The Aura horsepower numbers were good, even in today standards of a roomy four-door sedan. But the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord always were on top on reliability. I was a fan of Saturn back in the 90s untill its demise in 2008. ''A different kind of company, a different kind of car.'' R.I.P Saturn.
@@gvs376 There was a car called "Cyst?!" As in, "an abnormal pocket of fluid, like a blister, that can form in many different areas of the body including the skin, genitals and internal organs" - ?
@@romanseano That's the one!! (Just joking). David Letterman had a Top-10 list of rejected car names. Of course, the Pontiac Cyst made the grade, along with the Ford Gelding.
Prefer Pontiac. Saturn was the fastest GM brand to just crash and burn in bankruptcy. (Just 26 years) Pontiac didn’t go bankrupt, it was just dropped because GM was suffering to pay back financial debts; therefore they were forced to drop 5 different brands.
@@RetroKingOG Geo didn't last much longer and they chopped it because they knew bankruptcy was coming. Pontiac became another Chevy by the time they killed it. It's sad actually.
I owned a 2007 Saturn Aura XR 3.6 V6 6 Speed automatic silver with a black interior. I loved it! Put a 140,000 trouble free miles on it. All original except fuel pump and windshield wiper motor only two parts I replaced besides wear and tear brakes tires etc. Even had original timing chain.
I bought brand new a 2007 Aura XR, black with the same interior shown here. I fell in love with its striking exterior and exceptional, like-never-before-at-GM performance / ride / handling. But while testing before purchase, all those things distracted me from the part drivers live with the most: the interior. Before I get into that in detail, please stay tuned (or scroll down) for what's probably more important - a serious widespread issue with the powertrain. Quoting here "this is the best car interior GM has ever done." No. No, it isn't. Not at all. It is a great looking interior, as the video shows you. But this review never delves into the feel, the texture, the material quality - it avoids it. Let me tell you: These are some of the hardest plastics, cheapest "soft touch" surfaces, lowest grade leathers I have ever found in any automobile. The lower dash & center console is like something you'd find on the housing of a late 1970's portable radio. The upper dash, upper doors, door armrests, and "soft" door panel beneath the faux-wood trim - all are like a utility grade rubber in texture. The remaining surfaces, like around the instrument cluster, again are like something plasticky you'd find on a child's toy or portable game in the 1980's. This was where GM decided to cost-cut the crap out of the Saturn Aura: the entire interior. Notice there's not even a rear center armrest. And don't even think about the front center armrest - it's so hard it could injure your elbow. I loved this car. But I quickly hated its interior. It was all looks (*only from a distance!) and zero comfort. For Motorweek to call this an all-time best GM interior, is blind fantasy. We owned a 2002 Olds Alero GLS, 2004 Bravada... in the family a 2005 Buick LaCrosse CXS, 2001 Aurora.... Also all leather seat interiors, and all light-years better in quality of materials and passenger comfort than the Saturn Aura. If you'd dropped the Malibu's interior in the Aura, it might have been better - even it suffered from some of the same cost cutting. But it did have some softer surfaces, better (more inspiring and less bleak) color combinations, and the dash / driver view just had a more passionate design. By the way, those amber hue lights on the Aura grow depressing over time - so Malibu's bright blue also wins. Still, all of that aside - and that is a LOT to put aside - I still loved the car enough to buy it. Recognizing its flaws was just something I wasn't able to do beforehand. Now to that powertrain issue. The 6-speed Hydramatic automatic transmission paired to the 3.6L engine is an excellent performer... until it isn't. In the 60K mile range for us, there were some weird signs of a problem showing up, hesitations going into 3rd gear. Then a few days later, catastrophe hit. It could only run in first and 2nd, and couldn't reverse. Later found it was an issue of the grear bands disintegrating and their debris going into the gears. At the time - 2014, GM agreed to pay half of a nearly $5K trans replacement, even though we'd researched and found many others with the same powertrain had experienced the same breakdown. So we repaired it and sold the car to CarMax. About a year later, GM recalled all of the vehicles with this issue, and we were recompensed what we'd spent to repair the Aura. In its place, we got a 2014 Buick Regal T, which we later replaced with a 2020 Regal Sportback Avenir. Both with much better interior material quality than the Aura. And both have had virtually no mechanical issues, so far. Incidentally, the Regals inherited the platform that would have been for the Aura had Saturn not been cut.
