saturnd00d

To be honest, I think the supposed "LaCrosse" in the crappy grainy pic looks quite similar to the concept, when comparing pics over at C&D. You can (albeit barely) notice the ports on the hood, the body creases are all the same, the taillight design carried over intact. What I do notice right away though, is how they cheapened out on the front bumper and inside the headlights, and blackened out the blingy chrome waterfall grill as well. The profile of the car, if you look closely, resembles that of the concept. Don't see much of a problem otherwise, except for the few things I did point out. Possibly, could be that this is a base model, and the revised front bumper, grille, headlights and possibly bigger wheels would be reserved for an upper model or "super" version? Just speculating with the rest of you here.

I thought the same thing, as it wouldn't fit well being a Buick...

Agreed Satty. On top of the obvious lack of money it would take to shut down Saturn, I would honestly like to see Pontiac shut down before Saturn, because I wouldn't want to see Pontiac re-imaged as the brand GM no longer cares about. They get re-badged leftovers like the G3, G5 and Torrent (yes I know Torrent is finally done with though), but lets think back to what Pontiac was about...performance. What does today's America need more than anything? Fuel efficiency. There is not enough consumer interest to support a brand made up of performance-oriented offerings (if GM restored Pontiac to what it used to be), so if it can't be what made it great, and since no one here would want to see it as re-badged division, what is it's purpose again? To have the name live forever? Kind of selfish if you ask me. A division like Buick offers more of what I think consumers would want in that price range. Quality interiors, comfort, power and style. Pontiac was always about cheap power. These days people see a car and think "Sure this car has power, but that car has power and a better interior for equal money", in essence, they look for the better package. We all know that power isn't the only thing people shop for anymore. As I stated in my above posts, we're a different market in this day in age. Some things that were once relevant to more people, are now relevant to only few. It's about comfort and fuel efficiency these days, not raw power. The automaker that can offer those products with a comfortable pricetag in its target market, is the one who will net the most sales. Let Pontiac die with some dignity, and please take Saab with it. I don't want to see their good names smeared in the mud any longer.

gm4life...I understand you want to get something both you and your son would enjoy, but why not consider something cheap and efficient if your son is primarily going to be driving it? Sure a Bonneville SSEI would be nice, and I'm sure he would love it to death, but is that really something he would "need" right now? Your country is falling into hard times, gas prices are at a small point of relief right now, but is most likely going to still climb up at a slow and steady pace. Do you really want to put yourself at risk to buy something that goes through gas like crazy? If your son plans on buying a Camaro after school, why not get something that's cheap to run and maintain until he's done school, so that when it's time for him to replace it, it won't be too hard to sell, and he can then get something "fun" for himself? When it was time for me to get my first car, there were several things I wanted to buy, but since I made crappy money at my part-time job, I bought what I could afford, which at the time was a 1990 sunbird 4 door. No it wasn't cool, and yes, my friends had cooler cars than I did, but the whole point of it was to get me to and from school and my co-op placement (something I couldn't do with a bus-pass at the time). My dad helped me out with insurance and the occasional $20 for gas so I was deeply grateful for that, but looking back, I didn't want to put him in a position where I would ask for more help than I had to, so I drove that POS till I could afford something better. Yes, I drove the POS for 4 years, but that ain't the point. I was only in high school at the time. Moral of the story, is that I hope that your looking at this car as a way of your son getting to and from school, and not as a way to serve your own needs of having a Bonneville back in your driveway, because if your son will be putting in the gas and paying the insurance, he's going to be hurting in the longrun.

