Ian, bought my wife a new(er) American truck yesterday

[FloridaOrange]

Got rid of the Trailblazer (which I hated) and bought her a Saturn Outlook. It's a shame that GM is killing Saturn and Pontiac instead of streamlining their lineups to eliminate cross competition within GM.

The Saturn is very, very nice.

[Peter Griffin]

I don't understand the Saturn thing. They are great little cars. tough, reliable, the bodies last forever and you get 300K on the engine, no problem.

I hear that Saab may just disappear altogether if they don't get a buyer real soon.

But, the stock market is up for the year and the economy has turned the corner........ Yea. right.

[Scuba_Dave]

I've heard they are giving some really good deals on car brands that are being shut down

I don't understand the Saturn thing. They are great little cars. tough, reliable, the bodies last forever and you get 300K on the engine, no problem

That IS the problem.....they lasted too long

[FloridaOrange]

I was looking for a new Aura XR, they only had the XE's left. XE is 3.5 V6 with a 4 spd auto, the XR is the 3.5 with a 6 spd auto. Between the two local dealers they only had 3 new cars left.

I got the Outlook for a ~25K, an 4 year extended bumper to bumper and a lifetime drivetrain warranty. The only clauses with the lifetime is record keeping on the oil changes (has to be an ASE rated place) and it's non-transferable. I think I'll keep this one when the wife is done with it.





This is the interior, except we've got leather:



It's hands down a better vehicle than the Trailblazer. Nice leather, lots of compartments, 3 row seating, all kinds of electronics (Bluetooth). It hauls ass when needed and rides way better. The Trailblazer was out of warranty and there were a couple of things that started to worry me; occasional engine smell, the trans didn't feel quite like it should and the last time I had it in 4wd, after I made a U-turn it seemed like the transaxle was out of whack. I never cared for the interior either. My wife liked the truck but we didn't want to spend much money on it.

I went into the dealer while I was looking and told them what my payments were, what my credit rating is and told them I wasn't going to put a dime down on it. The financing was through my credit union and the rate was pretty good. Took a 6 year (I prefer 4 year loans) loan to get the monthly down to where we wanted it but I plan on keeping this one so we weren't too concerned.

Makes me jealous when I have to hop back into my 96 F150 though, but it's priceless to have zero concerns when my wife and daughter are in "their" car.

[Scuba_Dave]

Nice vehicle
I have a 2005 F-150 with just over 17k miles
I have a feeling I'm going to have it a loooong time
We had thought about buying a 3rd "family" car
But that went out the window with the economy today

Maybe once the truck gets older.........

Wife had a Nissan Murano which was nice
But with commute to work she traded it in on a Vibe

[FloridaOrange]

I'd love to have an '05 F150 Dave. My wife's commute is about 15 miles each way. My Mustang went out the window with today's economy but we are budgeted to have one car payment.

If things ever pick back up again I'll save to buy a used Mustang with cash.

[Ian Gills]

That Saturn is just too big. It hardly fits in the photos.

Saturn and Acura are funny brands. They are only sold in the US. You don't see these cars in any other countries, like you do say Ford or Toyota.

You should have bought a diesel. Diesels are gonna hit America like a storm in the next year or two.

You're gonna love 'em.

But I am jealous of those new wheels.

[Redwood]

But, the stock market is up for the year and the economy has turned the corner........ Yea. right.

Oh good that means they'll be able to get back to building big v-8 and v-10 land barges soon.

[Nate R]

That Saturn is just too big. It hardly fits in the photos.

Saturn and Acura are funny brands. They are only sold in the US. You don't see these cars in any other countries, like you do say Ford or Toyota.

You should have bought a diesel. Diesels are gonna hit America like a storm in the next year or two.

You're gonna love 'em.

But I am jealous of those new wheels.

Ian's right. I bet a LOT of us will be driving diesels before long.
Long term, it might be a real smart move as global oil demand increases again. You can make diesel from coal. The US has LOTS of coal.