saturnd00d

I like this car alot actually. In fact, I've been warming up to Hyundai vehicles for the past little while, but this car really changes my perspective on them. Nice writeup.

I doubt we'll see the '10 Astra under any brand here in NA. GM was dumb with the Astra in the first place. They wanted to save millions by importing it here from Europe, and due to that lack of vision, they ended up losing money on each one sold because of the high cost of importing. At the same time, they weren't able to lower MSRP on them due to the relatively high cost of importing either, so similarly equipped cars in the segment were beating it out on price alone, and incentives to boot. I have a feeling it would have done ten-fold better if they offered powertrain choices and a sedan variant, and if it were built in NA. North Americans (more US than Canada though) do not prefer hatchbacks so a sedan might have drawn in more people. I suspect GM didn't bring over the sedan because it would have jeopardized cobalt sales. Maybe it was GM's attempt at not overlapping product.

ok I'm dumb, I found out that the base XE models have the graphit gray look on the center stack, whereas the XR versions have the silver. Here's a pic of the XE model

Not sure if this was even an issue for the 'balts, but on my ION sedan, the swaybar endlinks would wear out and clunk after 20K kilometres (16Kish miles). I believe there was a new design released towards the end of production on the IONs but I'm not sure, and I don't even know if the balts had that issue. Might want to check on that as an option.

I think the Sebring is atrocious, no matter what color the interior or exterior are in. Ugly design.

.5 in the 1/4 mile is a huge difference though, but the 0-60 is quite close

At least the HHR had character, this thing is a bloated mini-SUV with a purpose. It shouldn't be a replacement for the HHR since it has no connection to the vehicle it replaces. In my eyes, it competes in a different segment but that's just perception. Take it for what it's worth.

Typical old GM...they'll never learn

I am not in the States

So I was at my local dealership getting my oil life monitor recall taken care of, and I decided to check out the showroom, chat up the salespeople and such. Checked out the interior of an '09 Astra 5 door, and although a minor change, they changed the interior plastic from silver to graphite grey. I thought it made the interior look more upscale. Not to say I don't like the silver in the 08's, however the graphite look is more understated and the dash doesn't have that plasticky look to it anymore. In fact, they changed it to the same color as found on the center stack of my vue. Still no Aux jack though, which was disappointing.

The ION was one of the most reliable vehicles I have ever owned, and I've owned all GM vehicles except for one. Yes the build quality was sub-par and the exterior design is questionable, but it was great to me, and in fact, the only reason I got rid of it was because I needed something bigger.

I, for one, have lost all faith in GM. Seriously, I know they can build good cars, but product is only one part of the equation. If a true stand-up company can back them up with strong management, excellent customer service and a desire to best it's competitors than consider me faithful. GM has let me down in that respect. I haven't actually had a problem with the service at my Saturn dealership, but then again, GM has decided to remove Saturn from the equation (a move I know many of you are happy about). When I used to get my dad's truck serviced at our local chevy dealership, they treated us like dirt. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there, I know way too many examples of people who have been mistreated by "GM" dealerships all over our area. No wonder they lose sales to the imports.

I don't understand what so many of you are pissed off about? OK, so the car doesn't have an award-winning interior. I've driven on 07 G6 on many occasions (my buddy's car) and to be honest, it's a great car. I like the Aura better because to me, the Aura has a more upscale look, but between the 3 versions (G6, Aura, Malibu) there is nothing mechanically different other than the suspension stiffness. They drive identically. Like mentioned above, the interior is probably the deal-breaker, but let's be honest, outside of forums like C&G the mass buying public isn't going to put as much emphasis on the quality of the interior plastics as much as we do. As long as it looks nice and has a generally well-thought out interior (which is strictly a matter of opinion) then this car should continue to do well. I actually like the interior. Again, it's not class-leading or award-winning, but it works quite nicely. I wouldn't mind owning a base 4 cyl sedan but for some reason the coupe's trunklid has always struck me as being odd. I would much prefer the altima coupe to the G6 coupe if based on exterior alone. I guess I'm one of the minority here.

Congrats on the new ride Bob. My buddy's dad has an 07 and it's been a great car to him. I love them myself personally.

You know what? I stand corrected...after reviewing an actual side profile of a Vue, this new Saab has a flatter roofline and longer wheelbase than the Antara/Vue does, so this must be on Theta II LWB. The hatch has a more slanted rear window as well. That being said, I still like the design. Clean and simple, although even though I have an appreciation for it inside and out, I'm not sure it would commend a premium image to buyers that have that kind of money. Compare this to competition from Infiniti and Lexus, and I'm not so sure people would pick it over them.

The only people I truly feel sorry for right now are the blue collar workers who have put in their heart and soul into the job they do on the assembly lines, the design centres, the engineers and anyone else who goes to work to make an honest day's pay. On the flipside, the people who act as the puppeteers are the ones whom I wish would take the brunt of their bad decision-making. It sickens me that they choose to let history repeat itself year-after-year and expect to let the low-level workers suffer for it. Karma is a biatch, so they will get theirs in the end I hope.

I agree Cire. The Corvette must live, it's a part of America's culture, all the greedy CEO's aren't.

Wow, look at all the people who say the design is nice, but trash the 08 Vue (although save for the headlights and taillights, front and rear bumpers, looks almost identical to this). The profile, the rocker mouldings, the hood lines, everything is shared with the vue. Anyways, that being said, I like it. I think the frontend looks very Saab, and I quite like the interior layout as well. I have no gripes about the interior quality since I, nor anyone else, has actually sat in one yet.

Wait a minute, is this truth or is this something they are suspecting? If GM stopped building the vette, they might as well scrap the chevy brand altogether. No one will take them seriously anymore.

I like it alot, and would love to see it replace the aveo. I hope it sells well.

The powertrain sounds great, however the headlights are very VOLT-ish and the rear half of the car is quite ugly. Actually the rear profile reminds me of a current-gen jetta

To each their own I guess. Aside from the frontend of the car, I see nothing special about it.

I think the rendering is hot and something that I wouldn't expect from Hyundai (a good thing), but what they ended up with is something of an evolution to the current Tiburon. I still like it, but it's not to the effect that it could have been. With that said, I think Hyundai has made huge strides in terms of their vehicles. If I wasn't so dead-set on an astra down the road as a second car, I would seriously consider a hyundai as my next vehicle. I don't mind Honda but I think their cars are way too overpriced for what you actually get, so I wouldn't consider them a contender for a future car purchase, toyota are bland overpriced appliances that aren't meant for any type of fun and spirited driving, so they are out. The only thing I like out of Nissan is their altima, maxima and rogue, but I already have a CUV in the driveway and I don't want a midsized sedan for anything. Ford isn't too bad these days, as they've upped the quality too. Should GM survive, they have some radically different obstacles to overcome than they did, say, 10 years ago. Not only should they offer some more cars with RWD as alot are passionate about, but in my case, they should offer more V6-equipped cars with manual transmissions, handling packages, etc. Personally, I don't necessarily think that people should be limited to buying upscale brands to get those qualities in a car. Here's to hoping GM corrects a multitude of it's past errors and gets onto the path to recovery within the next few years.

I completely agree with you Oldsmoboi, if no one develops it, it can never be improved upon. Evoluntion can't take it's course.

I don't understand why people read so much into this. If GM has said that Saturn will be funded till 2012, then of course that means provided GM is still around till then. What else could that mean? Seriously, sometimes it sounds as though people just want to come across as whiney. What's next? Going to stomp your feet?