new car

[Deathslayer7]

so for those of you who know, i got into an accident in November. Just now, I'm actually going to go pick it up. :smallbiggrin:

It is a 2004 Saturn Ion with almost 42,000 miles. Paid about 3300 for it.

So what I want to know is what can I expect from it? Any ideas? :smallconfused:

[Cristo Meyers]

If you haven't already, get it looked over by a mechanic you trust. It's still new enough that you could probably take it to a Saturn dealership and have them do it. It'll cost you, but it's better to find out what kind of condition your car is in now than, say, when you're going down the highway at 55 mph.

Find out the common problems Ions have (none of which I know), give you some idea of what you can expect down the road.

[Deathslayer7]

I leave in about 15 minutes to go pick it up. When we get back, my Dad will probably look over it. IF not, my Uncle will for sure whenever he has a chance.

[mangosta71]

I've had 2 Saturns. First one gave me no trouble at all. Until some stupid sow performed 4 illegal maneuvers in series that resulted in the front end getting torn off. :smallfurious: Second one is more than 10 years old and is starting to have some minor transmission issues. So my experience with the brand is pretty positive, as long as you make sure to get the standard maintenance done.

[wxdruid]

I've owned two Saturns

1994 Saturn Wagon, small - great car, handled well, had very few problems. Owned it from 1996 or so til 2002.

2002 Saturn SL - 4 door, other than being hit by others on 3 different occasions (not my fault), the only problem it has it that the gas gauge doesn't always work properly. Doesn't affect the performance of the car, just that sometimes I'm not sure of how much gas is in the tank, but, I just reset the trip odometer each time I get gas and go by that when the gas gauge has problems.

Overall, I like Saturns and my next car will likely be a Saturn.

[Syka]

For future advice, NEVER buy a used car without having someone with car-know-how that you trust looking it over first. Otherwise, you can get stuck with something that doesn't run right and have no legal recourse (as far as I know).

That said, it's still a fairly young car. I can't think of any major issues it would have unless the previous owner really didn't take care of it.

Cheers~

[Bonecrusher Doc]

I heard the Saturn brand is going to be discontinued as part of GM's restructuring to accept government loans. Does anyone think this will affect service on Saturn vehicles?

[Deathslayer7]

the car was bought through an auction, dealerships only. We had a friend buy it for us, then paid him some money for doing it. :smalltongue:

But even at the auction, you don't have much time to check it out. The speed at which those salesmen sell those cars is insane. :smalleek:

Anyway, it's manual, and I just had my first driving lesson on how to drive it. :smallbiggrin: Only stalled twice a little bit into the intersection and had it turn red on me. :smalltongue:

[Recaiden]

How are the seatbelts?

We have a Saturn of some type, 2001. I can honestly say It's the worst car I've ever encountered. But, good luck with yours.

[wxdruid]

Stick shifts are fun to drive. All three of my cars have been manuals.

So far, they've discontinued the Astra for 2009, and the other lines are still continued through 2009. Not sure about the future though.

[Deathslayer7]

the car is in pretty great condition, but by the time i finish learning, i might need a new clutch. :smalltongue:

[Felixaar]

So what I want to know is what can I expect from it? Any ideas? :smallconfused:

Well, if it has wheels, you can expect them to move when you press the accelerator. As far as expectations go that's really all my knowledge of Car's summed up.

Glad to hear you finally got a new set of wheels though. You know what this means, eh?

ROADTRIP!!!

[skywalker]

Well, if it has wheels, you can expect them to move when you press the accelerator.

Yes, but with a Saturn, you need to append "slowly" right after "move."

I think the general consensus is that the things are built like tanks, nearly impossible to cause lasting damage to. My best friend has an old Saturn, the only major problem he's had was an oil system problem that could've become catastrophic had it not been caught. But it was, and now his car is fine again for another 150k miles.

So, it will be durable, won't collect a lot of dents and dings (and hey, if it does, it's a Saturn, no worries!), will be a magnet for filth, and won't be much of a pleasure to drive, but a ka-zillion years from now, it'll be around for the aliens to find, just fine.

[de-trick]

its a GM, so its good

on dents and dings--older models of all makes will have better resistance, because made of metal, rather than fiberglass so it would hold up best.

but GM makes good vehicles, and if they never put in as much effort as they did in there vehicles they be in good standing with the recession

[Canadian]

Change the oil every three months. If you don't the engine will take a dump. Other than that - enjoy.

[Zeb The Troll]

My last Saturn, a 1994 SL1, let me rack up over 200,000 miles on it before it started to fade into uselessness. In its defense, however, it worked just peachy fine until I got a new car and let this one sit in a parking lot, rarely being started let alone moving, for more than a year. Hardly a good way to keep a machine running right. As for the clutch, I'm a big fan of manual transmissions so I've driven quite a few in my day and in my experience the Saturn clutch is one of the most driver friendly I've come across. It's not nearly as finicky as many other cars, the clutch doesn't require a hydraulic assist to depress, and the shifter moves smoothly and noticably from gear to gear. It's a great car for someone to learn the art of stick-shifting in.