I actually think the new 'bu is alright looking, but it's not really european in looks. As well, the Aura was designed before they brought out the new 'bu, so really, it's Chevy's fault that the 'bu looks as upscale as it does and bested the Aura (in your opinion) in both interior and exterior. I would still much rather have an Aura because it's clean, simple, and has that front fascia that screams class (again, to me). The 'Bu's rear end ireminds me of the girl you don't want to tap in college. It's ugly, and big. The C-Pillar is overwhelming to me. It ruins the profile of the car. The interior looks good, but it's a bit distracting to have those arches in the dash. Not sure if I like it too much. Almost like they are trying too hard to be different. Look at any euro car, and you won't see that. They usually have simple and clean interiors, not busy ones. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. My post above reflected what I think Chevy and Saturn should be positioned as. If Lutz did change his mind (and I wish he would) about bringing the Insignia over intact and making it the Aura, it would truly be the beginning to how I stated in my above post. The outlook, though I love it, should be removed from the Saturn lineup. I do, however, feel that it looks way better than the Travesty, so I would recommend GM to move the Outlook to the Chevy lineup and can that $h!box design for the Travesty. It looks big and awkward. The taillights are almost too VW for my liking, and the frontend says "get out of my way or I'm going to eat you". The whole design is to the eye, the way Roseanne Barr is to stripping. The solstice is too round. It's an alright design but the frontend is too cutesy. The sky looks alot more upscale, and the interior of the Sky is far better than the Solstice. Can you even compare the two? I hear your point about the Astra, but what happens if Saturn adds the Corsa to the lineup? Then you have an upscale alternative to the Aveo...

Though it would truly be sad to see Pontiac fade away, I honestly think it's for the best. Times change. We aren't the same society or the same consumers as those of the 50's, 60's, or 70's. In those times, yes, names like Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Buick, and Chevrolet were huge. They could all offer similar products that appealed to different markets. Since then, the consumer as we know him/her, has evolved. They don't want re-badged, overlapping products. This leads to price wars. For example, why buy an Aura when the Malibu drives the same and can be had for 2K less after haggling - this is just an example). These consumers believe in one offering, per manufacturer, per market, like those cross-shopping an Accord, with Camry, or Malibu; not Accord, Camry, Malibu, G6, Aura, TSX, Avalon. On the same note, I never saw a point to have Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, Cadillac and Saab all offer products within North America in today's market. They all overlap to some degree. There was no longer a point to Oldsmobile, no point to Saab, and no point to Pontiac anymore. The reason I bring up Pontiac there, is because if people want luxury and performance, they have Buick and Cadillac (depending on their price-range), if they want lower end, they will have Chevy and Saturn. Chevy offers mainstream at affordable pricing, Saturn was to offer a slightly more premium offering, with cars such as Corsa, Astra, Meriva, Aura and Vue for those that didn't want budget Chevrolets with cheaper materials and bland styling. Then comes Buick and Cadillac for those that want more than what Saturn has to offer, at an obviously more premium price. The way I see it happening for GM's car lineups (excluding full sized trucks and large SUV's)... Chevy - mainstream cars that offer value and no frills Saturn - same cars that Chevy offers, only with Euro flair (like Honda/Acura) - but offer better materials, more options as well as turbos, diesels and hybrids Buick - Entry Lux offerings that have V6 (or optional V8) power with quietness and comfort - have limited sport models for each car, but keep everything FWD Cadillac - High-end lux that offers latest cutting edge technology and innovation - make them V6 or V8 (as they are now) and keep them all RWD or optional AWD In terms of car models, I think this covers the bases. That way each division's models can be further differentiated in price, not having them too close together as they are now. Each car that GM makes right now, has cars that overlap eachother. The general isn't in the business to compete against itself, so why build the same cars to do so? To save a buck? Truthfully, I think of Saab as too close to being like Cadillac, Pontiac is too close to Buick, Saturn and Chevy are too similar in current format as well. None of them have a true direction. Unfortunately, history cannot be repeated time and time again, or the general will fail, because again, we aren't the same consumers in this day in age as we were in the early eras. Times have changed and GM has to realize they have to change with it, or fail. Guys, I am 28 years old. I wasn't alive in those eras, but I hope you all understand I am a big fan of older cars. I have a love and appreciation for them, but to keep something around way past it's prime is ridiculous. Almost like an old dog that used to be strong and mean, that is now withering away and always sleeping. It's sad to see, and will never return to it's original greatness or it's past prime. Let it end. I would rather not see Pontiac convert to just being a re-badged division that has Holden and Opel cars, because Pontiac has a huge history behind it. Why let it linger on like the old dog that wants to die, but is kept on life support for everyone else's benefit?