I think I know what you mean about the weird rubber soft touch surfaces. Because my really old Buick had surfaces like that, it was a weird squishy beige shiny plastic-rubber. Definitely couldn't masquerade as a fabric or anything. And the steering wheel probably has a similar material but less soft, and the top edge on the corner had actually started liquefying/melting into a sticky substance! Kinda like how rubberized electronics from years ago would get sticky as they age. That material is actually a bit freaky to me. I could imagine the car is possessed by a living alien being and the surfaces are its skin. Ugh. Well that's being overdramatic and the surfaces weren't horrible. I usually didn't pay much attention. Granted the car was 25 years old so it was old. And I don't know what the material felt like when it was new. My current car has a little of that kind of soft touch Rubber as the Buick, but not as soft, shiny, and only on the edges of the door. There's some kind of soft artificial leather over the rest which is 100% better.
Had to be black if it was XR. XR only came in Black leather or the Morocco Brown leather interiors (with "orange" colored anything that wasn't actual leather, since GM wasn't using the best quality materials to simulate leather here).
Man, this takes me back! I purchased one of these back in January of 2009, it was a 2008 Saturn Aura XE with some extras (I had the seat-warmers, side-mirror dimmers and warmers, remote start, and rear view mirror dimmer). Dude, I really loved the way the car looked, but the engine was a complete piece of garbage. I had the Ecotec 2.4 L4 and purchased it ‘used’ with 390 miles on the odometer (it was used as a demo vehicle in the dealership). I spend the entire first year taking it to the service center with endless transmission issues, it was quite entertaining. Mine was in ‘carbon flash’ color (sparkling black). 🤠😎
90s Saturns were great in a lot of ways for the segment. Then GM studiously and methodically decided to eliminate everything that made them special, because reasons. And then, RIP Saturn. Shocking!
I enjoyed my Aura XR a few years back. It never broke down but I had 3 flats - that might have been me not replacing the tires often enough but I thought they looked fine and a mechanic never told me to change them during a tune up. The electrics started to go though when the heated seats always come on (took out the fuse but it killed the driver's side window too). The driver's side lock also didn't work after a while too.
I bought last august one 2007 Aura XE with 62k miles (3.5) like that one on the ad (and also with leather and heated seats) Such a nice and comfortable ride, love my car
@@danmccarthy4700 >same platform as the Vectra >same styling as the Vectra >you're still supposed to believe that it's not a Vectra No wonder GM went bankrupt soon after this car was released.
I like how Saturn sorta became a knock off Opel/Vauxhall at the end of its life. I enjoyed my Astra H immensely because it was actually built in Europe with very little Americanistation and a good product.
Even now their interiors are outdated. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t get a new Camry and got something else. The 2025 Camrys interior was a step they needed.
I spent 10,000 miles and a summer in one as a rental. Surprisingly good performance and comfort but the brakes and cooling system were lacking. I took it through the Salt Flats at Bonneville and through the mountains in California. It needed a second generation to fix the bugs and gain Chevrolet, Pontiac, or Buick branding. Also the 3.6 is notorious for chain failures.
I opine, but the coincidences kinda line up. It’s not Saturn’s fault the 3.5L didn’t get the attention it may have deserved. It’s not even the fault of Saturn that they became just another badge-engineered division of The General. I was being cynical, but I kinda wanna blame the Relay now!
Those saying this is an Opel are more wrong than they are right. It IS an Epsilon car, but it's a refaced Pontiac G6. The Aura and Vectra don't even share wheelbases. Or interiors. Profiles. Rear styling. Most of the Epsilon cars couldn't even be built in each other's plants, especially the SAAB 9-3, due to various model differences. Anyone that was following the industry and informed circa 2002 and on would be aware of this. The Saturn Astra IS an Opel because it's completely identical AND built in the same Antwerp plant. The Opels are better than any GMNA car.
