it works for me. We still take the dogs to the vet in the old Saturn too. In the summer it uses shy of a tank of gas every 2 weeks. The wife is driving the Prius and is as happy as a pig in $hit. The Tacoma sits with the snow plow mounted on it waiting for snow and getting driven/run once a week. Maybe by mid winter the summer gas will be diluted out of it and winter gas will be in the tank. I'm driving the Saturn daily until it gives up the ghost and the guys at work are telling me I'll be driving it for A VERY LONG TIME. If I want to sell I have a large # of folks wanting to buy. If I could figure out a way to tow what the Tacoma will carry in it's bed I'd sell it (Tacoma) and the snow plow in a minute and get a snowthrower for the front of the ATV. Then we wouldn't need the Tacomas payload capacity or pushing power. A Prius with a heavy duty drive train would do it, I don't want a Highlander but that would do it also.
1996 Saturn SL2 here. Anyone want to buy it in January? I get about 27 mpg in my regular commute, 30 mpg on long highway trips. When I bought this car, I'd narrowed the choices down to a Honda, a Toyota, or a Saturn. I eliminated the Hondas because I wanted something nicer than a Civic but cheaper than the Accord. The Saturn turned out to be sort of an impulse purchase -- I went to a Toyota dealership, and the salesman I dealt with there was so obnoxious that I walked out on him and into the Saturn dealership across the street.
I've never had a Saturn, but my niece and her husband had both a Saturn and a Prius... until their Saturn got hit by an airplane! See <http://www.khou.com/news/local/houstonmetro/stories/khou051107_mh_hookscrashvictim.39d8d3c8.html> They're replacing the Saturn with a Prius, but I've heard that the Saturn dealer called her to say that someone at Saturn corporate was trying to find her. No word yet on what they wanted... It seems that the Saturn<-->Prius link is pretty strong!
