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Thinking Out Loud
Auto Obsessed
 OfflineVehicle: 2012 Jeep Sahara & 2003 Suzuki GSF600 Bandit S
Gender: 
Location: Toronto
Posts: 914
 
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« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2008, 02:01:45 pm » |
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The sunroof is amazing - should give the Rabbit a run for it's money in the Euro-hatch segment...
...especially when a Redline version shows up! |
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Fortune favours the bold!
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MKII
Drunk on Fuel
OfflineVehicle: 2007 Ford Focus Ghia SW 1.6l TI-VCT
Location: Tallinn Estonia
Posts: 2413
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« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2008, 02:17:37 pm » |
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I am surprised all the reviews from the CD writers have not made mention that this is by far the best C segment vehicle GM has offered to the North American consumer.
IMO I applaud GM for taking this step at least to offer IMO a much better C segment car then whats been offered up in the past. |
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2hondas1BMW
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« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2008, 02:25:04 pm » |
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I have seen NONE of these on the road yet...and very few Auras too.  Poor selling? |
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Mine: 2004 Acura TSX
Family: 2005 Honda Odyssey EX, 2006 BMW 330i
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PJungnitsch
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« Reply #4 on: April 11, 2008, 03:57:47 pm » |
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I have seen NONE of these on the road yet...and very few Auras too. Poor selling? Feb sales Astra 332, Aura 152. Pursuit/Cobalt 4957, G6/Malibu 2357 Somebody back in GM head office has to be wondering what the point of Saturn is. |
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airbalancer
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« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2008, 07:35:29 am » |
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What hurts Saturn sales is the lack of dealerships ( like Subaru and Mits )
within 1/2 hour of Cobourg, there is 10 GM dealers and 1 Saturn dealer
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jcon
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« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2008, 10:27:18 am » |
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What hurts Saturn sales is the lack of dealerships ( like Subaru and Mits )
within 1/2 hour of Cobourg, there is 10 GM dealers and 1 Saturn dealer
and they're horrible reputation for cheap plastic cars. |
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airbalancer
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« Reply #7 on: April 12, 2008, 11:16:15 am » |
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I had an APV with plastic panels, they were great, always looked clean, |
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Cord
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« Reply #8 on: April 12, 2008, 01:06:52 pm » |
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Somebody back in GM head office has to be wondering what the point of Saturn is. Or wondering if rebadging Euro cars is the slam dunk that the car media and the expats said they would be? |
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The Mighty Duck
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« Reply #9 on: April 12, 2008, 01:45:10 pm » |
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^ Nobody's doubting the Astra is a better car. But that's meaningless if GM doesn't advertise it right and make it accessible. They've got some major hurdles to overcome with Saturn - I wonder how well the Astra would sell if it were marketed as a Chev or Pontiac, a "Cobalt Hatch" kind of thing... |
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Demosthenes [noun], dem-aws-thene-s
1) (384 BC – 322 BC) the greatest of the Ancient Greek orators
2) pseudonym used by Valentine Wiggin in Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game to alter the events of world history
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PJungnitsch
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« Reply #10 on: April 12, 2008, 02:26:42 pm » |
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I think they have overpriced it. Pricing is as high or higher than the Mazda3 and the Rabbit, but sit in the car and it it appears nowhere near the same quality. From the What Car? review of the Astra in Britain: Big discounts are available, but you will need them to offset the below-average residual values. In other words what they are trying to sell here with a premium price is Europe's Cobalt, without the discounted pricing and big dealer network that sells it over there. |
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sirAQUAMAN64
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« Reply #11 on: April 13, 2008, 01:02:21 pm » |
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The Astra's sales are low due to a number of availability issues currently. They'll pick up. Don't think it was ever planned to exceed ION sales, but once produced in North America I'm sure that'll be the goal.
Aura's sales are low because, well, a number of reasons but availability is not one of them. At least they have a base 4-cyl now, which is what it lacked before. |
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EV Dan
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« Reply #12 on: April 13, 2008, 01:16:52 pm » |
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Sales will pick up when it gets 2.0 260 HP turbo (end 2008?) or if it gets a diesel. With the former it may easily become the hottest hatch for your buck. |
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You don\'t find Chuck Norris, he finds you.
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carcrazy
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« Reply #13 on: April 14, 2008, 12:42:59 pm » |
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I think the lack of awareness (marketing) and its relatively high price (Mazda3 and Rabbit) are the offenders. |
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random006
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« Reply #14 on: April 15, 2008, 01:52:41 pm » |
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I for one wish GM and Saturn well. I think it's a well put together car with stylish looks and most importantly, filling a key slot in the lineup. The hatch style car is big here and with gas prices rising I would not be at all surprised to see that segment take off in the US in a way not seen before.
The only quibble I have is that stupid display. The uniform gray dash and the primitive display technology used reminds of 1988 and not 2008. Put in a GPS based Navi unit with full colour and tie it in with On-Star. Now that would be a smart package. |
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tortoise
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« Reply #15 on: April 15, 2008, 03:57:09 pm » |
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One thing I don't like about the Astra is the narrow hatch bottom. Seeing as a hatch is all about the versatility, I don't know why the designers were allowed to make this form of function concession.  |
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Only the slow and dim know where they're going in life, and seldom is it worth the trip. - Tom Robbins.
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