The Truth About Saturn: A Different Kind of Car Company WheelHouse
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Date: 2019-10-24
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Comments and reviews: 10
D Ealy
Some of your information is not accurate. I was a Saturn tech for 13 years. The S car was amazing. Plus most people didn't know how fast you can make them. I had a 95 SC2 that had over 300hp when I finished it. The View was not a rebadged chevy it shared very few parts. Saturn was the first to have the ecotec motors. The end of Saturn began when GM made Saturn take Oldsmobile's spot in the cookie cutter GM line up. There were 16 buyers lined up who wanted to buy Saturn. 1 who wanted to buy Saab, 1 who wanted to buy Hummer. O who wanted to buy Pontiac. The front runner was Roger Penske. There was also President Obama's first car Czar in the running. Roger Penske won the bid. This would have changed the auto industry. They could not let this happen. On the day of closing the deal Nissan ( who was in the middle of making the Sentra a safer car so Penske could rebadge it as a Saturn) pulled out of the deal. ( a week later Nissan was approved to use onstar. That ended up not happening) Penske asked for 60 days to sure up his plan B for a small car. GM said no. He asked for 30 days. Again they said no. Penske being a smart business man knew by signing that day he would be fined for being over the required average gas mileage for a car company. He pulled out of the deal. Instead of selling to one of the other 15 buyers who were interested, GM decided to give it the axe instead of keeping thousands of people at work. One congressman let it slip the the first car czar was going to get Saturn as an all electric car before he got in trouble and had to step down. It was all a political game. Btw I still have 1 Saturn. 2001 special addition yellow SC2 with close to 300k miles on it. Still has the original clutch. My wife, my son, and my daughter have learned to drive manual in this car. And yes I have added some things to make it go faster. All bolt on stuff. Never had the head off. Still has original timing chain.
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Some of your information is not accurate. I was a Saturn tech for 13 years. The S car was amazing. Plus most people didn't know how fast you can make them. I had a 95 SC2 that had over 300hp when I finished it. The View was not a rebadged chevy it shared very few parts. Saturn was the first to have the ecotec motors. The end of Saturn began when GM made Saturn take Oldsmobile's spot in the cookie cutter GM line up. There were 16 buyers lined up who wanted to buy Saturn. 1 who wanted to buy Saab, 1 who wanted to buy Hummer. O who wanted to buy Pontiac. The front runner was Roger Penske. There was also President Obama's first car Czar in the running. Roger Penske won the bid. This would have changed the auto industry. They could not let this happen. On the day of closing the deal Nissan ( who was in the middle of making the Sentra a safer car so Penske could rebadge it as a Saturn) pulled out of the deal. ( a week later Nissan was approved to use onstar. That ended up not happening) Penske asked for 60 days to sure up his plan B for a small car. GM said no. He asked for 30 days. Again they said no. Penske being a smart business man knew by signing that day he would be fined for being over the required average gas mileage for a car company. He pulled out of the deal. Instead of selling to one of the other 15 buyers who were interested, GM decided to give it the axe instead of keeping thousands of people at work. One congressman let it slip the the first car czar was going to get Saturn as an all electric car before he got in trouble and had to step down. It was all a political game. Btw I still have 1 Saturn. 2001 special addition yellow SC2 with close to 300k miles on it. Still has the original clutch. My wife, my son, and my daughter have learned to drive manual in this car. And yes I have added some things to make it go faster. All bolt on stuff. Never had the head off. Still has original timing chain.
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largol33t1
GM's decisions with Saturn around 2008 were some of the dumbest they ever made. They wouldn't be worrying about Tesla today. See, they did have a hybrid on the market and should have capitalized on that. But they decided to throw in the towel and kill the whole brand. Now they're stuck back to making dinosaur SUVs and have nothing to compete with. Look at their Volt. It STILL isn't an all electric vehicle but a hybrid and they had to sell the Hummer brand and shut down Pontiac and Saturn. I predict only Tesla and Amazon (when they get around to making an electric car) will be the only US brands left. The US car market is finished and will not be able to compete because of their drunk-ass management, most of whom have their brains stuck in the 1970s.
