GMTruckGuy74

I agree with HE

Well caddycruiser, thanks for offering but you'd be way too north! My salesman found an AURA XE in Maryland and they sent for it today. I haven't heard from him since this afternoon, so I'm not sure if it actually arrived or not (I'm sure it did, but they are probably closed by now). The car is Midnight Blue with Tan cloth, Convenience, Preferred & Enhanced Convenience Packages, and instead of the standard 17" silver painted five-spoked wheelcovers, it has the upgraded 17" Chromed five-spoked wheelcovers. :twocents: [bLING-BLING] :twocents: Anyone on here from Maryland, and know of Saturn of Marlow Heights? I'm curious as to what kind of dealership they are (for example, do they put on dealer add-ons <pinstripes, door edge guards, VIN etching, etc>?).

Ocnblu, you're absolutely correct with your advise and that stupid police report still wasn't ready yesterday... I guess "5 days" means five business days. However, the lady from the records dept said to call back today to see if it is ready. I want to see how the officer wrote the accident report (description) -- he stated to me that she admitted she hit me and that's how he was going to write it. But I forgot to ask him if she was going to be issued a ticket, and I know it will be on the report eitehr way. What ticks me off about Allstate is that when I filed the claim against her on Monday, they said that a representative will be in contact within 1 day. I asked if that really is more like 2-4 days and she said "no, they'll call you within 24 hours". That was Monday at 4:05 PM - I still didn't have a call by 3:30 PM on Thursday! And then I get the run-around and the adjuster doesn't even call me back at all! I also understand what you're saying about going through my insurance company. But that means I'll have to put out my $500 collision deductible and God only knows when that would ever be paid back (holidays are quickly approaching, wife said no - let her insurance company pay since she damaged the car). So we'll see how fruitful the call to Allstate is later today.

How can a car that looks so nice on this side: ... ... ... ... ... ... look so bad on this side: I haven't heard from the girl's insurance company (Allstate), so I called them yesterday afternoon and get a bit of the run-around. Finally track down her adjuster and guess what - her voicemail message says she's on vacation starting November 17 and returns December 6!!! WTF? No courtesy call before she leaves? Called the 800 # and was told someone would call me back in 15 minutes.... no call! So tomorrow I will call them back and raise some hell. My insurance company is coming out to do their own appraisal, and I need to get the body shop that my dealer recommended (they don't have their own shop onsite) to give me an estimate so I can proceed with Allstate to pay up. I'm tired of looking at it sitting in my garage damaged. I was told by the service consultant that another SKY from their other dealership has been in a bad accident - guy was searching for a # in his cell, not paying attention to the road, went off the road, rolled down a hill hitting everything in his way. She said it sounds as if his car might be totalled. Idiot! At least my accident wasn't my fault!

Thanks for responding caddycruiser... as of Wednesday night, that was where my salesman located the Midnight Blue with Tan cloth XE. However, a call to him this afternoon to see if they were willing to trade didn't seem too reassuring. Jim mentioned that he located another XE, this one without the 17" aluminum rims and XM (ok without the XM, wanted the aluminum rims), but still blue with tan and had the Enhanced Convenience Package in addition to the Convenience & Preferred Packages. He never said Saturn of Limerick wouldn't give theirs, but he didn't say they would either. So he said he'll call me tomorrow definitely with an answer on where the car is coming from. I e-mailed him a little while ago - just for sh*t and giggles - asking him to give me a lease price on their blue XR with black cloth (I really want the XR, the wife doesn't like the all-black interior ) So we'll see what happens in the next 24 hours The favor I'm asking is if you have some time in the morning, can you drive to Saturn of Limerick and see if they have the Blue with Tan cloth XE on their lot? I know Jim wants to do this deal ASAP, so if they say yes to the trade, he's going to get it tomorrow so he can deliver the car on Saturday. I was just curious to see if Saturn of Limerick added any "junk" to it (pinstripes, door edge guards, any Saturn accessories, etc - I don't want any of that crap!). If not, don't worry about it (since I don't know where the car is coming from yet).

I'm very sorry to learn about your friend's sudden death. Be there for his parents as much as you can, I'm sure they appreciate having you around in this time of need. You all will be in my prayers tonight.

Thanks for that post CadillacKing3. I will be getting the XE anyday now, once my salesman finds one equipped and in the colors I've requested. It's reassuring to read your experience in the XE. I can't wait to get mine!!! Anyone else experience an AURA lately???

