fightingbee

It was a cool idea, but you could already hear the GM haters talking about how all they can make are trucks.

Actually no. The Ecotec in the astra is not a "Family II" based engine like the 2.0/2.2/2.4 we mostly see here. It is a closer cousin to the Daewoo engines used in the Forenza, Reno, and Aveo IIRC. As a result, the 2H0 has a cast iron block, belt driven cams, and solid lifters.

It did work for many years though. Perceived or tangable, the general public thought that Saturn was of greater quality early on. The imports a have better perception w/ many for the same reason, whether they are of better quality or not. Saturn spent their cred they had early on by failing to update the product soon enough and launching new models (L, VUE)that were often more troublesome than the "outdated" S. By the time they turned that around it was too late to go upscale with many buyers, the damage was done. Those who hung on for made in USA/Spring Hill and polymer panels no longer automatically buy another Saturn either as those traits are (mostly) gone as well. I agree about Saturn and Olds. I would have thought it strange at the time to merge the two since they pretended that Saturn was "separate" from GM for years, but in hindsight they really could have been made a pefect pair. GM obviously thought so in the 90's IMO as they did experiment with some saturn sales tactics (one price sales and a moneyback guarantee) @ Olds too in the 90's but the dealers hated the concepts IIRC. Of course the styling was almost the same also and where Saturn was strong where Olds was weak (small cars) and vice versa.

Which only compounded the "cheap car" image. When problems started to appear with the L early on (electrical probs., leaky 3.0's within 1yr. of launch) buyers kept away. The L was not the most groundbreaking design around but like the S would have sold much better IMO on reputation (just like the imports do) if the bugs were worked out. Then the VTi came out, which GM knew quite well it was weak before launch IMHO. VTi's to those in the know anymore have about the resale value GM cars with the 5.7 Diesel did in the 80's. Saturn lost a lot of goodwill with many from these slip-ups, only reinforcing the "Saturns are crappy/cheap" image.

Especally since 10 yrs. ago pre-Daimler Chrysler was the darling of the big 3 to most. Of course they did have more flamboyant styling and marketing then too.

Beautiful Car. The 2LT's Ultrasuede seats FTW!

The ads were probably not the best idea right now, but I don't hear much complaint about the Rose Bowl being sponsored by twice "bailed out" Citi either. I'm sure that gig cost a just a bit more $$$ to get.

I'm suprised that the links were there before. Usually when they snap they stay attached at one end and bang against the suspension.

Hopefully it is just the LIM gaskets. As I'm sure you know don't run it much more w/ that **** in there. The sway bar links are no big deal. They rusted apart at one point (as they often do eventually where salt is used) and someone must have just broke them off the rest of the way so wouldn't pop/bang when hitting bumps. New ones can be had for ~$10-$15 apiece aftermarket and are just basically a big bolt and nut, a spacer, some washers, and bushings (ala pic below). All you really have to do to install them is to pull the wheel off and use a jack to raise the control arm up a little so the ctrl. arm and stab. bar can be reconnected via the bolt/bushings.

I'm pretty sure that's a Vacuum Pump.

I've never had any of those Generals, but they do *look* like a very nice tire, IMO at least a lot better than the Contis even though they are from the same Mfr. BTW: The Fuzion were/are made in: USA/Japan/Indonesia/Costa Rica just depending on the size. They seemed to be of equal quality either way though.

When I was a Saturn parts guy we sold tons of Fuzion HRi's as a cheaper alternative to the OE Firestones and most people were quite happy w/ them. They were usually about $50-$60 ea IIRC. A Tigerpaw touring or Kumho Solus might come close in price as well, but might be more like $65-$70 ea. P.S. - If Firestone wants like $100 for the Fuzion, check w/ a GM store mabye. They can usually order them from their tire supplier even though GM does not include the Fuzion brand in their tire program.

It sure seems like it, esp. in the midwest. As mustang84 and gm4life have mentioned, I loved the fact you could usually find a GM dealer in about any halfway decent size town in IA when I lived there.

My Achieva even has the Quad 4 and still runs great, but it is a low mileage example (74K) and I proactively replaced a bunch of stuff upon puchasing it.

IMHO, the FWD X-cars were much better than their rap as well. My folks '81 Skylark and a neighbors '80-'81-ish Citation were both reliable transport for probably ~10 yrs. and both still ran strong (good old Pontiac 2.5's) and looked pretty decent when traded off.

+1 The 'S' was a great car, arguably the best Saturn even counting the new ones. I'd probably still have one of some sort if I had more room in one. My 2nd car Achieva, really a Corsica/Beretta rehash mechanically has also been a real good vehicle in its past year w/ me. Back in IA it also seemed like you would never see a Beretta/Corsica with rust on them until mabye just the past couple of years, somthing that could not be said about many other '87-'96 vintage everyday drivers.

Ahem, Yeah I'd say that is a bit much, and I was a born-and-raised in the "North" FWIW.

Yes, Dick Shelby from AL, the state where you can see dirt poor people having to pay 8% sales tax on their groceries while at the same time the state government gives any foreign corporation any kind of tax incentive/giveaways they can. It has brought some jobs to AL, but not anything that pays all that great.

Of course there is not much slide left to go down. My stash of AC oil filters in the garage are already worth more apiece than my shares are.

Your cars are very well kept. And what Night and day difference in the Grand Marquis pics.

Saw my first turbocharged Cobalt SS yesterday, a bright Yellow one. Very Nice.

Whichever one looks like it has been maintained the best IMO. Lack of keeping an eye on the oil level and not changing often is the quickest way to kill an S-series. A lot of used S-series often look neglected inside and/or underhood, so if one is really much cleaner all around go w/ it. Otherwise, The '95 has the coolest styling IMO (and 25K fewer miles of course ), but the '98 will have less road noise, just a tad softer ride, and just a bit more solid feeling body-wise. I don't think an S-series would be a bad buy for the money we're talking, they are not always bulletproof but do quite well when cared for decently and are very easy to work on as a do-it-yourselfer.

Harbot Freight Wheel Dollies Like these kind of things? There are some cheaper ones i've seen without the hydraulic lifts on them.

+1 GM is always ragged on for not offering sophisticated, import-like cars. Yet they offer the GTO which was the closest Pontiac has come to the target of BMW-like performance (before the G8 of course) and it is criticized by the "since its a GTO, it should be an old school muscle car" folks. BTW: the 2004's with the "boring" clean styling were my favorite. looked more Euro looking that way IMO.