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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ OT: Saturn no longer a carmaker
Posted by: flipb Oct 1 2009, 10:41 AM
The Penske-Saturn deal has fallen through because Penske couldn't find another manufacturer from whom to source cars after 2011.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/30/news/companies/penske_saturn/index.htm?postversion=2009093019
Saturn sold some of GM's best products for the US market over the past 15 years (along with some duds too), including perhaps the best daily driver I've ever owned.
Damn shame that GM pretty much strangled "the Saturn experiment" in its adolescence. Turning it into Opel's US arm was a promising rebound. Oh well.
Posted by: URY914 Oct 1 2009, 10:52 AM
So I should cancel my plans for a Saturn powered 914???
Posted by: Ferg Oct 1 2009, 11:02 AM
Hype mobiles... I never drank the kool aid, not going to be missed. Kudos to Marketing.
I will give them some credit for starting to swing how customers were treated at dealerships.
Ferg
Posted by: zymurgist Oct 1 2009, 11:35 AM
What's the status of Uranus?
Posted by: URY914 Oct 1 2009, 11:57 AM
What's the status of Uranus?
Mine's feelin' fine. Thanks for asking.
Posted by: zymurgist Oct 1 2009, 12:15 PM
Seriously folks... I thought Saturn was a pretty cool name for a car company... but then again, I was a Star Trek geek from an early age and I wanted a Jupiter 8.
Posted by: Cupomeat Oct 1 2009, 12:33 PM
Yes, it was a great name for a car company and the ideas were great, they just failed to produce a quality product that was competitive WITHOUT the gimmick of no haggle pricing.
Besides the Opel stuff of late, I never drove a saturn that was worth anything.
Shame on GM for doing this to itself.
Posted by: Dr Evil Oct 1 2009, 12:46 PM
I love my 05 VUE. The engine is Honda, as far as I know, though. 250hp V6 AWD, plastic dent proof body panels.
Posted by: zymurgist Oct 1 2009, 12:52 PM
plastic dent proof body panels
Saturn was ahead of the curve with these. I remember when Saturns came out, it was a major selling point. "No more parking lot dings!"
Meanwhile, I'm still parking my steel Acura off by itself in the parking lot. Painful memories of a huge dent in the quarter panel of my Neon.
Posted by: ruddyboys Oct 1 2009, 12:58 PM
Had an SW2 with 185,000 and never need any service. It constantly got 40mi/gal, too bad it was ugly.
Posted by: jsayre914 Oct 1 2009, 01:01 PM
when did we lose pluto???
Posted by: Ferg Oct 1 2009, 01:01 PM
You should see them get bumped in Winter time. I've seen 2 panels nearly explode when it's cold, they shatter.
Posted by: zymurgist Oct 1 2009, 01:08 PM
when did we lose pluto???
Ask this guy.
Posted by: Drums66 Oct 1 2009, 01:13 PM
I heard it !......I try not to look at them
especially the litttle fake convertible
sports poop. 
Posted by: tod914 Oct 1 2009, 01:15 PM
What's to become of Uranus?
Posted by: Drums66 Oct 1 2009, 01:20 PM
Pluto I would miss But............Uranus you can
keep it! LOL
Posted by: ericread Oct 1 2009, 01:38 PM
Actually, I'm sadder about losing Pluto as a planet.
I used to teach Astronomy and Physics at a Planetarium in Reno back in the mid-70's. One by one, every thing I used to teach has been disproven 
As for the POS Saturn I owned for a few years, that thing never did run right. I finally drove it off a cliff (figuratively) when it couldn't meet emission controls and Nevada refused to register it.
At least Pluto never cost me any money 
Eric Read
Posted by: flipb Oct 1 2009, 02:23 PM
I bought a new LS1 in its first model year, 2000. This was the mid-size Saturn. (Anybody remember the ads: "The next Big thing from Saturn"?) Ordered it in Silver with black interior, ABS with TCS, sunroof, most options... but stuck with the 137hp 4cyl in order to get a stick. It used a Saab 5-speed transmission from the GM parts bin.
That car gave me virtually no trouble, got 28-32 mpg, handled New England winters incredibly well, and was fun to drive. Not terribly quick, although I once got it to 105 at around 4am on I-95. I let it go after 7 years with 97K miles.
Never once left me stranded - even after sitting in a snowy parking lot for 2 weeks. And the seats were all-day comfortable with decent bolstering for a sedan.
Posted by: GeorgeRud Oct 1 2009, 02:34 PM
I once rented a Vue, and it seemed to work OK (however an interior trim piece did fall off during the week we had it). I imagine that Penske would have made them better than GM in the long-run. He's not known as a bad businessman, and has certainly earned all the automotive honors that can be earned.
I only wonder why GM decided to kill off the Pontiac brand, and kept Buick? Just wait till we start getting products from the new GM (Government Motors?). I think of all the retired, great engineers that have worked there that must be just shaking their heads in disbelief of what's happening. But then, remember that there were many, many more manufacturers in the early days of automobiles. In the end, only the strong seem to survive.
Posted by: URY914 Oct 1 2009, 02:43 PM
If the Penske sale had gone thru he who have raced a Saturn at Indy.
Posted by: Ferg Oct 1 2009, 02:43 PM
I once rented a Vue, and it seemed to work OK (however an interior trim piece did fall off during the week we had it). I imagine that Penske would have made them better than GM in the long-run. He's not known as a bad businessman, and has certainly earned all the automotive honors that can be earned.
I only wonder why GM decided to kill off the Pontiac brand, and kept Buick? Just wait till we start getting products from the new GM (Government Motors?). I think of all the retired, great engineers that have worked there that must be just shaking their heads in disbelief of what's happening. But then, remember that there were many, many more manufacturers in the early days of automobiles. In the end, only the strong seem to survive.
Buick made the cut due to it's overseas demand, it is very big in China
Posted by: 7275914911 Oct 1 2009, 02:46 PM
So the Saturn's just like the Pontiac's before them have now become collector's item's almost overnight....
Let's see if many Saturn's make it to 35 yrs old like our rusty, er I mean trusty, little cars did.
Nothing but Chevy and Caddy will be left when all is said and done at GM...JMHO
KP
Oh and thank you Ford for not taking my tax dollars yet.....
Posted by: flipb Oct 1 2009, 02:56 PM
Buick made the cut due to it's overseas demand, it is very big in China
I know they had their reason for keeping Buick, but it just seems so wrong for Buick to outlast Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn...
On the other hand, I'm pretty psyched about the future of another spun-off GM subsidiary.
Saab, meet your new Daddy:
Posted by: URY914 Oct 1 2009, 03:10 PM
They have to keep making replacement parts for 7 years I think. It's a federal law IIRC.
Posted by: biosurfer1 Oct 1 2009, 03:53 PM
You should see them get bumped in Winter time. I've seen 2 panels nearly explode when it's cold, they shatter.
Funny you said this, because not 2 hours later I came across this picture
Posted by: lotus_65 Oct 1 2009, 06:51 PM
i think it's a shame penske couldn't pull it off.
he might be the only guy i'd buy an american car from.
sad day for u.s., imo.
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