Saturn Plastic Body Panels No More?

I was at a Saturn dealer recently and was somewhat stunned to find they would not haggle on a used Mitsubishi they had on the lot. Between standing firm on prices and deteriorating quality of their vehicles, I dunno... It took them a long time to build their reputation. It will take no time at all to destroy it! BTW, we left and bought an Avalon at one of their competitors.

It took them a long time to build their reputation. It will take no time at all to destroy it!

Very true. It's sad to see. Perhaps the Opels will hold up well and improve Saturn's reputation. I've been involved in new car launches for European manufacturers, and Saturn was the standard in customer relations and sales practices that the other manufacturers measured themselves against -- they really were the first brand where customers were treated with respect, and where you could feel that not every word out of the sales person's mouth was a lie. ("I've got great news, my sales manager has authorized me to take $500 off the retail price for you!" This on a car that can be sold profitably for a $2500 discount.)

I was very impressed by the service department at a local Saturn Dealer. My car had a starting problem that thousands of other Saturns have had, where the car simply refuses to crank at all, and then after a 10-15 minute wait might fire up normally. (Then the problem will resurface a month or a week later.) Having been a service manager, I know that sometimes the warranty claim must be written creatively to get a job fully warranted.

In this case, many dealers were replacing the ignition switch, and the problem would appear to be cured, only to resurface, and others were replacing the ECU, but few were replacing both units, because it is very rare that a problem is caused by two devices... so such claims are often rejected by the manufacturer. The local dealer wrote the complaint up so that doing a thorough replacement of several suspect components would be covered under warranty... and the problem has been cured, it appears. In this case, the manufacturer clearly had no clue what was really causing the problem -- as indicated by thousands of customer complaints about this problem -- and the problem was always intermittent, and impossible to replicate, so replacing everything in sight -- usually considered poor troubleshooting -- worked in the customer's best interest. It probably worked in the manufacturer's best interest too: Perhaps if I have several trouble-free years under my belt when it comes time to replace the Saturn, I'll have forgotten the problem, and would consider another one. Prior to my positive dealership experience, I would put have put Saturn in the list of brands I will never own again.)

If you guys remember back to the early 80's (oops, dropped my cane) TQM crept into our lexicon. Viola! Saturn was born and everyone from purchasing agents to mechanics were involved from the initial design stages to final production. The result? A company following the Japanese model. We actually taught those concepts to the Japanese after WWII and promptly failed to follow our own advice. I'm not that old that I was around back then so I don't know if it had a name or not. Anyway, seems like Saturn has forgotten what made them great to begin with. The Japanese have not.

I don't know the name either, but Edward Demming was the man responsible. He told the American manufacturers that, if they watched their customer satisfaction (quality) that profits would take care of themselves. Our car builders replied that profits were great, and they didn't need to worry about customer satisfaction.

he went to Japan, where they listened. One of the top prizes given each year in Japan is the Demming prize for quality.

Actually both Saturn and Opel are under GM, along with other car companies around the world. Vauxhaul in England, Holden in Australia, Saab in Sweden, Chevy, Buick, Cadillac, and Hummer in the US. If you ever have spare time, look up the Opel Agila and you will find it looks exactly like the Chevy Aveo. It doesn't surprise me these cars look the same, they are made by the same parent company.

I had a '97 Saturn SL2. I really didn't like the plastic body panels, they allowed a tremendous amount of road noise. I also had problems with the car as well. The alternator went bad at about 50k miles. The transmission (automatic) went out at ~60k miles and cost if I recall correctly in the area of $1,400 USD to fix. A friend of mine at the time had an SL1 and went through 3 transmissions in under 100k miles. Then the sun roof seals failed and started leaking, and the head liner came loose. I also noticed a tremendous power loss by adding a passenger or two to the car.

Recently on a business trip we had a Saturn VUE as a rental car. I was very surprised at the quality difference. I was impressed with the VUE.

I own a 1993 Saturn SL1 and I honestly love it. The car is 15 years old and runs perfect. Not a sign of rust due to the plastic panels, No dents. Nothing. The car practically looks brand new and can kill any Honda out there. I was a huge Saturn fan untill I recently saw their new line of cars, not one of them being an S- series. The plastic panels were what made Saturn cars. All these new GM shit buckets are all going to rust out in a couple of years. Without the S- series I hope GM rots. I will never buy another American brand car due to the poor quilty that they put into their cars.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I own a 1993 SL2, and my wife a 1994 SW2. We love them both, and they look like new. When I moved from Texas to Nevada, we said we'd get an all-wheel drive if one of the S cars died. Shortly thereafter, we saw a used VUE on the Ford lot, and rescued it. We now have three Saturns, all plastic, and all from Spring Hill. I've already told the dealer that what they're trying to sell now are not truly a Saturn. Hopefully, some one, somewhere gets the message. Saturn Family