RIP Saturn & Pontiac

[MeanJoePhaser]

Requiem for Spring Hill (Tennessee). (Remember that "spring time in Spring Hill" and "Different kind of car, different kind of company" Saturn spew from years ago? Yeah, different kind of company...or "one that superficially resembles the kind of companies the big three did their best to destroy decades earlier")

Pontiac has a long history of confusing elderly African-Americans by resembling Cadillacs too much, or so I heard.

 

[Krieg1981]

Good Riddance. I don't trust plastic cars that smoke like a steam engine, and Pontiac hasn't made a decent product since the mid 1970's!

 

[AJBryant]

I'm on my second Saturn (this one, a Vue). Had the first one for almost 11 years before I realized how long I'd had it, then switched over to the Vue last year.

This kills me. It's a great car, they have great service, and I like what they do.

 

[StarCruiser]

Every Pontiac I have owned (7 - counted 'em) was (is) a solid car. My dad bought a '67 Cat (Catalina to the uninitiated) and that thing just would NOT die.

My first personal car was a '78 Grand Prix with T-tops and my current is a '03 Grand Prix GTP. Not one single GM car has ever left me on the side of the road and that includes some stuff people like to call 'crap'...

 

[Spot's Meow]

Good, I fucking hate Saturns. I've had two of them (wasn't my choice to buy them) and they were both absolute crap. I hate everything about it, it just felt so uncomfortable in that driver's seat. The shape of the seat, the wheel, the pedals, the windshield angle, the shifter, fuckin' everything, I hated it.

 

[Turbo]

My first car was a Saturn, and it's sad to see them go, but when they tried to move from economy cars to a position above Chevrolet, they were doomed.

 

[the_wildcard]

According to the news, GM will only keep Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. They will attempt to get rid of Saturn, Saab and Hummer. They will also try to keep Pontiac to only a niche brand.

In my opinon, that's still TOO MANY brands. GM should only keep Chevrolet and Cadillac. That's it. Chevrolet can take care of your mainstream and construction customers. Cadiallac can be your luxury brand.

From GMC, GM should choose one or two of their truck/suv lines and then merge it with the Chevrolet brand. Cadiallac should do the same with Buick. They should choose the popular Buick models and merge it....IF necessary. Personally I think Cadiallac could serve all of Buick's needs without borrowing any model designs from them.

If they did that, then you'd have a model similar to Toyota, Honda and Nissan with their luxury spin offs of Lexus, Acura and Infiniti. Sure those brands are hurting too NOW, but when the economy gets better and people start buying, GM will be in a lot better shape to go 1 on 1 with these brands. In fact, I think Cadillac could have a decent chance to go against BMW and Benz too on some of their car models.

 

[Turbo]

From a commercial standpoint, GMC is GM's best-selling truck brand, so it makes sense to keep it on some level. But I think that they could get by best with a Chevrolet-Buick-Cadillac company, with Pontiac as the niche sports brand and GMC as a commercial-only brand.

I have a feeling that the Pontiac G5 and G6 will become Buick models quite soon, as well as all of Pontiac's other non-sports brands.

 

[DBR]

Bit of foreshadowing in the 2007 Transformers movie, when Jazz--the Pontiac Solstice--was ripped in half?

Clever bastards.

 

[AstroSmurf]

Saturn is going? I have had mine for twelve years. I bought a new car five years ago but never really drove it. I kept leaving it parked and driving my old Saturn because she got better gas mileage and I liked the way she handled better. Last year when gas went up so high, I sold the new one and kept the Saturn. I love that car. I can't even think about getting rid of her. Now I won't be able to buy her a younger sister and I had my eye on a Vue.

And I have to agree with Baba, she has always been a pill in the snow. She is to light and doesn't hold traction very well. But once you get used to how they handle, you can drive them in almost anything even though there is some sliding and fishtailing.

 

[1001001]

I'm on my second Saturn (this one, a Vue). Had the first one for almost 11 years before I realized how long I'd had it, then switched over to the Vue last year.

This kills me. It's a great car, they have great service, and I like what they do.

We agree. We've loved all our Saturns, including our Vues. I have the AWD 6 Cylinder model, and I couldn't be happier.