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GM's decisions with Saturn around 2008 were some of the dumbest they ever made. They wouldn't be worrying about Tesla today. See, they did have a hybrid on the market and should have capitalized on that. But they decided to throw in the towel and kill the whole brand. Now they're stuck back to making dinosaur SUVs and have nothing to compete with. Look at their Volt. It STILL isn't an all electric vehicle but a hybrid and they had to sell the Hummer brand and shut down Pontiac and Saturn. I predict only Tesla and Amazon (when they get around to making an electric car) will be the only US brands left. The US car market is finished and will not be able to compete because of their drunk-ass management, most of whom have their brains stuck in the 1970s.
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Harrison Hedge
I owned an Black SC2 manual as my first car. It was 1200 of awesome-sauce and had I not been an idiot would have probably not ate its head gasket. SC2s (the first ones) were nice little cars, handled surprisingly well, were easy on insurance and gas, and were plenty practical. My car had flaws like a busted AC system, odometer that worked some of the time, and issues with cooling but overall it did its job well for the two years I owned it. I'd buy another if I had room and money for a 2nd car. The death of Saturn saddens me to this day, there was so much potential that was squashed under big daddy GM's unfeeling and uncaring boots.
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I owned an Black SC2 manual as my first car. It was 1200 of awesome-sauce and had I not been an idiot would have probably not ate its head gasket. SC2s (the first ones) were nice little cars, handled surprisingly well, were easy on insurance and gas, and were plenty practical. My car had flaws like a busted AC system, odometer that worked some of the time, and issues with cooling but overall it did its job well for the two years I owned it. I'd buy another if I had room and money for a 2nd car. The death of Saturn saddens me to this day, there was so much potential that was squashed under big daddy GM's unfeeling and uncaring boots.
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Nicholas Smith
2003 Ion 2. 2l F23 trans. Original everything down to the clutch and just under 300, 000mi. They fail to mention that the ion was the developing platform of all delta chassis vehicles. Not a rebadged cobalt. Cobalts, G6, HHR, Saab 93. all came from the ions delta chassis and engine dt setup. To this day GM wont release the tuning codes for the 2003 ion 2. 2 ecotec. Lightly modified mine gets 45mpg highway but i believe there are secrets locked away by gm that they dont want tapped. I love my L61 and all things Saturn. They did it better than GM ever could dream too.
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2003 Ion 2. 2l F23 trans. Original everything down to the clutch and just under 300, 000mi. They fail to mention that the ion was the developing platform of all delta chassis vehicles. Not a rebadged cobalt. Cobalts, G6, HHR, Saab 93. all came from the ions delta chassis and engine dt setup. To this day GM wont release the tuning codes for the 2003 ion 2. 2 ecotec. Lightly modified mine gets 45mpg highway but i believe there are secrets locked away by gm that they dont want tapped. I love my L61 and all things Saturn. They did it better than GM ever could dream too.
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Mike Sadlier
My 2001 SL2 Saturn is easy to fix and parts are dirt cheap and still plentiful. It was the last of the Saturn Saturn's. I have driven it 1000's and 1000's of miles with nary a complain. Bought it from the estate of a deceased elderly woman who had bought the car new and never drove it in the rain. It had just 32000 miles on it. The interior still smelled like her perfume and she smelled like a very nice lady. Even-tho my stank is in it now, I can tell grandma is still there, hand on my shoulder, watching over me, making sure each of my trips in her car is a safe one.
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My 2001 SL2 Saturn is easy to fix and parts are dirt cheap and still plentiful. It was the last of the Saturn Saturn's. I have driven it 1000's and 1000's of miles with nary a complain. Bought it from the estate of a deceased elderly woman who had bought the car new and never drove it in the rain. It had just 32000 miles on it. The interior still smelled like her perfume and she smelled like a very nice lady. Even-tho my stank is in it now, I can tell grandma is still there, hand on my shoulder, watching over me, making sure each of my trips in her car is a safe one.
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Robotech04
The Sky was not a rebadge Opel as the Opel GT was released 2 years after the Sky. (Ergo the Opel was a rebadged Saturn. as was the Daewoo G2X. The Sky was a rebodied Solstice both based on the new Kappa platform that was due to have other models built upon it if all had gone to plan. Like mentioned though, right cars at the wrong time. With the failing economy a 2 seat performance oriented sportscar with very limited practicality was not going to fly off the showroom floor when people were losing their homes left and right. So sad.