Put a big dent in both the door and quarter panel on the driver's side and it will look like mine It's interesting, to say the least.

Well, it looks like an AURA will be parked in my driveway soon. Went to the dealership tonight and had my Malibu appraised and a lease deal worked out on an AURA that will have to be dealer-traded for. It will be for an XE model, as the wife was very insistent on getting the tan cloth interior and saving some money in the long run instead of spending money for a top-of-the-line XR model. I just hope those Hankook tires are worth it, as the Bridgestone's on my Malibu suck BIG time. It's Midnight Blue with Tan cloth interior, with the Convenience and Preferred Packages, XM radio and 17" Aluminum Wheels. Keep your fingers crossed for me that the trade works out - I might get this car as soon as Saturday. By the way, anyone live in or near Limerick, Pennsylvania???? Wanna do me a really BIG favor?

New questions: 1. Does the XR's 3.6 liter V6 require premium fuel, or can it run on regular? 2. Who makes Hanook tires, the ones that come standard on the XE models? Anyone with ownership experience with this brand of tires???

I was thinking "SS" too...

It seems as if I have a lot of the same stuff as everyone else here already posted about. I have magazines dating back to the '90s for Pontiac Enthusiast and High Performance Pontiac, old pickup truck magazines, C&D/MT/R&T etc. and some specialty magazines (like a three-issue set on classic trucks from 1992). I have tons of diecast cars in all scales, but namely 1:87/1:64 (MB/HW size), 1:24, 1:32, and 1:18. I also have some promo models that I began collecting around 1989 into the mid-'90s. There is my HESS truck collection, dating back to the 1989 issue. I had a really large brochure collection from 1989 through 2001, until my parents moved and most of it had to go out for recycling (no storage space). I still have quite a few brochures from that time period (mostly Pontiac & GMC), and of course what I added to it over the years from 2002 and up. I have some emblems (mostly GMC) and press (media) kits and some interesting pieces bought from eBay (a Terradyne belt buckle). And then there's the small collection of Tonka trucks I've been picking up and putting aside for my little guy (15-mos old now) when he gets a little older. Although we moved to a much bigger place in 2004, my basement is horrible and so cluttered. I didn't mention above that I also collected Star Wars toys, so I have a bunch of that stuff taking up space too. My sister has been doing really well selling her stuff on eBay, and I've been meaning to thin out my collection for a while now. So during the holidays I'm going to explore eBay and then start selling my stuff there. Be careful HarleyEarl, because once you start it's hard to go cold turkey!!!

Thanks everyone. I'm still so pissed that she hit my baby. I hardly ever drive her and the one day that it's beautiful out and I get her on the road and BAM. Oh well, I guess that's what insurance is for. Mustang84, I'd say we were travellinga bout 35-40 MPH when she turned right into me. I contacted the dealership and they have two body shops they deal with. One has done minor repair jobs on atleast one SKY, while the other had rebuilt a very damaged SKY. So it's likely I'm going to choose that shop since they already have more knowledge about the car. For those that can't enlarge the attached pics, here they are for you: Hopefully the rain stops this afternoon so I can pull it out of the garage and take more pictures of it and check out where this rattling noise is coming from on the passenger side (which was NOT hit).

Has anyone driven an AURA XE model that can comment here? I'd like ot know what your impressions are of this model vs. the XR. Thanks!

There was a screw in the curved part of the tire that two tire places said a plug wouldn't hold in. I think the screw was placed there by someone <vandalism>, but don't know how long it was there and had no evidence to prove it to my insurance company. So I had to shell out the money to buy a new tire since the original tire was completely flat and non-repairable.

That is the exact interior my wife wants - she prefers leather, but is okay with the cloth.AURA XR, the steering wheel pictured still has the older style buttons. When I get back to the dealership this week, I'll try to get a picture of the new style buttons for you and post it here.

Wasn't the auction held over the weekend? Anyone know how much the '58 GMC sold for???

Saturn owners can get a $750 customer cash incentive until December 18. I don't what any of the other GM divisions are doing.

Well, the steering wheel audio & DIC buttons have been chenged (at least on the AURA XR we drove Saturday). The buttons are now more pronounced, rather than flush-mounted on the wheel. They stick out more and there's lettering on some of them (list "list" instead of a small pic of a list). So there's one running change made already!