Good, I fucking hate Saturns. I've had two of them (wasn't my choice to buy them) and they were both absolute crap. I hate everything about it, it just felt so uncomfortable in that driver's seat. The shape of the seat, the wheel, the pedals, the windshield angle, the shifter, fuckin' everything, I hated it.

Well, cars are very personal things. What you're looking for, how they "fit" you on many levels, etc. Nothing wrong with having your own style.

 

[Turbo]

^ Exactly. While I really liked my Saturn, I (and my parents) adore Hondas. I think there's only been two times that we've not had a Honda or an Acura between the three of us since my parents were married.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I've had a Honda CR-V for almost two years now. I love this car. It's my favorite car I've ever driven. It fits my body type like a glove, its ride is glass smooth, it kicks ass in winter driving, plus it's got plenty of room to haul stuff.

So what if it's an SUV? Oh, I forgot, SUV drivers are the latest convenient scapegoat. It's a war on two fronts, really: Either I should be shot by the enviro-nazis for driving a SUV (apparently they do not particularly care that this car gets excellent gas mileage), or the hipsters have decided that I have no right to drive a car that isn't a gaudy useless flashy sports Corvette wannabe, silly me.

Screw that. I have this car because I fucking well NEED IT. You can't get 4-wheel drive in a sports car, and I *need* 4WD in this town during the winter.

 

[Bears Discover Fire]

My friends had an early 90's model Saturn that they hated. I could see why; it was a rattle trap after 10k miles and the road noise was so bad in the back seat that you couldn't have a conversation with the people up front or hear the radio. I took a road trip in the back of that thing and it was one of the more miserable travel experiences I've endured. It was undriveable in the rain because it fishtailed so badly; in fact that's how my friends parted with the car -- They fishtailed on a slightly flooded street and ended up wrapped around a lightpole.

Their car soured me on the brand and I've never had any interest in owning a Saturn.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The economic lifeblood of my family for generations was coal mining on one side and GM on the other. It is surprisingly difficult for me to accept the idea of the failure of the American automotive industry.

 

[Turbo]

The economic lifeblood of my family for generations was coal mining on one side and GM on the other. It is surprisingly difficult for me to accept the idea of the failure of the American automotive industry.

GM won't fail. They may go into receivership, but they won't fail. Chrysler, on the other hand...

 

[Akiraprise]

Like was said earlier, GMC is GM's best selling pickup line with huge customer loyalty so it makes sense to keep that around. Plus my last couple of trucks have been GMC's and they are awesome. For some reason I prefer them over the "bowtie." I would be content to buy GMC for the rest of my life.

 

[HobartFloyt]

The Saturn division was doing well until GM bureaucracy got involved and screwed things up. The so-called new Saturns are re-badged Opels from Germany.

How recently did that happen? The last time I had a Saturn was '92. That model (I had a 2-door coupe) lasted for awhile then it underwent a massive makeover which, IMHO, made it look extremely ugly. There's probably a connection with what you mentioned.

When Saturn was started the whole point was for it not to be associated with GM in the public's mind for all the reasons no one likes GM now. To that end they shared very little with the rest of GM. Sure some of the smaller pieces like injectors, EGR valves, etc., were shared but the main bits were all Saturn.

However all the same reasons that made Olds, Buick and Pontiac rebadged clones of Chevrolets instead of the distinct brands that they had been before the Seventies, kneecapped Saturn somewhere around 2000 when GM started putting corporate 2.2 and 3.4 liter engines in them, along with GM's patented self-destructing transmissions. Today Saturns are little more than a grille and some taillights hung on a Chevrolet.

 

[Colonel Green]

I am somewhat surprised by the number of Buick supporters here. I haven't known anyone who owned one in at least a decade. If GM wants to cut a brand, I'd start there.

 

[Turbo]

I am somewhat surprised by the number of Buick supporters here. I haven't known anyone who owned one in at least a decade. If GM wants to cut a brand, I'd start there.

Oh, I agree that I'd cut Buick over Pontiac in a heartbeat, but GM doesn't seem to think that that's a good idea, probably because they've been building Buick as their main brand in China.