But the front-end styling was clearly developed from the Vectra as a base and at that point, Saturn's design language was very much turning into an American Opel. However, I'm not going to say it IS an Opel because of what you said.
Exactly! I had a Vauxhall Vectra of that age in England. Auras are longer & have bigger engines. The exterior styling is Opel/Vauxhall though. Astras & a few other Saturns,& now a few Buicks,are basically Opel/Vauxhalls in size & design.
@@markhealey9409 That's right, but it should also be noted that the Aura shares the same front midsection with the Chevy Malibu. Since PSA took over Opel and Vauxhall, Buick cars no longer have any Opel influence and are now designed in China. Even so, the Opel Insignia was originally going to be sold as a Saturn Aura, but due to the influence of the late 2000s recession on GM, it was to be rebadged as a Buick instead.
That's a long way to say you don't anything about cars, the G6 and this car have different dimensions completely this is not a REFACED G6 I never get these silly RUclips car experts that don't know basic common sense smh For those that aren't very bright it's possible to stretch a car's wheelbase and it still be the same car.....common sense should have told you that.....there are plenty of car's that share the same platform etc that are smaller or larger maybe start over with basics and once you've learned a little more than try again any mere child would know that
@@ftr911drvryou're horrendously wrong. The Saturn Aura shares platform (unibody and subframe) and drivetrain components (engine and transmission) with the following: Chevy Malibu Fiat Croma Opel Signum Opel Vectra Pontiac G6 Saab 9-3 The G6 and Aura have nearly identical body shells and the interior is practically interchangeable model to model. This is from GM corporate data. Not "RUclips experts".
I drove one of these when my parents were looking for a new car. Excellent acceleration and honestly I wish they had bought it. Styling was European and I like European cars.
No this was no gm first application of a 6 speed fwd auto as they been using them in vauxhall opel car in europe and clearly this was based on vauxhall vectra found in europe . The vectra was a nicer finished product more coherent in it design. This was like bit taken from here and there to make a car.
Kinda. Weirdly the North American (Malibu, G6, Aura) and European (Saab 9-3, Opel Vectra/Signum) versions of this era Epsilon platform weren't quite identical to each other. The Americans were on a longer wheelbase and de-contented a bit for the NA market. Notably none of the 3 NA models were available with In-dash Nav for example. Something about they weren't wired for it. (But GM was able to do Nav in the aging W-body Grand Prix).
I just bought a 2008 XR with 80,000. Car is damn near brand new! It’s equipped with the tow set up to tow behind my motor home. I felt I stole it from an 80 year old who was done RVing. 50k of it was miles towed.
Yup, my work had a RAV4 with the I4 engine that ate oil after 250k, everything else was still working on it when it was sent away. I had a personal Gen 6 98' Honda Accord 2 door. Transmission started slipping at 260k, the engine soon developed a massive oil leak and I parted ways with it soon after. Replacement transmission swap/cost as much as the car was worth if it was still working and running.
Aura was built on a platform derived from the Vectra. Astra was on a smaller platform and was even imported & sold alongside the Aura as the "Saturn Astra." But I see what you're saying, in that it heavily adopted its front & rear styling cues.
@@DavidDolinsky95 it's actually a Pontiac G6. The Vectra, though an Epsilon car, is on a different wheelbase. Fun fact- almost none of these Epsilon I cars can even be built in the same facility due to model differences. ESPECIALLY Saab.
lol.. sadden was just another GM vehicle. Never compared to Camry reliability wasn’t there the inside looks cheap and motor week always pushes American cars with no statements about their unreliability… Saturday is gone Camry still here😅
That generation Camry wasn't great, but the floormate thing was fabricated to explain Toyota's demographic problem, and it was a way for lawyers and federal regulators to shakedown Toyota. In reality, the vast majority of Toyota unintended acceleration cases were the result of driver error, nothing more.
