Saturn vs Honda?

[juliana_sd]

I love my Accord (2006). I consistently get 25+ mpg. The benefit with the Vue though is the cargo room. So... I second the idea of looking at CRV's.

BTW when I bought my car I was looking for used ones (under 50k miles) - they were only about $2-3k less than the brand new!

 

[JeremyGNJ]

I know at least 3 people who have told me the same thing about Saturn:

They are great...and then you hit 100,000 miles.


I had a '99 Civic that was excellent up until last year and had 150,000 miles. It got 30 mpg, and up to 34 when all highway (was a manual). Last summer I bought an 07 CR-V and I love it....way nicer features than the other compact SUV's that were comparable AND I still get 24 miles per gallon!!!! (can be more if you get 2-wheel drive)

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

I will third or fourth the recommendation to investigate the Honda CRV. Solid vehicle with great front and side crash ratings (5 of 5) and excellent fuel economy. My 2wd averages 25.5 on my commute, 23 or so about town, and 31 highway if I use cruise control.

Check your local dealers to determine where their supply of CRVs are made, there is a US plant making some of them now, but some are still being made in Japan, as was mine, from 100% Japanese parts. I would love to buy american if I were able to match Honda quality, but I am not going to give up reliability to subsidize the manufacture of inferior vehicles.

 

[DOOM1001]

There's a reason why used Honda's keep more of their value when they're resold.I understand buying American but every American car my family has had felt like an old clunker by the time it hit 100,000-120,000 miles.I had a Honda Civic that started feeling like an old clunker at 200,000 miles and currently have a VW Jetta,8.5 years old with over 270,000 miles,all mine, changed the oil every 5,000 miles and except for a few things here and there it's had minimal issues, in my opinion best car ever.It still drove like a new car at 180,000 miles and still runs halfway decent but I know it's time has come.I'm still uncertain as what I'll get next,i like the new Saturns but as you can see I put a lot of miles on the cars and want it to last a long time.

 

[DisnyMama]

I have a 2003 Saturn Vue which I love. Bought it new when we lived in So. CA. Made a round trip from L.A. to McKinney, TX. and a one way trip from L.A. back to TX. the summer of 06 then drove roundtrip to WDW from TX in the Summer of 07. Other than regular maintenance I have only replaced a complete set of tires.

 

[ljhmom]

This is a no brainer! Well, for me anyway... I worked in an auto shop for 8 years as a service writer. Saturn is JUNK!!!!!! Let me say that again, Saturn is JUNK. Don't care about the bells, don't care about the price.... you will pay a ton in repairs.

:

Well I guess my husband is driving junk, he is still driving the Saturn my parents bought me 13 years ago while I was in college. It now has 170,000 miles on it and other than regular maintenance we have spent less than $500 on repairs on the car. We just traded in our Suburban for a Saturn Outlook and I love it.

 

[bnorm27]

Now, I wouldn't go calling Saturn's "junk". Everyone that I know who owned or still owns one, thinks they are wonderful cars. One of my best friends drove his Saturn well past 200k miles. Only trouble he ever had was with the seat adjuster.

The new VUE looks very nice, and in my opinion, really resembles the new CRV. If I were looking for that type of vehicle today, I would check out the VUE, the CRV, the Toyota Rav 4, Hyundai Tuscon, and Kia Sportage. I don't think you will ever go wrong buying a Honda or a Toyota. I think Hyundai and Kia are putting out great cars, and their small SUV line is really doing well. Plus that 100k warranty is something that cannot be ignored.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[DawnM]

HONDA, hands down.

We have 2 Saturns and BOTH are out of commission right now.

Our station wagon is dead.
Our VUE had the entire electrical panel go out last week. It will cost a bundle to fix.

We also have had a Honda Civic in the past. Drove it to 182,000 miles without very many issues at all.

We have a Toyota Sequoia right now that has never had a problem.

Dawn

 

[DawnM]

We have a 2002 that I would have said the same thing about until last week when the ENTIRE electrical panel went out. After some internet searches, we are finding this is not uncommon. GRRR!!!!

Dawn

I have a 2003 Saturn Vue which I love. Bought it new when we lived in So. CA. Made a round trip from L.A. to McKinney, TX. and a one way trip from L.A. back to TX. the summer of 06 then drove roundtrip to WDW from TX in the Summer of 07. Other than regular maintenance I have only replaced a complete set of tires.

 

[snowbunny]

If you REALLY want a reliable car, I would check out the Honda CRV. It is a small SUV, about the same size as the VUE without the price.

Our 1999 CRV is going strong, never a day in the shop except for basic maintenance (oil, tires, etc.). I *never* worry whether it will start or whether I will have problems with it on a long drive (or a short drive for that matter).

