and realized why they say toyotas are boring. It's 2003 Saturn Ion for my teenager son. 135,000 miles. Clean carfax. No rust (Florida). My first choice was toyota, but there were none that were cheap, in decent shape, and with less that 200,000 miles (except for ones with ODO cheats, childishly easy in toyotas). My research indicated that Saturns were the most reliable and fuel efficient cars americans could produce. Me nephew has one, bought it dirt cheap and it's reliable enough for him. That encouraged me. To make the story short, my son and me have been wrenching the POS for weeks to make some decent transportation from it. Like I said, toyotas are boring in comparison.
Does it have plastic body panels? My Dad had a Saturn Coupe that had plastic body panels. They were amazingly durable and as long as they did not get scratched looked great. The car was kind of like" The Picture Of Dorian Gray" as it aged and fell apart on the inside, it continued to look amazingly good on the outside.
Only the first Saturans had plastic body panels. The later ones, like the ION came with steel panels.
My Dad had one of the early ones. Early on...I think Saturn strived to be something different and special. As time passed they just became GM 'lite".
I remember looking at new ION and sat in one at the dealer. I was shocked at the interior and the plastic crap they installed. This car had gaps in the dash that were so large you would think it was built by a 5 year old kid. I even commented to the salesman as to how they would be able to sell a car that looked like this on the inside.
>> My research indicated that Saturns were the most reliable and fuel efficient cars americans could produce. Sad huh? I guess if you consider the Toyotas and Kias, etc. that are built in America, would those qualify? There's a reason that Saturns are no longer made. Good luck with it.
Yeah, all my Toyotas have been boring I guess. They work flawlessly for hundreds of thousands of miles, with hardly ever a moment of excitement from a breakdown. I might have to try a domestic for a bit of a change.
It's amazing how short-term thinking always seems to trump long-term sustainability in North America. I believe it was the early eighties that Detroit began to concede defeat to the Japanese automakers, and some of them realized that they had to either change to a more sustainable model or perish. Ford hired one W. Edwards Deming as a consultant, a man who was almost single-handedly responsible for the successes of the Japanese automakers. He was then in his eighties, and he drew up a radical plan for Ford, that was to set them on the road to success for decades to come. Unfortunately other board members voted to pull the plug when they saw how such a plan would impact on short-term profits, and he was let go.
Remember the GM-Toyota NUMMI plant in California that was closed in 2009. Ironically, it is NOW the Tesla Plant.
done by previous owner. I checked already. It does have the plastic panels! they are scratched up like crazy, but not a single dent. pretty amazing. Asian cars assembled in USA don't count as domestic as they are designed outside US. Actually, since saturn is dead, those cars have some following with enthusiasts buying tem cheap and restoring as daily drivers. who knows, they can be even collectible at some points. This reminds me trabants and other soviet era east block cars. They were all initially sent to junk yards, but very valuable now as collectibles if restored.
The early Saturn, SL2?, is popular with hypermilers that don't want to deal with, or can't find, a Civic VX.
I don't know if you're joking or not, but they had plastic outside panels, just like saturns. No rust. The 2-cycle engine was a joke though, step up from a scooter.
True, although it's SL1 that has better MPG (less powerful engine). They are all oil burners though (not unlike prius with high miles, LOL).
I stand corrected: "..the infamous Trabant body was made from recycled cotton waste reinforced polyester..."
