Saturn: Not dead yet?
Pole Position
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 2,221
Likes: 2
From: CA
As usual, mmarshall is right on the money. To those who weren't in the car-buying market in the early 90's, there is simply no way to understand what Saturn had going for it. I don't mean that insultingly, but only as a fact--there really is no way to understand it because there's been nothing like it since.
Saturn NAILED everything, right from the start. The cars were very well-built, attractive, priced well, and sold by dealers who understood customer service. Technical and design innovation won awards and sales alike. The mystique of the brand was all-encompassing, and mmarshall is correct that there was a cult-like following.
Where I start to disagree with him is that Saturn started to lose the magic even before it became obvious with things like re-badging Opels. Dealerships slowly slipped back into their old, sleazy ways. The cars were built more and more cheaply, apparently due to parent GM's demands to turn a profit NOW. As always happens in corporate America, that focus on short-term profits sold out the future, and now here we are.
Saturn NAILED everything, right from the start. The cars were very well-built, attractive, priced well, and sold by dealers who understood customer service. Technical and design innovation won awards and sales alike. The mystique of the brand was all-encompassing, and mmarshall is correct that there was a cult-like following.
Where I start to disagree with him is that Saturn started to lose the magic even before it became obvious with things like re-badging Opels. Dealerships slowly slipped back into their old, sleazy ways. The cars were built more and more cheaply, apparently due to parent GM's demands to turn a profit NOW. As always happens in corporate America, that focus on short-term profits sold out the future, and now here we are.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 94,208
Likes: 220
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
As usual, mmarshall is right on the money. To those who weren't in the car-buying market in the early 90's, there is simply no way to understand what Saturn had going for it. I don't mean that insultingly, but only as a fact--there really is no way to understand it because there's been nothing like it since.
Saturn NAILED everything, right from the start. The cars were very well-built, attractive, priced well, and sold by dealers who understood customer service. Technical and design innovation won awards and sales alike. The mystique of the brand was all-encompassing, and mmarshall is correct that there was a cult-like following.
Where I start to disagree with him is that Saturn started to lose the magic even before it became obvious with things like re-badging Opels. Dealerships slowly slipped back into their old, sleazy ways. The cars were built more and more cheaply, apparently due to parent GM's demands to turn a profit NOW. As always happens in corporate America, that focus on short-term profits sold out the future, and now here we are.
Saturn NAILED everything, right from the start. The cars were very well-built, attractive, priced well, and sold by dealers who understood customer service. Technical and design innovation won awards and sales alike. The mystique of the brand was all-encompassing, and mmarshall is correct that there was a cult-like following.
Where I start to disagree with him is that Saturn started to lose the magic even before it became obvious with things like re-badging Opels. Dealerships slowly slipped back into their old, sleazy ways. The cars were built more and more cheaply, apparently due to parent GM's demands to turn a profit NOW. As always happens in corporate America, that focus on short-term profits sold out the future, and now here we are.
I had a 1999 SL-2 myself (one of the old, small plastic-body sedans).....ordered it special. Except for the typical tendency of GM brake rotors to warp a little even with easy use, and one or two plastic dash pieces that had to be re-attached, it was bulletproof. It had some of the best primary gauges I've seen on a car. The service people, with one exception, were also exceptional (I often change my own oil, but it was difficult to reach the oil filter in those cars).
I also ordered a 2001 bright-yellow Saturn SC-2 (special-edition) coupe that turned out unacceptable to me for chassis shimmy problems and rattles. Both the service people and I worked repeatedly on the car (we put our heads together), with no improvements. Saturn, faithful to its 30-day money-back policy with no car damage, refunded every penny...even the sales tax, which it did not have to do under its contract. I then went out and got a Lexus IS300....and later joined CL.
Last edited by mmarshall; Dec 12, 2008 at 10:41 AM.
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