@@archfapper211 The RAV4 of that era also used the same I4 engine and had the oil burning issue sadly.. I think the V6 version was spared this fate. The rest of the RAV4 was otherwise a good design.
ah yes, classic GM rebadging and reusing all their platforms to compete with themselves. Because lets be real they never came close to honda or toyota and they never will lmao
@@ftr911drvr I was just stating a fact. By this point in time toyota and honda were both wildly more successful in the NA car market than GM was. I have no horse in this race lol
@markhealey9409 shhh a car can be based on the same car and still be smaller thsts just common sense.....these RUclips car experts always lack basic common sense smh
Авто/Мото
This seems like something a manager of a Cinnabon in Omaha would drive
Nailed it.
The manager of your local Dollar general also owns one with 210k miles.
The Aura horsepower numbers were good, even in today standards of a roomy four-door sedan. But the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord always were on top on reliability. I was a fan of Saturn back in the 90s untill its demise in 2008. ''A different kind of company, a different kind of car.'' R.I.P Saturn.
Auras were made into 2010.
He has never reviewed a car that he didn’t think was impressive
The Ford Aspire.
The Pontiac Cyst
@@gvs376 There was a car called "Cyst?!" As in, "an abnormal pocket of fluid, like a blister, that can form in many different areas of the body including the skin, genitals and internal organs" - ?
@@romanseanono, there was not
@@romanseano
That's the one!! (Just joking). David Letterman had a Top-10 list of rejected car names. Of course, the Pontiac Cyst made the grade, along with the Ford Gelding.
This wasnt a bad looking car. Especially in black.
Nah that sky blue color with the brown leather was the best combo
Prefer Pontiac.
Saturn was the fastest GM brand to just crash and burn in bankruptcy. (Just 26 years)
Pontiac didn’t go bankrupt, it was just dropped because GM was suffering to pay back financial debts; therefore they were forced to drop 5 different brands.
@@Aaron.Crow512 I honestly forgot about that color but the brown interior was very nice.
@@RetroKingOG Geo didn't last much longer and they chopped it because they knew bankruptcy was coming. Pontiac became another Chevy by the time they killed it. It's sad actually.
the brown interior looks nice but the exterior didn't age very well imo
These things were EVERYWHERE where I lived. I miss this car class. Mid size sedan v6 front wheel drive. Used to be a very competitive class.
I owned a 2007 Saturn Aura XR 3.6 V6 6 Speed automatic silver with a black interior.
I loved it! Put a 140,000 trouble free miles on it. All original except fuel pump and windshield wiper motor only two parts I replaced besides wear and tear brakes tires etc. Even had original timing chain.
I bought brand new a 2007 Aura XR, black with the same interior shown here. I fell in love with its striking exterior and exceptional, like-never-before-at-GM performance / ride / handling. But while testing before purchase, all those things distracted me from the part drivers live with the most: the interior. Before I get into that in detail, please stay tuned (or scroll down) for what's probably more important - a serious widespread issue with the powertrain.
Quoting here "this is the best car interior GM has ever done." No. No, it isn't. Not at all. It is a great looking interior, as the video shows you. But this review never delves into the feel, the texture, the material quality - it avoids it. Let me tell you: These are some of the hardest plastics, cheapest "soft touch" surfaces, lowest grade leathers I have ever found in any automobile.
The lower dash & center console is like something you'd find on the housing of a late 1970's portable radio. The upper dash, upper doors, door armrests, and "soft" door panel beneath the faux-wood trim - all are like a utility grade rubber in texture. The remaining surfaces, like around the instrument cluster, again are like something plasticky you'd find on a child's toy or portable game in the 1980's.
This was where GM decided to cost-cut the crap out of the Saturn Aura: the entire interior. Notice there's not even a rear center armrest. And don't even think about the front center armrest - it's so hard it could injure your elbow. I loved this car. But I quickly hated its interior. It was all looks (*only from a distance!) and zero comfort.
