saturnmodder
07-17-2010, 12:01 AM
Well, after realizing that I was facing close to $3000 in various repairs to the Civic, on top of the money I already had in it, I decided that it just wasn't worth it. So I looked around for a suitable replacement. My main criteria were that it had to be a new or newer car with <100K miles, and under $15,000.
After test driving a few cars, I stopped by what's left of Saturn of the Mountain Empire (basically just parts/service and a used car lot for the Acura/Mazda dealership it shares a lot with) to see if they had a used Astra 5-door. As soon as I pulled onto the lot, I saw the car I wanted. It's a Black Onyx 2004 Saturn VUE Red Line. It has a Honda 3.5L V6, 5 speed automatic, AWD, and it's fully loaded.
After driving it, checking the service records, checking the carfax, and giving it a good going over, I decided to go for it. It has 91K miles on it, which is a little more than I initially wanted, but for the price I got, plus what they gave me trade on the Civic (well over KBB trade value), I couldn't pass it up. I absolutely love the car, it's got more than enough power, and I was surprised at the gas mileage. I got 20 MPG in town on the 1/2 tank I used. Definitely not too shabby.
I'll get some pics tomorrow when it's light out.
After test driving a few cars, I stopped by what's left of Saturn of the Mountain Empire (basically just parts/service and a used car lot for the Acura/Mazda dealership it shares a lot with) to see if they had a used Astra 5-door. As soon as I pulled onto the lot, I saw the car I wanted. It's a Black Onyx 2004 Saturn VUE Red Line. It has a Honda 3.5L V6, 5 speed automatic, AWD, and it's fully loaded.
After driving it, checking the service records, checking the carfax, and giving it a good going over, I decided to go for it. It has 91K miles on it, which is a little more than I initially wanted, but for the price I got, plus what they gave me trade on the Civic (well over KBB trade value), I couldn't pass it up. I absolutely love the car, it's got more than enough power, and I was surprised at the gas mileage. I got 20 MPG in town on the 1/2 tank I used. Definitely not too shabby.
I'll get some pics tomorrow when it's light out.