Any pros/cons to Saturn? Hidden fees etc?

Low key, no pressure. Salesman actually gave me general pointers when shopping anywhere for a used car. Don't know about new cars, but used ones usually are the cream of the crop type.

BUT:

Want pretty big downpayment (on used) and high interest rate for bad to moderately bad credit. The price you see is what you pay. However, you can negotiate your trade, but again, they will only take a trade if they can resell it. I was told to sell my car on my own because it had 125000 miles on it and they wouldn't even consider taking it.

Hope others chime in as well. You will probably pay more but some people don't mind since it means a straightforward, no-hassle and very business like transaction.

Just bought our 2nd saturn today in fact.

1st one bought was a 2001 Saturn SL2 and LOVE IT! Awesome car, no problems, great service at Saturn (have the maintenance plan), etc...

Our 2nd one we bought today...2004 Saturn Ion 2 same experience...no pressure...gave us 3 options down and payment coinciding with each. No pressure, nothing and great people to buy from.

1st car is financed thru GMAC at .9% interest.
2nd is being financed thru Chase cause GMAC wouldn't accept a CC as downpayment (go figure) at 1.9%.

Now we are a total Saturn family LOL

The buying experience seems to have been pleasant for you as well. Our problem, of course, is the recent bankruptcy, and the saleman was quoting outrageous interest rates off the top of his head. However, to be honest, since they didn't pull any credit reports (I was just shopping and he did not pressure me in any way to try out or buy a car the way other dealers did) he was just guessing.

Many years ago when she was single, my sister-in-law desperately needed a car soon after her BK discharge. Although she had to go one state over (PA) since the dealers she tried in her state weren't helpful at all, a Saturn dealer was the only one to get her financing and a decent used Saturn. She kept it many years until she decided to get an SUV.

I've heard that Saturns don't need timing belts as they have some kind of chain mechanism instead. Do you know if this is true?

Happy motoring!

When we bought our 2001 saturn sl2 we had a bankruptcy on our reports (discharged 5/92) and we were approved for .9% financing! So, don't let a BK discourage you. Go in, if they don't offer the rate you want, just walk! I went in yesterday, looked at a car that said (179 down, 179/mo at 3.9%) and asked about a lower rate. We did not purchase that particular model (ION 1) but went with the ION 2 because of features so it was more per month. He said if we qualified it could go down of which it did cause we got 1.9%. Best thing when buying a car is to know what you want, and what you don't want. IE: know what you can afford, what rate you want, what car you want, etc...and don't let any salesman talk you down. When we had our BK we learned a very valuable lesson...pay your bills on time and off if you can. We've been practicing that ever since 1992. Therefore the credit we had that wasn't included in the BK was on time, every month and that helped us out alot..as we bought our first home in 96 and then a car in 98 (totyota corolla which we just traded in) at 10%. As our BK got older and our credit got better we were able to get better rates, etc...and have bargaining power now. We got 1500 off our car too by being past saturn customers. You know, they say you have to start at the bottom and work up so if you are truly wanting a car and know you can handle the payments then don't let anyone discourage you. Just work on being perfect on your credit/lender payments and time will fix your CR's...dispute anything not correct and dispute everything included in BK as it should say "included in BK." It seems the lenders if they know what is included and what is not they can see where you stand better. To us "included in BK" was much better then "charged off" etc...

And I asked hubby about the timing belt. It is not true. Saturn's (depending upon year) have either a timing belt OR a timing chain. Ours has a timing chain which lasts longer then a timing belt. I think that is maybe what you heard?

Yes, that's probably what I had heard--perhaps the particular car the salesman was pointing to at the time had the chain. It was very nice but a bit beyond our budget

Our BK was just discharged the end of April. We've done some great cleaning up and are not finished (are we ever??) and scores range from 611 to 687. If dealers look at any previous auto loans, we were carrying two at one time with no problems and paid off both several years ago.

What bothers me is that everyone is telling us we have to have a loan of at least $7500. That's OK but I can do with something that costs $1000 or $2000 less as my driving is quite limited and I just need something to run about in.

BTW, saw two new Saturns in a parking lot and can see why you were attracted to them. Nice cars and all reports so far are very positive.

thanks for your reply and happy motoring.

Isn't saturn part of GM or Ford??

Saturn is a subsiduary of GM motors...A bunch of people from GM put together Saturn and went from there...
Financing can be thru GMAC as our 2001 Saturn is thru them. We couldn't get our new car financed thru GMAC cause they wouldn't take my CC for downpayment. I guess it was against GMAC's policy to use a CC for downpayments so we had to go thru Chase financing instead.

This is the link about them: (PDF file)

http://www.saturn.com/aboutus2/student/pdf...dent_Packet.pdf

That was an interesting link on Saturn's history. Thanks for the URL. I can remember when they started up. It was initially an experment to try and model a car manufacturing plant on the Japanese method of making cars and viewing employees in a different light. In Japan, EVERY employee is considered of equal worth, from the janitor to the CEO. There are no special parking places for the higher-ups. At the start of every shift they all get together and pledge to do their best and "be all they can be", in our parlance.

I remember a few years ago Saturn held a "homecoming" for car owners, stressing the belief that owners and the people who make the cars constitute a "family" of sorts. It's like making a car for your friends and family; you want to do your best for them. Again, very Japanese in concept. This all grew out of concern over the imports grabbing such a huge chunk of the marketplace. Obviously it has worked since we still have Saturn with us today. If it didn't, it would have been quickly scrapped.

Always liked the idea of the panels that bounce back after being hit. Wonder if it really works? I thought "this is not going to endear this company to body repair shops". BTW, way back when Hyundai was a terrible car, I purchased a used Excel with my credit card. The rates on that and a used car loan would have been similar, and it saved a lot of hassle. Plus no credit apps or hard pulls, etc. Car lasted about 2 more years but have to say I probably got what I paid for and it was pretty OK for a while. But a bad breakdown at 77000 miles showed how hit or miss the company was for a while. They did make a huge comeback.