Yeah I'm bored too

The silhouette reminds me of an S2000 at first glimpse, however if you can make out the grill area, it can also look like a 1st gen focus fascia. Either way, will be a solid car.

That's the question I would like answered too...

I see bits of ION and cobalt in the design of this thing, but mainly because it's still on Delta. The C-pillar comes directly from the ION sedan, same for the trunklid, same for the rear bumper where it meets the taillights, how it flows from the bottom of the taillight through to the bumper. Cobalt shared those details, and so does the Cruze. I see the design as more evolutionary instead of revolutionary. I'm not sure if it's because I'm Canadian instead of American, but this thing needs some major rhinoplasty. The front end is hideous. Those headlights will give little kids nightmares for the rest of their childhoods. The taillights are way too similar to the canuck-only Acura CSX (civic reskin for Canada). The profile makes me think they just combined influences of different cars and slapped them on. Example of the tails: For my next car, I'm buying a used Astra or Aura, and once that car and my Vue have served their time, I'm officially done with GM (if they are even around that long). They have screwed us over long enough. The way it makes me feel, as a consumer in the marketplace, is that if you don't have $30K or more to spend on their vehicles, you'll be getting the crap end of the stick when it comes to what they can offer you. For the price they ask for some of their crap, you can buy a great car through another brand. I think I'll shop around in 10 years time when it comes to replacing my vehicles. I'll be looking to find an automaker who cares about the direction it's going into.

Congrats to your friend. He let one miniscule detail ruin a perfectly good car purchase. You can easily add an ipod jack to your factory deck without the need for splicing. Ah well, hope the chrysler serves him well. On a side note, I would also like a hit off the same bong as your friend. He must be getting some good stuff if he likes the sebring's materials better than the Accord.

Wow, they are so awesome!!!!, they even have a city named after them.

The profile looks slightly hummer to me, but the front end reminds me of 1st-gen caravan with land rover headlights.

I know I'm late to the party in replying, but this thing looks almost nothing like an Enclave, but rather, alot like a tall camry with Enclave taillights

There's something wrong with the designers of that car. A real mental problem that needs to be diagnosed.

I do see the resemblance to the Vue, but since I have a Vue, I don't think of it as offensive. I like it quite a bit actually. I've had alot of compliments on my vue. People think it looks quite upscale, and they think I've paid more than I really did. I think the new SRX will sell better than the outgoing model, simply because the outgoing model was more bland (though I liked it quite a bit personally). This new one looks edgy and has some design cues that add character to it. These are the kinds of things that attract the target market over to RX territory. It's edgy, but IMO not over-the top, like it could have been. I think it'll do well.

I'd like to say congrats. That's a great first car to have. That gen was probably the best one for the camry. Enjoy it.

I'm stunned at the amount of people in this thread who actually get that nerve-racked about such a small detail. The car is great, performance is great, looks and handles great. So you lose a small screen in the center of the console, even though your eyes should be fixed to the road while driving...big deal You could always swap in a screen from the '08 model If you let things like that affect your car purchases...you need to get out more.

That is very darn similar...even the side profile from what we can see... EDIT: After reading the fine print which says artist rendering, maybe they took a picture of the Opel GT and photoshopped it.

For my regular ringtone, I have Borat saying "You have call, yes?" and when my wife calls from either her cell, or our house, you hear multiple sirens (think breaking out of prison) followed by "warning, warning...it's the wife...it's the wife" and more sirens Quite funny actually. She hates it, but alot of others get a kick out of it

Not liking that Sport red metallic...My favorite color for the G8 is the liquid red Pacific Slate Metallic is alright though

Very nice truck ocnblu. THough I favor tailpipes out the back, that looks rather good as well the way you did it.

