03 Ion 2, Super Low Miles, 44k Miles, Automatic, Just Pampered, It Wont Last on 2040-cars

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Even Saturn prices are leaving the stratosphere as used-car demand soars

Initially marketed as "a different kind of car company," General Motors-owned Saturn unceremoniously closed its doors in early 2010 after years of slumping sales and degradation of the brand. The firm's star is unexpectedly beginning to rise again as demand for used cars balloons in America, and values of used Saturn models are outpacing the industry average. Citing data provided by Car Gurus, The Drive is reporting that Saturn's transaction prices have increased more than any other carmaker's during the past 90 days. They've gone up by 26.15% since March 2021, and they've skyrocketed by 30.24% since June 2020. For context, Subaru posted increases of 12.13% and 20.26%, respectively, and the industry-wide averages stand at 17.11% and 30.23%. Used cars are more expensive across the board, but luxury models generally gained less value than cheaper models built by mainstream brands. In spite of the increase, Saturn's transaction prices remain the lowest on the market, according to the same source. The average sale is pegged at $6,284, versus $23,734 for Toyota and $17,507 for Kia. One factor undoubtedly influencing this difference is that, as we mentioned, the last Saturn was built over a decade ago. There's no such thing as a late-model Saturn, so all of its cars are lugging around 10-plus years of depreciation. If you want to surf this trend, the most expensive Saturn is the Outlook (2007-2010), an SUV that was basically a GMC Acadia with a different badge. It sells for $6,770, on average. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the humble Ion (2003-2007; pictured) trades hands for $4,446; it dented Saturn's average by losing 0.49% of its value during the past 30 days. What this means in the grand scheme of things is open to debate. What's certain is that more motorists are buying used as the ongoing chip shortage creates delivery delays and leaves dealers with low inventory levels, a situation forcing companies to take unprecedented measures. Ford is offering a $1,000 incentive to keep buyers in the fold, for example. Some might end up with their name on a Saturn title simply because it was the first car they stumbled upon. Others, especially drivers 30 and older, might remember the brand's reputation for building value-packed cars that were vaguely interesting.

Junkyard Gem: 2004 Saturn Vue with manual transmission

GM's Saturn Division has been gone since the final 2010 Auras, Outlooks, Skies, and Vues slunk apologetically out of the showrooms, and I'm doing my best to document the more interesting models from The General's once-revolutionary brand. Some of the later Saturns began life as Opel designs, but the Vue actually was the first vehicle to go on the all-new GM Theta platform; the Opel Antara was thus a Saturn copy, a fact that Saturn fans no doubt trot out when they get shamed by Opel zealots over the Astra. Today's Junkyard Gem is a most unusual Vue, in the sense that its original purchaser was fine with both the base manual transmission and the leather-upholstery upgrade. Sure, the cheapest way to buy a new Vue— which was sold here for the 2002-2007 model years— was to get it with the base transmission: a five-speed manual. You can still buy a new car with a five-on-the-floor manual right now, but only in a handful of cheapmobiles; by the middle 2000s, a tiny-and-ever-shrinking subset of American car shoppers would even consider a three-pedal commuter vehicle. Really, there were only two reasons an American new-car buyer would have considered a non-enthusiast vehicle with a manual transmission in 2004: either an eccentric preference for the good ol' stickshift or just plain penny-pinching. The cheapest possible '04 Vue was the version with four-cylinder 2.2-liter engine, front-wheel-drive, and five-speed manual transmission, and it started at $17,025 (about $26,080 in 2022 dollars). That's what we're looking at here. The optional CVT automatic transmission cost an additional $2,095 ($3,210 today), so it made sense to get the manual if you wanted to save serious money on your Vue. However, this car is loaded to the gunwales with nice equipment upgrades, to the tune of at least the Leather Appointments Package ($755) and the Sports Plus II Package ($1,300) and probably a lot more.  So, a buyer who didn't care about power (so no V6 engine), didn't want all-wheel-drive, liked driving a manual transmission Â… but insisted on power everything and a full-zoot comfy leather interior Â… in a cheap small SUV sold by a fast-fading brand. The conversations with the Saturn salesmen about this thing must have been interesting. Built in Tennessee, sold new in Denver, will be crushed near Pikes Peak.

GM calling in 56k Saturn Aura sedans over shift cables

General Motors may have made a few mistakes when it came to the whole ignition-switch debacle, and it will likely be dealing with the consequences for some time to come. But you have to hand it to Mary Barra and her team, because they're determined to clean house and avoid the same mistakes. That's why the biggest of the Big Three automakers in Detroit has been issuing recalls left, right and Renaissance Center. Aside from those vehicles fitted with the faulty ignition switches, GM has recalled over 50,000 Cadillac SRXs, another 50 heavy-duty pickups and some 51,000 full-size crossovers. There are bound to be more to come, and now it's issued another 50k-unit recall over faulty shift cables in the transmission.
The recall affects 2007 and 2008 Saturn Auras fitted with the four-speed automatic transmission manufactured between April 24, 2006, and October 31, 2007. The recall doesn't affect models equipped with the six-speed automatic, or for that matter any of the Aura's Epsilon platform-mates like the Chevy Malibu, Pontiac G6, Opel Signum and Vectra, Saab 9-3 or - carrying over from Fiat's aborted partnership with GM - the Fiat Croma, although many of those models used the same 4T40 transmission employed in the Aura.
In the affected vehicles, the shift cable might fracture while in motion, preventing the transmission from shifting into Park or the ignition from switching off, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures could lead to the car rolling away. Hence the recall of 56,214 units in the United States, owners of which can expect to hear from their dealership in due course to have the necessary components replaced.