My BIL's Christmas this past year was ruined by constant problems with his GM vehicle that made him unable to get his three kids to their grandmother's house.

 

[princessmorgan]

I had a Saturn in college that ran until 100,000 miles (not a Vue) and then we moved cross country so we sold it. My husband is on his second Accord. His first in high school ran well over 200,000 miles. Last month his 1992 Accord went over 200,000 miles.

We bought a 2005 CRV at the end of 2004 when we had one child. We had a second child in January 2007 and will be having another in September of this year. The CRV was good for the two kids for awhile and we loved it, but it started to feel a little small. Now we did not expect to get pregnant with number 3 so fast, but if we had to do it over again....we would have just kept a car with two kids to save on costs. No, it is not as convenient, but if we knew we were just going to have two children we probably would have saved for a bigger SUV. Now we just traded in our CRV for a Toyota Sienna, because we need more space. We got a decent amount ($16,000), but we were expecting to keep the CRV a lot longer. We didn't think we would buy new on either car, but Hondas don't depreciate a lot, so it wasn't that much more to buy new. I know this month Honda is having $2000 in dealer dollars, so they are having really good deals on cars (about 2500 under invoice).

 

[tlbwriter]

SUVs are not inherently safer than cars. But I love 'em anyway.

I owned a Saturn many, many years ago and I loved it. The people who are driving 100K+ Saturns are probably driving models from the early 90s. Their quality and reliability have gone way downhill in later years. Since you like to keep your vehicles for a long time, I'd go with a Honda for the reliability. Look into the CR-V (had one, loved it) or maybe even a used Pilot.

 

[solfan68]

My 1998 Honda Civic is nearing 155k and still going strong. Great on gas and has needed next to NO shop time aside from the basic oil change and recommended 'service' intervals. Hoping it'll go 200k at least, as we're about to pay off DW's SUV and be payment free for a bit.

 

[ericamanda01]

I love love love my Saturn Vue. I got it after I was rear ended and it totaled my last Saturn. I felt so safe after the wreck, but I really wanted to be higher up thanks to all the SUV's out there, but I didn't want to drive a tank. So we went with the Vue. I can't believe the amount of stuff I can fit in here. All those years of Tetris are finally paying off. I get about 26 city/32 hwy MPG. We haven't had any problem and we have had it for just over 3 years. I just love Saturn as a company too, they are always so nice.

 

[majimikate]

We are on our 7th and 8th Hondas right now, my husband's '01 Accord couple has 230,000 miles on it (it's our 5th Accord) and I am driving my 3rd Odyssey van. The Accord has been beyond excellent, just like all our other Hondas. In 230,000 miles, nothing but routine maintenance. The Odyssey I love, roomy, rides well, and has had no issues either. We've been driving Hondas for almost 20 years with no complaints, so I would absolutely recommend a Honda...good luck finding the car that works for you

Chris

 

[Pigeon]

I'd go for the Honda. They are, overall, much more reliable cars. I'd read the Consumer Reports article for each vehicle.

We are a family of Toyota buyers. Last time out, we needed a station wagon. I won't buy SUVs for environmental reasons. So, Toyota was out of the running. We bought a Saturn wagon. It's OK, but the quality is so not up to what we are used to with Toyotas. It's not horrible, but there have been a lot of little things wrong that shouldn't be. I think Hondas are of similar quality to Toyotas.

 

[Chicago526]

SUVs are not inherently safer than cars. But I love 'em anyway.

I owned a Saturn many, many years ago and I loved it. The people who are driving 100K+ Saturns are probably driving models from the early 90s. Their quality and reliability have gone way downhill in later years. Since you like to keep your vehicles for a long time, I'd go with a Honda for the reliability. Look into the CR-V (had one, loved it) or maybe even a used Pilot.

Mine Saturn is a '98 with 120k miles and still runs great. The only issues we've had is the suspension (crapy roads around here didn't help) and the full injector plugs got clogged, that wasn't cheap. Between the two it was about 2k in non-regular maintenance. Not bad for 10 years. And with those problems fixed there is no reason why we won't see 200k with nothing more than some new tires.

Anyway, OP, I know nothing about SUV's, I'll never own one (I like my 4 cylander sedans!) but you do have a dilema. Saturns and Honda's both have good reputaions. I guess maybe do a test drive on both and see which one you like to drive better. It's an individual thing, how we like our vehicals to handle while driving and one model or the other can just "feel" better to you. 100k+ miles is a long time not to like how a car drives and handles!

 

[barkley]

This is a no brainer! Well, for me anyway... I worked in an auto shop for 8 years as a service writer. Saturn is JUNK!!!!!! Let me say that again, Saturn is JUNK. Don't care about the bells, don't care about the price.... you will pay a ton in repairs.