For Motorweek to call this an all-time best GM interior, is blind fantasy. We owned a 2002 Olds Alero GLS, 2004 Bravada... in the family a 2005 Buick LaCrosse CXS, 2001 Aurora.... Also all leather seat interiors, and all light-years better in quality of materials and passenger comfort than the Saturn Aura. If you'd dropped the Malibu's interior in the Aura, it might have been better - even it suffered from some of the same cost cutting. But it did have some softer surfaces, better (more inspiring and less bleak) color combinations, and the dash / driver view just had a more passionate design. By the way, those amber hue lights on the Aura grow depressing over time - so Malibu's bright blue also wins.
Still, all of that aside - and that is a LOT to put aside - I still loved the car enough to buy it. Recognizing its flaws was just something I wasn't able to do beforehand.
Now to that powertrain issue. The 6-speed Hydramatic automatic transmission paired to the 3.6L engine is an excellent performer... until it isn't. In the 60K mile range for us, there were some weird signs of a problem showing up, hesitations going into 3rd gear. Then a few days later, catastrophe hit. It could only run in first and 2nd, and couldn't reverse. Later found it was an issue of the grear bands disintegrating and their debris going into the gears.
At the time - 2014, GM agreed to pay half of a nearly $5K trans replacement, even though we'd researched and found many others with the same powertrain had experienced the same breakdown.
So we repaired it and sold the car to CarMax. About a year later, GM recalled all of the vehicles with this issue, and we were recompensed what we'd spent to repair the Aura. In its place, we got a 2014 Buick Regal T, which we later replaced with a 2020 Regal Sportback Avenir. Both with much better interior material quality than the Aura. And both have had virtually no mechanical issues, so far.
Incidentally, the Regals inherited the platform that would have been for the Aura had Saturn not been cut.
I think I know what you mean about the weird rubber soft touch surfaces. Because my really old Buick had surfaces like that, it was a weird squishy beige shiny plastic-rubber. Definitely couldn't masquerade as a fabric or anything.
And the steering wheel probably has a similar material but less soft, and the top edge on the corner had actually started liquefying/melting into a sticky substance! Kinda like how rubberized electronics from years ago would get sticky as they age.
That material is actually a bit freaky to me. I could imagine the car is possessed by a living alien being and the surfaces are its skin. Ugh. Well that's being overdramatic and the surfaces weren't horrible. I usually didn't pay much attention.
Granted the car was 25 years old so it was old. And I don't know what the material felt like when it was new. My current car has a little of that kind of soft touch Rubber as the Buick, but not as soft, shiny, and only on the edges of the door. There's some kind of soft artificial leather over the rest which is 100% better.
I own a white one with gray leather interior. XR Model. I love driving this car as much as my Saturn Sky!
Had to be black if it was XR. XR only came in Black leather or the Morocco Brown leather interiors (with "orange" colored anything that wasn't actual leather, since GM wasn't using the best quality materials to simulate leather here).
@@romanseano Mine came White with grey leather. I ordered refurbished brushed aluminum rims.
I wish GM had have invested more in Pontiac and Oldsmobile tbh this would have been a beauty as an olds
I had no idea they had the 3.5, that would be the engine I'd get; mom's '08 g6 GT coupe has it, and no problems unlike that 3.6 .
Man, this takes me back! I purchased one of these back in January of 2009, it was a 2008 Saturn Aura XE with some extras (I had the seat-warmers, side-mirror dimmers and warmers, remote start, and rear view mirror dimmer). Dude, I really loved the way the car looked, but the engine was a complete piece of garbage. I had the Ecotec 2.4 L4 and purchased it ‘used’ with 390 miles on the odometer (it was used as a demo vehicle in the dealership). I spend the entire first year taking it to the service center with endless transmission issues, it was quite entertaining. Mine was in ‘carbon flash’ color (sparkling black). 🤠😎
90s Saturns were great in a lot of ways for the segment. Then GM studiously and methodically decided to eliminate everything that made them special, because reasons. And then, RIP Saturn. Shocking!
I like the trunk chrome piece
Motor week never gave bad reviews. All cars were great!
They weren't bad cars. I wish they had sold more. But GM badge engineering at its finest.
