twintornados Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Goodbye Saturn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
156n3rd Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Once they put a Chevy engine in them, they became shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
630land Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 (edited) I am not suprised, but it's too bad. Some simply think Penske could re-open the Spring hill and Sky/Solctace plants, as if he's got quintillions. The so called "new Saturns" would have come from Korea or who knows where, and have unknown quality. Dealers want to stay open and beg Congress to intervene, but if the manufactuer is dead or shrunken, what can they sell? Edited September 30, 2009 by 630land Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
630land Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 No, the Eco-Tech motor was Opel designed. Saturn's old noisy motor was a boat anchor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 Penske would have done Saturn "on the cheap" and it would have been a disaster.....better to have it fade away.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanh Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Goodbye Saturn so much for the sucess of "fixed pricing"...........of course alienmating your clientel by TOTALLY changing your core product ( cheap and affordable ) put ANOTHER nail in the coffin....anyone remmber Isuzu? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixt9coug Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 No, the Eco-Tech motor was Opel designed. Saturn's old noisy motor was a boat anchor. They drank as much oil as they did gas, but they were good little engines and good little cars. My uncle has one thats been handed down to his stepson and its got way over 200K miles on it. Thats what living in Corona and commuting to Cerritos will do. (some 50 miles each way, over 5 or 6 years before being handed down) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoMoCobra Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 The news is definitely a shocker, however those customers will probably mosey on over to the nice new little cars & SUVs that Ford builds. Its unfortunate news for the folks that will lose their jobs, but good news for Ford sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01FOCI Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 GM only delayed what was supposed to happen to Saturn decades ago. I won't miss any of your plastic bodies cars or your indescribably bad sounding "Twin Cam" 4 (it really does bang) banger. My buddy for god only know why bought a used one (a lease return I think) back in the mid 90's and also purchased the extended warranty (for extra peace of mind) which surprisingly paid for itself when the dealer told him he needed a whole new wiring harness. LOL months later he tried to sell it to me cause it was such a "good car" ANYWAY GOODBYE TO ANOTHER MEDIOCRE CAR COMPANY!!! Say HI to Packard, Oldsmobile, Nash, Plymouth, Edsel, International and all the other brands in the junkyard in the sky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packardbob Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Packard was NOT a mediocre car company. Their fate was sealed the day they bought out Studebaker. Studebakers crappy products, awful management and debt screwed Packard in to the ground. Pair that with not having the luxury of being able to rely on a parent company to foot the bill during bad times like Lincoln or Cadillac and increased pressure from each for market share and it was only a matter of time before the name would die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blksn8k2 Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 The news is definitely a shocker, however those customers will probably mosey on over to the nice new little cars & SUVs that Ford builds. Its unfortunate news for the folks that will lose their jobs, but good news for Ford sales. I wouldn't be too quick to jump to that conclusion. I read a similar article on MSN and some of the comments afterward. A lot of "American companies can't do anything right. I'll never buy another American car. Here I come Toyota and Honda". Right or wrong Ford is still being painted with the same brush as the rest by a lot of people. :shades: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ford4v429 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 my ex sister in law bought one back when they first came out- shes still got it, and aside from some wear on the seats, it still looks/runs great, only thing she ever did was brakes/struts IIRC...think its got over 300k now- mostlly highway...plastic body or not, the paint on hers still looks excellent (and they dont get door dings, just little scuff marks) knew a couple other saturn owners that liked their cars enough to keep them a decade or more- might not be a cadillac, but seemed like a decent product from the little Ive been told about it...saddest part is, I doubt its gonna sell a lot more fords- theres a lot of small cars to chose from these days- just like cash for clunkers, the asians will probably fare better than domestics on picking up their little market share. I'll miss them, even if I never owned one- one less American car...but if Penske had bought them, sounds like it woulda become chinese or something anyways. RIP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
630land Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 There really aren't a lot of Saturn customers left that can afford new cars anyway, since sales were so bad the last few years. Many of the nerds who went to Spring Hill in 1994 have Hyundais now. Also, most who now own older pre-2003 Saturns are used car shoppers, so no plus/minus business for anyone. And one more thing, anyone with a late model Saturn just obtained more negative equity today, so they are stuck with their cars till they fall apart. Buddy has an Astra, and is stuck with the payments, but will keep it til junked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01FOCI Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Packard was NOT a mediocre car company. Their fate was sealed the day they bought out Studebaker. Studebakers crappy products, awful management and debt screwed Packard in to the ground. Pair that with not having the luxury of being able to rely on a parent company to foot the bill during bad times like Lincoln or Cadillac and increased pressure from each for market share and it was only a matter of time before the name would die. I did not mean to imply Packard was mediocre in my last sentence, just merely another dead car company. "my ex sister in law bought one back when they first came