GM came out with a hell of a marketing gig with the Saturn, most people had no clue they were buying a GM. I badged up a Fiero I had as a Saturn, people would look at it funny and if they asked I told them it was one of the early prototypes (not a lie, the Fiero was proof of concept for the whole Saturn line) and they would "Ohhhh"
Yep. But they were still good cars; and the design of the marketing, distribution, and service network did in fact nurture impressive customer loyalty. Unfortunately for GM, it was also somewhat cannibalistic: Somewhere around 40 percent of Saturn buyers had previously owned other GM-label cars. That was one of several reasons why despite what would seem to be good sales and fierce customer loyalty, GM never considered Saturn a success.
Saturn also operated in a semi-autonomous manner prior to around 2000 and 2002, when the L series and the ION, respectively, came out. Both were built on Opel designs with some Saturn touches. They were still good cars, in my opinion. I owned an ION for a few years and loved it. But they did reflect the beginning of the end of Saturn's limited autonomy. A lot of Saturn fans also lamented the end of the uniqueness of the company's cars.
In the case of the first generation of the Vue, the loss of uniqueness was planned and executed in the opposite manner. The Vue was the first car to use GM's Theta platform, and somewhat revived the company's reputation for unique automobiles and design autonomy, and the Vue was hugely popular.
I drove a Vue for four years and put many, many miles on it. Other than for scheduled maintenance, the only time it visited a mechanic had to do with liquid spilled on the passenger seat, which shorted out an air bag sensor. My mechanic washed it out with plain water and let the seat dry in his boiler room for a few days, which fixed the problem, saving me the cost of a $600.00 seat.
Still, it was the only thing about the car's design that I thought was idiotic. The sensor should have been encased in a moisture-proof pouch, which my mechanic did as an unauthorized retrofit. Spills do happen, kids pee their pants on long trips, and seats do need to be cleaned from time to time; so the sensor needed to be moisture-protected.
Nonetheless, the Vue was a popular and, for the most part, exceptionally reliable car that was one of Saturn's best-ever sellers. But GM then expropriated the Theta design and used it as the basis for the Equinox and Torrent, which made sense from an overall GM design perspective, but also cannibalized the Vue and made it less unique. The second-generation Vues weren't unique at all (they were re-branded Opel Antaras), nor was the Relay (which was the same car as the Buick Terraza, the Chevrolet Uplander, and the Pontiac Montana).
Long story short, GM robbed Saturn of what had been the major thrust of its marketing pitch ("A different kind of car company, a different kind of car"). Eventually the company lost its distinctness in other ways, as well, such as the laid-back, no-haggle sales methodology and the focus on a friendly, continuing customer / company relationship. Although Saturns were still good cars, they had lost everything that made them unique. They became just another GM badge on the same family of cars, until ultimately it made little financial sense for GM to continue the brand. They were just another production and distribution network for re-branded cars from their other labels.
I've owned five Saturns, so I consider myself somewhat of a fan. I wish Penske had been able to find a manufacturer and buy the company, but Renault / Nissan put the kibosh on that idea. They didn't want to cannibalize their own brands to make Saturns for Penske. Like most Saturn fans, I still have fantasies that someone will buy the name and resurrect the company along its original lines. But that possibility seems very remote.
Not that much of a Tightwad, you've got a full tank.
I average around 37 MPG in that car. That makes it easier to maintain a full tank.
-Rich
Even the cheapest aftermarket lamps I could find from a car parts company were $5.00 each!
