Any Saturn Vue Owners?

Yesterday we looked at the Vue for my wife. Any owners out there willing to share their Vue views. I think we would be more interested in the 3.5 L model (Honda engine and tranny) than the 2.2 Ecotec. I understand depreciation is pretty bad on Saturns, but less so on the Vue. Thanks for any opinions.

Geoff

My daughter had one of the very first VUE's to come off the line back in 2002 (?). Hers was a special edition with all of the bells and whistles... only so many of them made and because she was a previous Saturn owner, she got a very nice "discount" on it. She walked away from two major accidents in it. And I mean walked away as in opened the door, stepped out and walked away... without even so much as a scratch... literally.

They hold their value VERY well! Her first accident was over $10K of damage. One would think that would mean "totaled"... it wasn't. And Saturn doesn't believe in just fixing... they completely replace all parts that are damaged in accidents. Her second accident did end up being a total loss. But even at 2 years old and with some 40K miles on it, she still got over $8K to put toward a new Altima. We'd have gotten her a new Saturn but this was her 4th accident in a Saturn in 3 years... we figured it was time to change "brand". Not because the Saturn is not a good vehicle... saved my baby's life several times! But because we just figured that with her record, a heavier vehicle would be better.

So perhaps that's the only fault I can think of... it's a very light vehicle. And in the hands of a young'un in the big city.... well... :shakehead

Oh... one other thing.. the gas mileage is great in a VUE. It was perfect for a starving college student....

wow sasha i thought ya ran away havent seen ya in months just saying hello.i dont have a vue.but i like saturns

Hybrid version of the View will be out any second now. Rumor has it that they were filming the commercial for it just a couple of weeks ago and a certain persons mother got to watch it as they filmed it going up and down her road So I have some inside information

What it will add to the cost I dont know, but it's what I"m holding out for. I've gotten 11 years now out of my last saturn sedan, and it's almost time to upgrade...

raggie33 said:

wow sasha i thought ya ran away havent seen ya in months just saying hello.i dont have a vue.but i like saturns

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Hey rags... :wave:

I've had alot of personal things that I've been trying to sort out over the past 6 months and unfortunately, I have needed to make them my top priorities. But you all have been (and still are) in very good hands with the other administrators and moderators... :twothumbs:

Welcome back sasha!

Well, I have mixed feelings on the Vue. I'm a car junkie and I go and drive different cars all the time just to keep on top of what's out there. When the Vue first came out, I wasn't crazy about how it looked but when I finally saw a nice one with no ugly gray plastic on the bottom, I was quite impressed. Plus the fact that the Honda engine is available.

On the issue of resale value, I think newer vehicles tend to have better resale values than older ones, even of the same eventual resale value... if that makes any sense. I think on an AWD V6, you will lose about $9,000 to $10,000 in a couple years or 30,000 miles which is pretty bad in my opinion but certainly not as bad the really bad choices like the Taurus and the lower Hyundai and Kia products but I have no doubt that the Honda CRV will hold it's value a bit better.

Speaking of the CRV, it is probably the biggest and most direct competitor to the Vue. They are very similar size-size with some dimensions being bigger on one and some on the other. The biggest differences are probably the rear leg room and front hip room where the CRV is definately bigger on both counts. Also, the CRV has more cargo room whether the seats are folded up or down and in driving, the CRV feels quite a bit more nimble to me.

It sounds pretty one sided in favor of the CRV but in all honesty, if it was up to me, I would still VERY strongly consider the Vue. That V6 has almost 100 hore horsepower than the decent honda 4 and if you go easy on it, it still gets almost the same mileage. And it is rated to tow more than twice as much as the Honda. For an enthusiastic driver, the Vue with the V6 feels pretty darned nice in a straight line for an economical SUV.

I think overall, if I were going to buy a new one, I'd still be pretty tempted by the CRV but if looking at a used one, I'd try to find a single owner Vue that had good records. If recommending one to someone else, I'd probably suggest they drive both and look at the economics of both and go with whichever felt better but I'd absolutely suggest they spend at least a half hour in each of them and try to keep an open mind.

wow sasha hope things have worked out for ya.things will get better it just takes time

Geoff

Go to saturnfans.com and you'll see loads of pros and cons devoted to the Vue.

BTW, I think that the Vue is going to be completely new in the next model year or two.

A friend has a VUE, the 3.5 Honda motored one. Loves it.


BUT, also take a look at the new RAV4. Much, much different than the last one. More grown up, 3.5 269 horse Avalon motor (0-60 in only 6.3 seconds, and quarter in 14.9 = fast cute ute). Not even half a second behind the 5.7 340 horse v8 Dodge Magnum 4WD station wagon to 60. Beats the other small utes by about 2 seconds flat, and also significantly outguns the VUE.

Very much more mature looking on the outside, too.

Car and Driver raved over it. If I was going to buy a 'ute right now in that category, it would be the RAV4.

But the RAV4 is so much smaller than the Vue or CRV. Unless it's all new or something. I drove a RAV4 at the same time as the Scion xB and was kinda shocked by how small the back seat was.