out- shes still got it, and aside from some wear on the seats, it still looks/runs great, only thing she ever did was brakes/struts IIRC...think its got over 300k now- mostlly highway...plastic body or not, the paint on hers still looks excellent (and they dont get door dings, just little scuff marks)" I could probably find a AMC Gremlin that real nice too, there are always exceptions to the rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packardbob Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I did not mean to imply Packard was mediocre in my last sentence, just merely another dead car company. "my ex sister in law bought one back when they first came out- shes still got it, and aside from some wear on the seats, it still looks/runs great, only thing she ever did was brakes/struts IIRC...think its got over 300k now- mostlly highway...plastic body or not, the paint on hers still looks excellent (and they dont get door dings, just little scuff marks)" I could probably find a AMC Gremlin that real nice too, there are always exceptions to the rule. Sorry dude, I get real defensive when it comes to Packard, Ford, or any of the cars I own for that matter, except my Buick..I hate that thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTAUS Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 My bestfriend had 3 Saturn's, 2 SL1's, and one L300. I do want to make note that when it first came out in 1990, LOOK at the competition. I remember she didnt want a Civic because they dented easily and looked like crap after 3 years, the Sentra was boxy and outdated. The Escort wasn't anything special, Corolla was boring. She went with Saturn because of customer attention, the dent resistant panels. The car served her very well. Then purchased another SL1 in 97, for the same reason...comeptition wasn't anything special at that point. Kept it till the L300 in '03. I was against that purchase though because that "Opel", wasn't convincing me, BUT she still has it, other than a tranny solenoid, it's been good overall BUT you can FEEL the structure has aged dramatically. Things dont feel "tight and taut", kinda like sex...you know one hole will be much tighter than the other. You hear some "rattles" and you know it's the plastic, but it's been otherwise reliable for her...amazingly actually. I told her today about the "death", and since now it's her husbands, she's cringing that he wants to purchase his midlife crisis early (Camaro/Mustang) and use the "oh we cant get parts for the Saturn" BS... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 So. Anyone think that Pete DeLorenzo will ever again reference his recent predictions of successful Saturn Dealers under the Penske aegis? Or will we be treated only to reminders of the predictions he's gotten right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calypsocoral Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 GM only delayed what was supposed to happen to Saturn decades ago. I won't miss any of your plastic bodies cars or your indescribably bad sounding "Twin Cam" 4 (it really does bang) banger. My buddy for god only know why bought a used one (a lease return I think) back in the mid 90's and also purchased the extended warranty (for extra peace of mind) which surprisingly paid for itself when the dealer told him he needed a whole new wiring harness. LOL months later he tried to sell it to me cause it was such a "good car" ANYWAY GOODBYE TO ANOTHER MEDIOCRE CAR COMPANY!!! Say HI to Packard, Oldsmobile, Nash, Plymouth, Edsel, International and all the other brands in the junkyard in the sky. In the "mediocre" portion, don't forget LaSalle and DeSoto. I hope you're not including Auburn and Deusenberg in that list... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 In the "mediocre" portion, don't forget LaSalle and DeSoto. I hope you're not including Auburn and Deusenberg in that list... ...and Dodge...oh wait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Penske would have done Saturn "on the cheap" and it would have been a disaster.....better to have it fade away.... Maybe, but you gotta feel for the guy, GM shut the doors on all of Penske's potential vehicle supply lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jobu37 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 This is great news for the overall NA market. More excess capacity removed from the market. Albeit a small amount. However, if Mitsubishi and Suzuki both acknowledges and reacts to the lack of demand for their product lines maybe we will start to get a bit closer to equilibrium in the NA market. Of course Chrysler could the save the industry a lot of heartache if they would just kill off the 85% of their lineup that has no demand without excessive incentives. And also drives down transaction prices for the other domestics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Of course Chrysler could the save the industry a lot of heartache if they would just kill off the 85% of their lineup that has no demand without excessive incentives. And also drives down transaction prices for the other domestics. I think Fiat will make all your wishes come true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
630land Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Mopar already cleared out some excess inventory with C4C, and no more sales bank. If they can just make what sells for a profit and not just cheap rental cars. Saturn was going to end up selling Korean made versions of Renault/Nissan cars, and Nissan managers said "no way". Why compete against itself? It didn't work for GM's look alikes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
156n3rd Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 (edited) No, the Eco-Tech motor was Opel designed. Saturn's old noisy motor was a boat anchor. How the hell do you know? Did you own one? EcoTech is shitto-tech. Noisy, thirsty and pure Chevy shit. Go ahead and defend them. The original Saturn 1.9 was indestructible. Mine died with nearlt 223,000 on it. Go ahead, brag up Chevy. :poke: Oh yeah, go ahead and brag about Opel too, the great Astra. Stupid. Edited October 1, 2009 by 156n3rd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 How the hell do you know? Did you own one? EcoTech is shitto-tech. Noisy, thirsty and pure Chevy shit. Go ahead and defend them. The original Saturn 1.9 was indestructible. Mine died with nearlt 223,000 on it. Go ahead, brag up Chevy. :poke: Oh yeah, go ahead and brag about Opel too, the great Astra. Stupid. I had a Saturn with that crap-ass "Twin Cam" 4 cylinder. Yes, it ran for quite some time, but it was always loud and underpowered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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