Originally Posted by 101lifts2 (Post 204765)

I worked for Saturn as a student and engineer from 1994 to 2002. Hands down the best company I've worked for. The dealers and the corporation were treated highly by each other, instead of the OEM fucking the dealer. Each employee was so happy to work there it was almost sick..lol. Many UAW workers were fed up from the GM bullshit in the 80s...these were the guys that wanted to transfer to Spring Hill, TN. The union was always willing to help and let the engineers work on anything they wanted. They cleaned the plant when it was shut down and helped each other out. Something I've never ever seen in any company before.

Saturn was team oriented in everything...we did 2-3 team building events every month and monies were allocated for them.

Jill Lajdziak I think came in 2000 and said Saturn would be a 100 year car company. About 80 years short.

Saturn died long ago IMO...when GM took it over in 1998 and killed their brand by giving vehicles to Olds instead. The ION was the last "Saturn" IMO.

Originally Posted by goof2 (Post 204858)

All that is fine but it skips over something important, the cars. I only drove one, the coupe that they started with. It was still relatively new and didn't have a bunch of miles, but the thing still sucked. The worst was the NVH from the engine. Trying to merge on to the highway the damn thing sounded like it had dropped a valve or something. Added with the other issues the car had it just wasn't a good car. It could have been just that one car since, as I said, I never drove another one.

Originally Posted by Destitute (Post 204927)

My experience was similar. After driving two Saturns that belonged to family members they were no longer in consideration. Cheap interior, noisy ride, harsh engine, unresponsive throttle and steering to name a few. It's a shame they didn't offer a better product at a competitive price.

Originally Posted by Cutty72 (Post 205426)

saturn of old was a great vehicle for it's niche. Small, economical, long lasting, no frills car.
It was cheaper and as good if not better than the cavalier/escort/civic that it ran against. Of course I'm talking about the S series and Ion. When they went "conventional" with their cars, it was all just someone elses shit rebadged.

Originally Posted by goof2 (Post 204858)

All that is fine but it skips over something important, the cars. I only drove one, the coupe that they started with. It was still relatively new and didn't have a bunch of miles, but the thing still sucked. The worst was the NVH from the engine. Trying to merge on to the highway the damn thing sounded like it had dropped a valve or something. Added with the other issues the car had it just wasn't a good car. It could have been just that one car since, as I said, I never drove another one.

Originally Posted by Homeslice (Post 205592)

I remember the auto trannies going bad......People would say nothing would happen when shifted into reverse. This dealer tried using a bottle of Wynn's additive first....lol. We would also charge $500 for a "protection pack" of scotchgaurd, paint sealant, and dash treatment.......Give them some papers claiming a 5-yr warranty against fade. And people would pay it. Took the detailers less than 15 min to do......lmao

Originally Posted by bmblebee (Post 205473)

We had an '01 S 1 in 4 door. Bought it as commuter car for 100 mile daily commute. It was getting over 42 mpg at 55 mph. We now have an '06 Ion. It averages only about 37, but it has passed 40 mpg a few times.

Originally Posted by Homeslice (Post 205592)

I remember the auto trannies going bad......People would say nothing would happen when shifted into reverse. This dealer tried using a bottle of Wynn's additive first....lol. We would also charge $500 for a "protection pack" of scotchgaurd, paint sealant, and dash treatment.......Give them some papers claiming a 5-yr warranty against fade. And people would pay it. Took the detailers less than 15 min to do......lmao