ocnblu and Dave87rs... I honestly hate to hear of hard times for anyone. I myself am going through it as well. Part of that, though, is my fault. I just bought an 08 Vue to replace to of my vehicles. I had an 04 Saturn ION (modded but still great on gas) and my dad's 98 Chevy C1500 after he passed away. The truck honestly hurt me just sitting there. It gave us virtually zero major problems, but the cost of insuring both, gas for both, maintenance for both, on top of a new mortgage, and new addition to the stable, really made for some hard times. My wife is trying desperately to find a full-time job that pays anything more than minimum wage as an effective supplementary income and as well to try to save enough money to go back to school. I work in a hospital, and am thankful that my job is relatively stable for the next couple years. But I won't lie, times are tough. Our house isn't a big one, but we couldn't put down 20% so our mortgage is considered high-risk. On top of that, I needed a larger vehicle than my ION, but something that didn't drink gas like the truck. Hence, the Vue. I got lucky selling the truck though, I tried autotrader and didn't even get a callback for a month's worth of advertising. What got the sale was a "for sale sign" that I purchased at the local convenience store for $3.50. Happened to be a guy that lives 12 minutes away from me who passes my house to goto work. He is a handyman who happens to do side-jobs on the weekends for extra cash. Saw the truck, came in to talk with me one day before work, and gave me $8,800 for it (CDN funds). I was asking $9,200 and that was highballing it too. He actually shook my hand, and thanked me several times because it was "exactly what he was looking for". He couldn't do much work on the weekends as of lately, because his rusted out Ford Bronco was starting to give him major intermittent issues. This was 3 and a half months ago (in the wake of the soaring prices). You might be able to find someone like that. Would never hurt to try. I would say to try with just the sign in your front windshield, because you never know who is going to pass by and notice it. Autotrader, on the other hand, can get expensive, and the people on there are more than likely, going to compare your truck to several others based on price alone. Visually seeing it in person though may spark that "gotta have it" impulse buy. Good luck to both of you. I hope everything works out. Just keep your head up high, and things will improve. They always do.

Well I don't usually test-drive the same cars in all different conditions, so if it happened to be a time other than rush hour, please accept my apologies. I have passed with them both on the highway. Found the Vue to have more snap to it. Acceleration was smoother as well. Handling while on the on-ramp was alot better in the Vue. Felt more planted to the ground. The Nox felt like it was going to tip if you pushed it. The Vue didn't. So I guess if you got the 'Nox sport with the same 3.6 as in the Vue, you wouldn't have as much power on demand since it's "new tech"? Doesn't make much sense to me. Who cares if the new engine is "new tech" vs. the old-tech engine that comes standard in the Nox. By the way, the 3.5L V6 is the mid-grade engine used in the Vue (The XE model with AWD), and it's considered "high-value", known as a more pleasant way of saying "old tech". Not sure where else you want me to go with this. When I test drove both the 'Nox/Torrent twins and Vue, I had the salesman, my wife and myself in the car. This is actually more weight in the test-vehicles since 9 times out of 10, it's usually my wife, my infant son and myself in the car. So I know a bit about how the car would act and react in real world driving (in terms of my situation). Bottom line is this...people are too wrapped up with power. If it was dangerous to drive an SUV with a 4 cyl, why would they make them? Now apparantly, it takes a multi-second delay from the time you mash the gas to the time the tranny downshifts and propels you forward. While I interpret that is a gross-overstatement, go ahead and think that for yourself as much as you want. When I was in driving school many moons ago, they taught us never to overtake a vehicle unless it is safe to do so. If you're supposed car takes 3 or 4 seconds to downshift and you run the risk of some car hitting you from behind, have a bit of patience and wait for a better time to pass. On top of that, if you car takes that long to downshift, you should be raising some concerns to the maker of that vehicle, because that's pretty bad. We don't need massive amounts of power to drive, unless towing something of a large nature. In normal everyday driving situations, most North Americans don't need more than 4 cylinder power to drive safely and effectively. But for some reason, we have this notion in our heads that we need this and need that. We don't need it, we want it for the occasional time we might have to use it. That's not a need, it's a want. Sorry if any of you can't control your wants. Until I became a parent, I was guilty of that too, but it's not just about me anymore. I guess you could say I became more sensible. I wonder what happened back in the day of sub-100hp 4 bangers under the hood of deathtraps such as cavaliers and J2000's, or better yet, 140hp V6's powering 4,000 lb. cars (AKA Oldsmobile cutlasses). The peppiness just want there, so there must have been a ton of accidents on the road back then.

Agreed.