I had an identical 2008 model. It was a nice ride.
These things were QUICK for what they were.
224 hp for the base XE. Very good engine for it's class
I enjoyed my Aura XR a few years back. It never broke down but I had 3 flats - that might have been me not replacing the tires often enough but I thought they looked fine and a mechanic never told me to change them during a tune up. The electrics started to go though when the heated seats always come on (took out the fuse but it killed the driver's side window too). The driver's side lock also didn't work after a while too.
Liked these a lot
Such a pretty car, even today
I bought last august one 2007 Aura XE with 62k miles (3.5) like that one on the ad (and also with leather and heated seats)
Such a nice and comfortable ride, love my car
An OHV engine with VVT. wow
“the most impressive sedan from GM in decades”. It’s hard to take these reviews seriously.
This and the Malibu were excellent cars
Nice Opel!
What Opel is this? The closest was the Vectra which rode on a shortened version of this platform but they're hardly the same car.
@@danmccarthy4700
>same platform as the Vectra
>same styling as the Vectra
>you're still supposed to believe that it's not a Vectra
No wonder GM went bankrupt soon after this car was released.
@@Tuppoo94 My Pontiac G6 convertible is on the same platform too, does that make it a Vectra?
@@danmccarthy4700 No, that makes it a Saab!
@@Tuppoo94 My car is much bigger than the Saab though. And I don't think you could get the Saab with the 3.9 liter V6.
I like how Saturn sorta became a knock off Opel/Vauxhall at the end of its life. I enjoyed my Astra H immensely because it was actually built in Europe with very little Americanistation and a good product.
Americanisation is a good thing though, it makes the everyday cars more comfortable. And I say this as a German who loves Opel
it's not a Knockoff it's Opel Rebranded for North America
@@yt4870 More comfortable or just larger and more prone to breaking down due to AWFUL engineering?
@@Steve1766it's also rebranded as a Holden car for Australia.
@@tomtom1541 yeah
Anything beats the interior of a Camry, especially that generation.
Even now their interiors are outdated. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t get a new Camry and got something else. The 2025 Camrys interior was a step they needed.
This is actually pretty nice with the leather and all
I spent 10,000 miles and a summer in one as a rental. Surprisingly good performance and comfort but the brakes and cooling system were lacking. I took it through the Salt Flats at Bonneville and through the mountains in California. It needed a second generation to fix the bugs and gain Chevrolet, Pontiac, or Buick branding. Also the 3.6 is notorious for chain failures.
Let’s say that the Camry and Accord are too reliable for you. Saturn has got you covered! This is the Saturn Aura!
Saturn Aura: the car so bad it killed its own host company and damned near the whole segment.
Opinion or fact?
I opine, but the coincidences kinda line up. It’s not Saturn’s fault the 3.5L didn’t get the attention it may have deserved. It’s not even the fault of Saturn that they became just another badge-engineered division of The General. I was being cynical, but I kinda wanna blame the Relay now!
@@julius6238100% opinion.
It's probably the best "American" car of the era lol
Not a great car by european standards but still.
Those saying this is an Opel are more wrong than they are right. It IS an Epsilon car, but it's a refaced Pontiac G6. The Aura and Vectra don't even share wheelbases. Or interiors. Profiles. Rear styling. Most of the Epsilon cars couldn't even be built in each other's plants, especially the SAAB 9-3, due to various model differences. Anyone that was following the industry and informed circa 2002 and on would be aware of this. The Saturn Astra IS an Opel because it's completely identical AND built in the same Antwerp plant. The Opels are better than any GMNA car.
But the front-end styling was clearly developed from the Vectra as a base and at that point, Saturn's design language was very much turning into an American Opel. However, I'm not going to say it IS an Opel because of what you said.
Exactly! I had a Vauxhall Vectra of that age in England. Auras are longer & have bigger engines. The exterior styling is Opel/Vauxhall though. Astras & a few other Saturns,& now a few Buicks,are basically Opel/Vauxhalls in size & design.
