Saturn vs. Honda

[Lil Lil]

Not familiar with the Saturn car line. Curious how you would compare the Saturn line vs. Honda. I love Honda's. Never had a problem with them. Wanted to compare the Honda CRV to the Saturn Vue. Any feedback? Lately I've seen some good deals on the Vue.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I've had both. My last car was a Saturn SL2 and I currently have a CRV (had an Accord in the past too). I don't have any experience with the Vue, but both Saturns and Hondas are very reliable and fairly inexpensive to maintain. However, I have a love affair with Hondas and will most likely never go back to a Saturn. In my experience, Hondas seem to hold their retail value MUCH better than Saturns do too.

 

[MickeysMommy]

I just bought a 2006 CRV and I love, love, love it! I can't say enough about it. Tons of room, drives like a car and it's cute My parents have an '04 CRV and I took them and my aunt and uncle (in my parents CRV) to Maine last year and we all fit fine.

 

[ash&abby'smom]

My dh is in the automotive business, and he would never buy a Saturn to own or repair. They just aren't built as nice as a Honda. His advice would be buy the HONDA.

 

[Chicago526]

I've never had a Honda, so I can't coment about that. But I do own a Saturn SL2 and love it! I've had it almost 8 years, has 90,000 miles and all I've had to do is routine maintenance and replace parts for wear and tear.

 

[christinadei]

Another vote for Honda. I have a 2000 CRV and love it. DH said he'd never let my buy a Saturn, that they are junk

 

[LindaR]

The reason you are seeing so many "deals" on Saturns is because they are GM products and they are having problems. There is no comparison between Honda and Saturn. Talk to your mechanic, your insurance agent, your bodyshop......

Honda has the reputation, the safety record, the lower insurance costs, the resale value, etc. Saturn does not have the excellent background that Honda does.

BTW, I am a former car salesperson (I sold GM products).

I have not owned any GM (or other "american") vehicles in 15 years.

 

[stevenpensacola]

stay away from Saturn. Car and Driver's Magazine says that Saturn has never really materialized into what was intended. Engines are crude compared with Honda. In fact, Honda provides their V6 engine to Saturn, but
your Saturn dealer would not want to mention it.

http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=16&article_id=7783&page_number=2

Stick with Honda.

 

[Lil Lil]

I just bought a 2006 CRV and I love, love, love it! I can't say enough about it. Tons of room, drives like a car and it's cute My parents have an '04 CRV and I took them and my aunt and uncle (in my parents CRV) to Maine last year and we all fit fine.

One big plus is Honda's do hold there value. May I ask are you leasing your new CRV or did you buy? I haven't seen any lease deals on the CRV?

 

[CapeCodTenor]

I've had my little Saturn SL1 for about 8 years now and did have some problems a while back, ignition burned out, upper motor mount replaced and a sesnor replaced, but that was after I had the car for about 7 years. Otherwise it's been the usuall stuff muffler and breaks, I've not had a whole lot of problems. When bought mine back in '97 it was $13,000 for a car that was almost fully loaded compared to about the same price for a Honda that was stripped down to nothing. Just my thought.

 

[MickeysMommy]

One big plus is Honda's do hold there value. May I ask are you leasing your new CRV or did you buy? I haven't seen any lease deals on the CRV?

I bought my car. I had a 2001 Honda Accord with only 17,500 miles on it so I got a tremendous trade in for it. I researched my butt off on line and knew what I could get if I sold it outright and they gave me around the same number so I could't say no.

Go with the Honda...you won't be sorry!

 

[RadioNate]

My mom's best friend has a Saturn. It's been 1 problem after another. We've always had Honda's and they've been great.

I had high hopes for the Saturn brand and really looked into them when I bought my Nissan (which was traded in on a Honda) but they just seemed 'cheap' compaired to the other cars I looked at.

With the Saturn plant closing and the other issues facing GM, I would also be concerned about future service and support.

 

[CharlesTD]

I would own a VUE over a CRV any day of the week far better vehicle and larger interior plus it is less expensive I just don't get how Honda can charge so much for their vehicles to be honest the 2 I have had were both crap and were on average 3-5000 dollars more than the GM lines of vehicles we replaced them with.

 

[kydisneyfans]

We have both a Vue and SL1-2003 and 2002 respectively. The entire computer system went out of the Vue this summer (only 2 years old)-not under warranty as we had over 36K miles on it. Other than that, no problems.

I would consider a Toyota over a Honda. That's the direction we're going to look next year.

 

[ducklite]

With the Saturn plant closing and the other issues facing GM, I would also be concerned about future service and support.

Saturn is moving all their operations to their DE plant, they are not going out of business.

Anne

 

[Magix]

You know, I just bought a new car, but I drove my 1994 Saturn SL for 11 3/4 years with extremely few problems. I had an unusually great ownership experience with that vehicle. I still love that Saturn!

That being said, I have read many reviews of the VUE that indicate it is not as good as the Honda. Reviewers indicate that the ride is not responsive, there's a lot of road noise and it's just not the best value for your money. I think, in this case, I'd go with the Honda.

 

[RadioNate]

Saturn is moving all their operations to their DE plant, they are not going out of business.

Anne

I get that they are still in business. I still however would feel more comfortable spending 20k with a company that isn't in the process of laying off 30,000 people and has an uncertain future.

While I'm sad for GM, Saturn isn't their best effort. I have a 93 Chevy Berretta with 210k miles on it that has been great (although the original transmission has started to slip) but I do love my CRV.

 

[LuvTigger]

I'm not sure about the current VUE's, but a friend of mine has two of them (one for her and one for DH), hers were both made with Honda engines. She obviously loves them since she has two!

I agree that Honda's are reliable and have the highest resale value, but I would probably never buy one, mainly because here in Hawaii they (along with Acura's) are the most stolen car brand. And people here do stupid things like ripping the "H" off the car hood! Except for one person, everyone I know whose owned a Honda or Acura has either had it broken into or stolen (again, it may be a Hawaii thing - these cars are popular here with the younger crowd who like to street race).

I also own a Saturn, and bought it for many reasons, but the service is one of the biggest. I also like the no haggle price policy. If I didn't own a Saturn, I would probably buy a Toyota, which in my past experience has proven to be very reliable. The thing I really did not like about Toyota, or at least the dealership that I was taking my car to, was the service was not very good. A RAV-4 is comparable to the Honda CRV, if that's something you'd like to consider.

We obviously all have our own opinions based on past experience, so I would say go to your local Saturn and Honda (and Toyota if you'd like to throw that into the running as well), and see what kind of experiences you have at each. If you really can't decide on the actual car, maybe the service, or whatever kind of incentives they can offer you, will sway your decision.

 

[Fire14]

I am currently having this same debate with Honda or Saturn. I am actually leaning more towards the CRV since in long run it will cost me less to up keep it.

 

[DVC Jen]

We are a major Saturn family. We love them. Right now we have saturns number 4 and 5.. and are eyeing saturn #6.

Most Saturns have the exact same engine as Honda.. my Relay does and I am pretty sure the VUE does as well.


They have always been excellant cars for us, and ya can't beat the no haggle, easy going sales associates.