The wife and I stopped by the dealership Saturday afternoon to test-drive the Midnight Blue AURA XR. She liked it a lot, and her only disappointments were with the interior color (the XR's all-black vs. the XE's tan) and the silver painted trim vs. the wood trim surrounding the dash. We both agree the Morroco Brown leather isn't cutting it for us, so if we end up with the XR (which is what I want), then she'll just have to deal with the all-black. My disappointment came in the fact that on the XR the steering wheel and shifter are not leather-covered unless you order the leather interior (this XR is cloth and without the sunroof option). This is pretty crappy, especially for the other luxury touches Saturn/GM has put into this model (I could see it not being a feature of the XE model, but this should be standard on the XR regardless of cloth or leather seats). So at some point this week I'd like to go and get my trade appraised and then get a lease price on this XR. If it's in the range I want to be in, maybe I'll see if they have one with leather interior at either of their other two facilities to compare the price (and if it has the wood interior, it will make my wife happy ). More to come later this week...

Yes my friends, I'm sad to write that my beloved Saturn SKY was the unfortunate punching bag of a silver 2000 Monte Carlo this past Saturday afternoon. Long story short, I was in the right lane, the MC (out-of-state driver -- Ohio) was in the middle lane, she thought she was passing her hotel and decided to just turn right into me. I tried to swerve so she'd miss me, but instead of breaking she hit the gas and plowed into my driver's door, the driver's rear fender, small portion of the left rear bumper and damaged the chrome rim (and tire damage b/c the plastic inner fender is now scraping the tire). Very pissed, but was surprised b/c the wife jumped out of the car ready to kill the girl who hit me!!! And I thought she didn't love the SKY! OnStar brought the police to the scene very quickly, and at first she had no proof of insurance on her (a call to dad in Ohio produced a policy number for Allstate). Wanna know something ironic? This accident ocurred on the opposite side of the street in front of my Saturn dealership!!! Attached are some preliminary pictures taken in my garage yesterday morning (it was a rainy day, so no outside sunny pics yet). Ocnblu: I would like to know from you how bad this damage appears; I'm really concerned with the damage around the rear fender/gas filler door area. Any advice you can share now will help me deal later (if necessary).

By the way Bizz, I've been showing the pics of your car to people I know when I tell them that I'm hopefully getting one of my own soon! Everyone says what a great looking car the AURA is (remember, their saying that about your car! )

Thanks for thinking of me! I didn't realize, until after logging off last night, that the SKYs leave the factory with Goodyear RSAs. On the positive side, my SKY really doesn't get used in the rain (has been in two heavy storms and one light rain since April) and will definitely not see any snow or salty roads afterwards. Dry pavement use has been great so far (I had to replace one already - $338)

I use to read the manual from cover-to-cover, but just don't have the time anymore (I know, it's sad). Basically if I don't know how to use a feature, then I'll refer to the manual. But thanks for posting this, as I have the same steering wheel in the SKY with the same audio controls. I'll have to get out my manual and see if it does the same thing in the SKY too.

Yeah, the convention was great and the fun my friend & I had after all the workshops was even better (thank god the wives stayed home!!!). The convention is big news in A/C and everybody everywhere in A/C talks about it. Just say that you're a teacher and the questions and comments will follow! We stayed at the Sands - tonight is their final night. Not too busy there last night; we gambled to 3:30 AM and yes, you could win (don;t know about the slots, my friend advised against them).Saturn & Staples partner together every year and pass out goodie bags to teachers and of course Saturn has a display set up. This year there was a green VUE Hybrid, Ocean Mist AURA XE, and a white-diamond preproduction OUTLOOK. Because I'm a Saturn owner, I got a little red (Saturn Owner) ribbon to add to my NJEA badge and an AURA t-shirt (white t-shirt that has a black Saturn logo with the word AURA printed under it). I told them I owned a SKY and it was the talk of the town, although I had to show the pic on my cell phone to one girl to prove it! IMHO, the Ocean Mist looks good on vehicles when they're indoors, but I'm not a big fan of this color out in the sun. I wish I could go to the dealership tomorrow and work out a deal on the Midnight Blue XR they have, but there is a wedding I must attend. The reception place isn't too far from the dealership, so if there's apply time before the reception we might stop by so the wife can test drive it. And I love the way the blue looks - dirty or not, I don't care - I want this car in blue!!! Keep your fingers crossed for me.