@@markhealey9409 That's right, but it should also be noted that the Aura shares the same front midsection with the Chevy Malibu. Since PSA took over Opel and Vauxhall, Buick cars no longer have any Opel influence and are now designed in China.
Even so, the Opel Insignia was originally going to be sold as a Saturn Aura, but due to the influence of the late 2000s recession on GM, it was to be rebadged as a Buick instead.
That's a long way to say you don't anything about cars, the G6 and this car have different dimensions completely this is not a REFACED G6 I never get these silly RUclips car experts that don't know basic common sense smh For those that aren't very bright it's possible to stretch a car's wheelbase and it still be the same car.....common sense should have told you that.....there are plenty of car's that share the same platform etc that are smaller or larger maybe start over with basics and once you've learned a little more than try again any mere child would know that
@@ftr911drvryou're horrendously wrong. The Saturn Aura shares platform (unibody and subframe) and drivetrain components (engine and transmission) with the following:
Chevy Malibu
Fiat Croma
Opel Signum
Opel Vectra
Pontiac G6
Saab 9-3
The G6 and Aura have nearly identical body shells and the interior is practically interchangeable model to model. This is from GM corporate data. Not "RUclips experts".
I drove one of these when my parents were looking for a new car. Excellent acceleration and honestly I wish they had bought it. Styling was European and I like European cars.
Saturn is literally the definition of “just another car company”
Thanks to GM,s greed Saturn overshot it's price target
No this was no gm first application of a 6 speed fwd auto as they been using them in vauxhall opel car in europe and clearly this was based on vauxhall vectra found in europe . The vectra was a nicer finished product more coherent in it design. This was like bit taken from here and there to make a car.
了解，謝謝分享！
GM's answer to the question no one asked. What would an American Altima look like?
Is this an Opel Vectra?
I dont believe so..this car was on the same platform as the Pontiac G6
It's a stretched Vectra platform - closer to a Signum, really :)
It should have come equipped with the 3800 V6. That would have had customers wait in a long line out the showroom door!!!!!
Kinda. Weirdly the North American (Malibu, G6, Aura) and European (Saab 9-3, Opel Vectra/Signum) versions of this era Epsilon platform weren't quite identical to each other. The Americans were on a longer wheelbase and de-contented a bit for the NA market. Notably none of the 3 NA models were available with In-dash Nav for example. Something about they weren't wired for it. (But GM was able to do Nav in the aging W-body Grand Prix).
Kind of
I think the fact the Americans had to change the Vectra so much to sell it in the US probably is a sign of how bad the Vectra was
This is just sad to me because saturn was on deaths door
Is that a vauxhall vectra?
It's an Epsilon car like the Vectra but it's on a stretched version of the platform.
yeah but in North America
I went down the rabbit hole of vauxhall/Opel/GM and it was an experience
Today 2024…Is it a good choice as a reliable car?
Hope so Iam looking to buy one lol
I had a 2007 XR. Loved it! Someone hit me and totaled it. Definitely get the XR
I just bought a 2008 XR with 80,000. Car is damn near brand new!
It’s equipped with the tow set up to tow behind my motor home.
I felt I stole it from an 80 year old who was done RVing. 50k of it was miles towed.
Yet another forgotten brand that gets junked left and right
In Europe, it was the Opel Vectra. And frankly, nobody really cared for it ever. Just like it is not valued now, either.
This was a larger car than the Vectra. Same platform, but hardly the same car.
The Camry and Accord are probably on the road... Hopefully the Toyota doesn't burn oil and the Accord doesn't eat the auto transmission
Yup, my work had a RAV4 with the I4 engine that ate oil after 250k, everything else was still working on it when it was sent away. I had a personal Gen 6 98' Honda Accord 2 door. Transmission started slipping at 260k, the engine soon developed a massive oil leak and I parted ways with it soon after. Replacement transmission swap/cost as much as the car was worth if it was still working and running.