Having said that, general Toyota goodness with some serious grunt could be kind of fun... but I couldn't deal with it if it they are still the same size as the one I drove earlier this year.

I like the Vue except for one thing.

There is absolutely no other vehicle on the road that ticks me off more. Why? The headlights are obnoxious to on coming traffic no matter how they are aimed. Saturns are bad for this to begin with, but the Vue is the worst. This has become my #1 highway pet peeve ever since they hit the road. I'd like to have a wordor two with the design engineer.

Never mind... I was just looking at edmunds.com and the 2006 RAV4 is larger. The backseat is still a bit smaller than the CRV though and most women probably won't feel the CRV or the V6 Vue is underpowered.

My pops (father) has a new Saturn Vue in Manual. It is a very comfortable ride, and it supposedly drives nicely.

-tom

cratz2 said:

Never mind... I was just looking at edmunds.com and the 2006 RAV4 is larger. The backseat is still a bit smaller than the CRV though and most women probably won't feel the CRV or the V6 Vue is underpowered.

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Keep one other thing in mind, though: Car & Driver not only said that this was a much improved version of the RAV4, they also said that it was a superb vehicle in general, very much a 'what if you could only have one car' kind of vehicle.

Their quote: "This is such a handsome, useful, and startlingly competent driver that it's hard to imagine a do-it-all vehicle that does more with such aplomb."

That said, I don't think you could go wrong with either of them. One thing though, and that's if I went for the VUE I might be tempted to go for the Redline version. I think they actually look quite nice, and the 3.5 Honda motor has nice scoot, too.

Thanks for all the good advice and opinions. I've been trying to get the wife to look at the CRV. She drove one many years ago (probably one of the first ones) and disliked it so much I haven't even convinced her to try sitting in the new model. And, it's really just the seat she cares about. If I could put some Jetta seats in a Hyundai or a Kia she'd think that was just fine. Performance, for her, is not a factor. The Jetta was seriously considered, but past VW experience and their unwillingness to budge much on price killed that possibility. And, we're both concerned about having at least one vehicle with some hauling space since we'll be trading in my old Mazda van. Unfortunately our local Toyota dealers are some distance, while Honda and Saturn are around the corner. Maybe we can delay the buy until the new Hyundai dealership in built that's going up next to Honda. A Santa Fe or Tucson might also be a good choice.

Geoff

Oh... the current CRVs are SOOOOOO much nicer than the original ones. I drive literally the first CRV I ever saw in person and while it was nice for the time (and was surprised by the fact that it was larger in pretty much every internal dimension than the larger looking Passport), I wouldn't really consider buying a pre-2002 CRV while the current CRV would be on my short list if I needed to buy something in this class.

Again, obviously it doesn't make a bit of difference to me, but I would very strongly suggest that she drive the Vue and a comparable CRV and RAV4 before making a purchase. You can even turn it around on her and suggest that you guys drive the Honda and Toyota just to prove you wrong.

Still, the Vue wins in the looks department and with the Honda drivetrain, I doubt you'll go wrong.

I have a friend that just "loves" her Saturn Vue. (4cyl even) I researched them and also perked at the option for a 6cyl Honda engine. Then the gas prices soared, and I started thinking about Honda as a complete solution.

element1
element2

Inexpensive, utilitarian, and funky! A lot of safety features, including side airbags. 4cyl but it's not too much of a drag. My wife even likes it now and she's a sporty Toyota fan.

That's a nice looking Element! Almost all of them that I see have the fugly textured grey plastic stuff over the wheels and along the bottom. That alone would be an absolute deal breaker for me. I remember I saw a limited edition one a while back that was dark gray with darker gray ghost flames that looked VERY nice.

My oldest daughter LOVES the Element along with the PT Cruiser, the New Beetle and the H2.

To the original poster, the Element is quite a bit nicer than some might think before getting in one. Might have your wife at least sit in one while you're at the Honda dealer checking out the CRV.

I just wanted to add that I just drove the RAV4 a couple days back. It is nearly the same size as the Highlander and I believe it has better legroom than the Highlander. The back seats are not too plush though.
The RAV4 is going to be very popular I think with its 269hp v-6 that still gets like 28 on the highway and lots of standard goodies. Not good for the rear view though. I think it is or will be about the price of a Camry.

The VUE is a nice looking SUV but it might have some reliabilty problems that I read about in the past. Althogh doesn't it use a Honda motor? And the CRV is very nice too. The only weird thing is the shifter and e-brake positioning. But it has a better rear view with the bigger window in the back. and the price is like an Accord I believe.

Bad thing about the CRV and the RAV4 is they have a rear door that opens like a side door. it would be much better on both if they had a hatch instead but that probably wouldn't work that well with the spare mounted on the door.
I don't remember if the VUE has the hatch as that would be more usefull in my opinion.

Good luck on whatever you choose and this is a good time of year to buy, except for the RAV4 which is a new release and probably sold only at MSRP.
The Saturn and Honda should have all their bugs worked out.