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The Sky was not a rebadge Opel as the Opel GT was released 2 years after the Sky. (Ergo the Opel was a rebadged Saturn. as was the Daewoo G2X. The Sky was a rebodied Solstice both based on the new Kappa platform that was due to have other models built upon it if all had gone to plan. Like mentioned though, right cars at the wrong time. With the failing economy a 2 seat performance oriented sportscar with very limited practicality was not going to fly off the showroom floor when people were losing their homes left and right. So sad.
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Steven Turner
I can't complain about my 2000 SL2 at all. To be honest it's like a good old dog. Are we going somewhere? Ok I'm just gotta settle for the speed limit and sip fuel, kay? Sorry if my suspension squeaks a bit. Its an honest car and makes no bones about it. I've had a few vehicles along side of it, but the car runs too good to sell. Sitting at 280, 000 too. Burns and leaks a quart every 1000 miles. Doesnt get worse, but hasn't gotten better. I'd say it's one of my favorite rides. Wish you could still get engine rebuild kits
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I can't complain about my 2000 SL2 at all. To be honest it's like a good old dog. Are we going somewhere? Ok I'm just gotta settle for the speed limit and sip fuel, kay? Sorry if my suspension squeaks a bit. Its an honest car and makes no bones about it. I've had a few vehicles along side of it, but the car runs too good to sell. Sitting at 280, 000 too. Burns and leaks a quart every 1000 miles. Doesnt get worse, but hasn't gotten better. I'd say it's one of my favorite rides. Wish you could still get engine rebuild kits
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dellstudio10
I have plenty of family and friends that now own or use to own various Saturn's. There great great, reliable cars. Other than replacing the typical wear parts and maintenance they never needed anything. The engine's are built extremely well and there easy to work on for most of the typical repairs. None of them ever had any engine or transmission trouble. Goes to prove that Americans can build car's to be reliable as any other manufacturer's offerings. We just don't do it often enough.
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I have plenty of family and friends that now own or use to own various Saturn's. There great great, reliable cars. Other than replacing the typical wear parts and maintenance they never needed anything. The engine's are built extremely well and there easy to work on for most of the typical repairs. None of them ever had any engine or transmission trouble. Goes to prove that Americans can build car's to be reliable as any other manufacturer's offerings. We just don't do it often enough.
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Marc B.
Anyone remember that when the very first Saturns came out, they had put coolant fluid in the transmission, or transmission fluid in the coolant system? I recall that, hundreds of cars were sold that way, they self destroyed in days and that hit the news FAST, and those people got FREE cars for replacement. I didnt get one of them. but anyone else remember that? Wish I got an the SC with the pop up lights, 3 drs. in bright yellow But alas, nope. never got one. Bummer: (
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Anyone remember that when the very first Saturns came out, they had put coolant fluid in the transmission, or transmission fluid in the coolant system? I recall that, hundreds of cars were sold that way, they self destroyed in days and that hit the news FAST, and those people got FREE cars for replacement. I didnt get one of them. but anyone else remember that? Wish I got an the SC with the pop up lights, 3 drs. in bright yellow But alas, nope. never got one. Bummer: (
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jimmyraythomason1
I have a 1997 Saturn SW1 wagon with the little 4 cylinder engine. I have had it for about 15 years. It has over 460, 000 miles on it with no signs of stopping. Yes I have done some repairs including replacing all 4 fuel injectors and a manifold gasket. Several other components also had to be replaced but parts were easy to replace and relatively low cost. Remember, this car is 22 years old and the clear coat has just now began to peel.
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I have a 1997 Saturn SW1 wagon with the little 4 cylinder engine. I have had it for about 15 years. It has over 460, 000 miles on it with no signs of stopping. Yes I have done some repairs including replacing all 4 fuel injectors and a manifold gasket. Several other components also had to be replaced but parts were easy to replace and relatively low cost. Remember, this car is 22 years old and the clear coat has just now began to peel.
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