Honda's barley need more then an oil change and the other fluids check until 105,000 miles. Pay no attention to the owner's manual! You can't tell me that every car and every condition is the same. It's not. Things will need to be done, when they need to be done....not just cause the car hit 30,000 miles!!!

I have had my Acura (Honda Brand) for 6 years and have never done much to it. Great car and really holds the value....unlike a Saturn.....

If i didn't make it clear, BUY THE HONDA!!!

if you've ever had a major mechanical issue with a honda WHILE IT'S ON WARRANTY and had to deal with the honda company as compared to a saturn in the same situation you would find a significant difference in customer service hands down.

i have owned 2 hondas and 2 saturns. with one of the hondas i reported from the time of the first oil change a problem with the transmission-for the entirety of the warranty period multiple honda dealerships said 'no problem'. just after the end of the warranty period the entire transmission blew. although i had documentation dating back 3 years showing i had reported problems i could receive no resolution. it took several calls to honda corporate and the threat of a lawsuit before they agreed to look at the vehical to 'prove it's not our-honda's-fault'. sure enough there was a part installed in the factory upside down that they conceded would have caused the problems i had been reporting for 3 years and led to the destruction they fixed the car but i ate several weeks of rental car bills

saturn on the other hand is very proactive and assistive in handling repairs-even when the car is off warranty. if you have an issue with a vehical you can call corporate and find out if they've detected an error trend with that issue and if so you can receive free repairs and a free rental car. saturn is also very proactive in contacting owners if they've detected an error trend before it becomes an issue with that owners vehical. i had this happen twice when i purchased and both times i was provided with a free loaner-and given a gift certificate for dinner for 2 at one of nicer local restaurants 'because we inconvenienced you'.

as far as general quality i'de rank them equaly but as far as the customer service you want and NEED in the case of a major issue-saturn HANDS DOWN.

 

[squirrlygirl]

I'd go for the Honda. They are, overall, much more reliable cars. I'd read the Consumer Reports article for each vehicle.

.

I wouldn't trust Consumer Reports if you paid me to. They have DH's car rated as getting 26 mpg highway. He has reliably gotten 34-36 mpg for the last 2 years!

Reliability and satisfaction surveys aren't very reliable, either. If you bought a Toyota because they're reliable, and then have a minor issue, then you will overlook it and report that you're satisfied and the car hasn't had issues. If you bought a GM or Ford and it has an issue, though, then the world has come to an end!

So I pick the Saturn.

But I'm from Michigan, and DH works for GM. So I might not be very reliable, either , but I will say that most people I know LOVE LOVE LOVE their Saturns! I don't know anyone that drives a Honda.

 

[Tink113]

Yeah, I guess all of us who have driven Saturns for 100K-200K miles have been driving junk and didn't ever know it! Silly us!

OP, my dh is 6'3" and he loves driving our VUE. It's very comfortable for him, way more comfortable than his Civic. We had an ION that we traded in towards the VUE (yeah, that must've been JUNK too -- I made money on that trade-in ) because our ds was getting too tall to comfortably sit in the back of it. Plus, now I cart him and his teenage friends around and we have no legroom problems.

We all LOVE our JUNKY VUE!!!!!

Sorry if I upset you (or anyone else). Experiences with cars can be a hit or miss. All I am saying is that in 8 years working for an independent repair shop, I saw more then one or two saturns and hondas. I saw more like 100's! Most of the people on this board own A Honda or Saturn, maybe two. I have seen tons.

It's just my opinion (with 8 years backing it & everyone else I worked with), you will be happier with a Honda. I had customer's who drive theirs to over 300,000 miles!!! Yes, most people would buy a new car before hitting 300,000, but I never saw a Saturn owner stick with their car that long. (In fact, I knew guys that worked at the Saturn dealers that would tell me they were junk. That's way they worked there... if it's not broke, they don't get paid!)

All I can tell you is the experiences that several customer's had, and I literary had Saturn owner's crying over their cars because of the crazy repairs needed. Saturn tends to use plastic gaskets, where they should use cork, instead of having to buy a CV boot to fix a problem, Saturn would only sell the whole axle assembly (3 times as much $$$)...that kind of thing.

Additionally, we found that Honda would sell their HONDA brand parts at almost the same price as an after market part, where Saturn would charge you almost double to use their parts as apposed to an after market brand. The choice was always the customer's, but few Honda owners went for an after market part.

These are the things, for a repair side, that people don't think about. The same job on a Honda, tends to run less then most other cars. They are Just made better!

Anyway, that's my two cents. Whatever you buy, make sure you like it...not just cause 10 people on a forum told you too. Drive the car, when you are in it... you will know which car is yours.