Not even the mighty Toyota or Honda can avoid oil burn after a 100k. At some point it's going to happen regardless.
that's like an Opel Vectra
German greatness (rebadge of the Opel Vectra)
that looks like an Opel Vectra
Opel Vectra moment
Супер машина
0:43 „with its very European charms“… Well yeah it’s essentially an Opel Astra lol.
Aura was built on a platform derived from the Vectra. Astra was on a smaller platform and was even imported & sold alongside the Aura as the "Saturn Astra." But I see what you're saying, in that it heavily adopted its front & rear styling cues.
@@romanseano My bad. Now where you say it, it looks like the Vectra C Facelift.
Why did I think it was a Vauxhall Astra🤨??
Similar Front End.
But fun Fact: The Astra Hatch actually has been in America, as the Saturn Astra 🙂
Unfortunately, the American Astra was a Flop 😔
Sadly that it failed, like Astra
GM Saturn Aura = Ford Mercury Milan 🤕🫱🏼🫲🏾
Opel inigna vibes
Those 6 speed automatic transmissions were/are garbage.
That’s because the car is actually an Opel 💩
@@DavidDolinsky95 it's actually a Pontiac G6. The Vectra, though an Epsilon car, is on a different wheelbase. Fun fact- almost none of these Epsilon I cars can even be built in the same facility due to model differences. ESPECIALLY Saab.
So was the 3.6 with the bad timing chains.
The motors are worse! Mainly the 3.6s are quick but JUNK
3.6 had timing chain issues, and the 6 speed had wave plate problems. These got worked out in a few years of production.
Opel Vectra
yes
Opel
Looks like a 2002 model Opel vectra
2005
@@lol-de4lo my friend had a 2002 model in Ireland. Saturn was launching it 5 years later which seems a bit crazy
@@mfitzy100 2005 is the facelift of it
More torque and "pulling power" than Camry or Accord and yet it was slower, worse on gas, and less reliable... typical GM junk.
Styling looks European because it looks like a vauxhall/opel astra saloon
Opel Vectra is a better name for it.
lol.. sadden was just another GM vehicle. Never compared to Camry reliability wasn’t there the inside looks cheap and motor week always pushes American cars with no statements about their unreliability… Saturday is gone Camry still here😅
Oh... You must be laughing because people still buy Camrys despite its ridiculous looking front & rear fascia and garishly styled interior. Got it.
Europeans know this is a vectra
The Camry featured here is the one with the so called "floor mat" issue. They have several safety and reliability issues.
I have a Toyota from this era it is anything but desirable full of defects not that great of a car
That generation Camry wasn't great, but the floormate thing was fabricated to explain Toyota's demographic problem, and it was a way for lawyers and federal regulators to shakedown Toyota. In reality, the vast majority of Toyota unintended acceleration cases were the result of driver error, nothing more.
It probably had the I4 that drank oil
@@archfapper211 The RAV4 of that era also used the same I4 engine and had the oil burning issue sadly.. I think the V6 version was spared this fate. The rest of the RAV4 was otherwise a good design.
The best car interior that GM has EVER done??? lol. Cmon. So bland
ah yes, classic GM rebadging and reusing all their platforms to compete with themselves. Because lets be real they never came close to honda or toyota and they never will lmao
Toyota Lexus. Nissan Infiniti. Honda Acura. They all rebadge. Japan could not have made a car without America.
If you don't know anything about cars just say that 😂😂 you're on here crying like GM hurt you personally so cringe
@@crowdnine878 If anything Britain had more input than the US did in Japans early automotive endeavors.
@@ftr911drvr I was just stating a fact. By this point in time toyota and honda were both wildly more successful in the NA car market than GM was. I have no horse in this race lol
@@REPOMAN24722 Mr Toyoda reverse engineered the Chevy stovebolt engine and copied Ford's frame. Probably around 1934 when all this took place.
German car
Not quite
Designwise,yes. But Vauxhall/Opel Vectras were a bit smaller & had smaller engines.
@markhealey9409 shhh a car can be based on the same car and still be smaller thsts just common sense.....these RUclips car experts always lack basic common sense smh
@@MyerShift7yes actually
About a Triple, or even a Quarter German 😐