Saturn Vue or Toyota Highlander?

[Kimmielee]

Anyone own either of these SUV's? If so, how do you like them? Would you purchase again? I can't make up my mind!!!

 

[chager]

I don't own either. However my friend does own a Saturn. She would tell you to run as fast as you can away from a Saturn. She has had major repairs and is currently fighting them to get her sunroof fixed. She has owned other vehicles and never had this many issues. I have also spoke with other people that have had issues with their Saturn's.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Kimmielee]

Thanks for the input. I heard similar feedback from two people that work for me about their Jeep Liberty's and that was originally on my list too!

I only know one person that owns the Highlander, but no one that owns a Vue. I HATE car shopping!

 

[momrek06]

I do not own either BUT my DGF has the HIGHLANDER and she LOVES it.
She just got it and we all spent a weekend at Cape Cod enjoying the travels in her car.

A few things it did NOT have that my 2004 Trailblazer has is...no where on the dash does it give you the direction you are going in OR the outside temperature. Those are standard on my SUV and we got lost at one point and I asked her IF we knew which direction we were going inwe would be a little better off....ALSO I love knowing the temps.

Those maybe minor to you....OH one more thing...NO sunroof...I love my sunroof....

It was a very nice SUV all in all!!!!

 

[Tink's Pixieduster]

I have a 2005 Highlander I bought just a little over a year ago and I love it! Although its not the hybrid, its not a guzzler either. And the handling is great. I haven't had a single problem with it since I bought it. One of the people that carpools with me was so impressed he bought one himself a couple of months ago.

 

[ChrisFL]

Toyotas are #1 in quality and reliability, much much higher than Saturn. From personal experience, I'd choose a Toyota anyday

 

[lovemygoofy]

We have a 2005 saturn vue and love it. We haven't had any problems at all from it. We actually drove a highlander before buying the vue. Honestly it came down to economics and we think we got more car for our money and honestly it came down to car payments.

We also own another saturn that we are thinking about turning in for the new saturn vue hybrid but haven't decided that yet. I'm sure everyone will tell you because Toyota has such a great reputation.

 

[Kimmielee]

Thanks to everyone for the input!

Saturn's hybrid is due out this fall. Economically, it's priced much better than the Toyota but I don't want to be limited to "car payment" because I am going to buy, not lease... I truly want the quality since I plan on keeping it for at least 5-7 years!

 

[kydisneyfans]

We have a Saturn Vue in a town where Toyota employs half of the community. The only problem in 3 years was the computer module died last summer. The dent resistant panels are a huge plus-I witnessed my wife run over and scrape a red concrete gas pump protector, ripping off the molding and leaving a red streak down the side doors. The molding popped back in and the paint just wiped off-we couldn't believe it. The 4 cylinder does great during trips to Disney, even in the mountains. We still are running on original tires at 63,000 miles.

Toyota is becoming very well known for quality-but basic economics came down to keeping the payment in our price range, paying 5K more for a Highlander pushed us out in terms of affordability.

 

[LuvTigger]

Tough choice -- two car brands I really like (I own a Saturn ION). I don't think you can beat the reliability of a Toyota, but at least here, Saturn's service is superior.

I also love Saturn's no-haggle price policy, and the dent-resistent, non-metal side panels. Those make a huge difference here in Hawaii where cars tend to rust very easily. I have a friend who owns two VUEs. She and her husband both love them, needless to say! The older one is a 6-cyl automatic, the newer one a 4-cyl manual.

Between the two models you are looking at, I would choose the VUE.

 

[Kimmielee]

Great feedback! Thanks!

Living in Michigan - the rust issue is a big factor too!

 

[ducklite]

I don't have a Vue, but between DH and I we've owned five Saturn's in ten years. We didn't buy new cars because there wass anything wrong with the previous ones, just because either we wanted to or it made sense at that moment.

Right now I've got two in the garage and one in the driveway--my ION, which is for sale because I've taken delivery on my SKY.

Our Saturns have been generally extramely reliable and it's a lot of bang for the buck. I'm satisfied enough with their level of quality that I bought my SKY over the phone, having never driven in one, never even sat in one, and took delivery of the 689th SKY off the line. (Was supposed to have #420 but there was bad JuJu with that car--long story and not Saturn Corporate's fault.) That's got to say something.

Anne

 

[Micca]

We've also owned multiple Saturns and have been happy with them. DW has a VUE which she likes a lot, no problems. She's had it a couple of years. I have a 99 SL-1. Other than oil changes and 1 brake job, no problems. Toyota certainly makes quality products. You'd probably be happy with either.

 

[slk537]

We just traded in our Ford Explorer (which I loved) for a 2006 Vue because of gas.

I really like the Vue a lot - DH loves it. It is a fun ride and the gas mileage has been great. It's comfortable. We had rented a Vue at WDW and loved it, so it was a pretty easy choice.

I don't know anything about the Toyota, but I can endorse the Vue with experience.

 

[simpilotswife]

Saturns are horrible. They're cheaply made and after a few years they begin to have a lot of mechanical problems. Buy the Highlander.

 

[zipuzee]

We are on our 2nd VUE. We traded the first one in because Saturn was offering great deals to trade in and ours had 50,000 and was just under three years old. We had no problems with it, just took advantage of a great deal. We love it. We also have an ION and its a fun city car. I use it two and from work, the VUE goes on the road!

 

[DisnyMama]

I have a 2003 Saturn Vue with a Sun Roof-never any problems with it. The only issues have been a couple minor recalls and Saturn was great-even gave me a rental for the day one time. The dent resistant panels are the best. A year and a half ago I accidentally backed into a Toyota Land Cruiser that was parked horizontily and the funny thing is I did major damage to the Toyota's bumper ($395.00) and there was no damage to my right rear fender except just a little scrape that can be buffed out. Any other car would have been a huge dent. Also, I love the interior comfort level. I'm a big girl and the seat width is very comfortable. I have also sat in the back seat and there it quite a bit of leg room. Saturn is a 1st class company in the way they do business and treat their customers. I would consider trading mine in for another Vue that is an automatic.

 

[Christine]

I have a 2005 Toyota Highlander and it is wonderful. I can't really say whether it is better than a Vue or not, never having owned one, but we did do comparison shopping and I just liked the Highlander over the Vue. You will probably get more "stuff" with the Vue as Toyota's are notoriously more expensive.

 

[ducklite]

Saturns are horrible. They're cheaply made and after a few years they begin to have a lot of mechanical problems. Buy the Highlander.

I've got a 2001 Saturn L-200 in my garage with 80k miles that has never had any work done on it other than a new battery a couple months ago and regular routine maintanence. (And some minor body work after DS had an "oops" while learning how to drive--certainly not the manufacturers fault.)

The 2004 ION parked in my driveway is actually almost three years old, and has also never had any work but PM. Our first Saturn (1996 SL-1) was a bit of a lemon, but Saturn made every repair without question including some repairs outside of the warranty period. This way of doing business kept us coming back. Since that car we've never had a problem with any of them.

We've owned five of them as I said earlier, so that gives me at least a bit of knowledge on them--probably more than the average person.

I think your overgeneralized statement is bizarre at best. But then coming from you I guess that's to be expected. I'd like to know how many Saturns you've owned that qualify you to be such an expert on them.

Anne

 

[Blondie]

DH drives a '99 Saturn (sedan) and so far it's been the most reliable vehicle we've ever owned! (knock wood)

A new Toyota Highlander is one of the vehicles we're considering when we pass our Blazer down to our sons in the fall.