Official: Opel Astra will come to the US as a Saturn for MY08.

[NAIDANAC A]

To bug us GM fans?

[BlaRo]

To bug us GM fans?

Wow, I thought that was an oxymoron...

[No Boss]

LOL. ignore list FTW.

[Cobol74]

This one is nice:



Some other Astras:

[bone]

that's the old model, and they didn't look a lot like this one in case you weren't aware

[Incognito.]

Yes, fun, but now I feel dirty for driving a Vauxhall


If you don't mind cheap build quality and ho-hum reliability. Honestly, the Cobalt SS is a fun car, but it's just so cheaply made just like pretty well every other American car (no, I'm not spouting out Jezza dogma). None of the switches fit properly, the electric controls on doors are on a piece that squishes around and everything seems like it's intentionally made to look as plasticy as possible.

sorry to bring this topic back from the dead...

I have an 06 Cobalt SS/SC and its a great little car.
I have had mine for almost a year now, and I have had some things fail, but thats what warrenty is for, and the one thing that did break, was my fault.
no car is perfect, and im sure there is more brands out there then "american" cars that have failures and have to go back to get service done.
other then that, I have had no problems with mine, no problems with switches not fitting right, or stuff falling off, or anything like that.
after a year or driving, the car still feels tight, rattle free and still looks are performs like it was new.
I do agree that certain things are made cheap and are ridiculous, like the dash in the cobalt, what was GM thinkin when they made that, its a slab of thin plastic that looks ridiculous, if I had one and only one complaint about the car, that would be it.

[bone]

i drive one as well, and there's an annoying rattle in the plastic around the steering wheel. i need to get my wheels realligned every month or so (might be my fault), cruise control only works half of the time. i clean the car with a steamer, and if i spray the fixed windows in the rear doors, the wather drains down them...on the inside. last week i "cleaned" off the paint of my rear bumper, it's black plastic right now. and when you start it, and put it in reverse, there's a grinch like you didn't use your clutch. doesn't sound healthy at all (and they all do that - each time mine needs an oil-change, i get another one, so i've driven quite a few, and they're all the same)

so that's what sucks about them, now what's annoying about them
firstly, i hate that ABS with a passion. it kicks in way to early, and keeps you rolling way to long (almost crashed the car today due to that). dash lighting stays on 24/7. normally you put on your lights when you can't read your dash propperly. well, you can read it always, so you're always the last to put on your lights. if you put on/off your lights, it takes about a second before they actually light up/go out. doesn't make it bad, but it's annoying

it never broke down though....and they've been abused quite a lot (my boss sometimes use them to do courselearning for the rally he participates in)

but, i do about 1500-2000km a week, and i never had the fealing of "ught, again that car", so it's possible to live with them

[AltimaXX]

I've been waiting for this/saying this needed to happen for a year or two now. It's about time, GM.

[Cobol74]

that's the old model, and they didn't look a lot like this one in case you weren't aware

I was being ironic - should have mentioned that it was the old chassis tho'. I rather like the new Astra and the new Corsa is a dinky little car too. Opel on the case at last over here, shame Ford has the Focus in the Astra's case as it is a better car and both are a better price than the Golf.

[AG.Daiba]

finally gm have come round to save saturn.
AZTEK, RELAY, ION, VUE, L200, OUTLOOK were all dreadful and perhaps the worst vehicles sold in america except for maybe buick.

the easiest fix in the world: erase the opel and vauxhall badges and glue on saturn ones.

maybe bring us some VXRs too while you're at it.

now if only ford could come round too.
2 words... focus st.

[NecroJoe]

maybe bring us some VXRs too while you're at it.

Hmm...I rather Like Saturn's lexicon, with the "Redline" line... A "Saturn Vectra Redline" sounds cool...

now if only ford could come round too. 2 words... focus st.

Yeah, I just watched that episode of Top Gear. Hell, I'd take the 5-door Civic Hatchback that we don't get here either! Interesting thing...we'll NEVER get that generation of Focus. They are updating the current US focus, but it won't be the euro spec!

Bwa?!

[SoxXpupPeT]

i dont get it at all. the Focus ST would sell so fast here it isnt even funny. i guess Ford just doesnt realize anything ? im just glad to see GM is. ive always been a chevy guy

[BlaRo]

finally gm have come round to save saturn.
AZTEK, RELAY, ION, VUE, L200, OUTLOOK were all dreadful and perhaps the worst vehicles sold in america except for maybe buick.

, Aztek was a Pontiac and the Outlook just came out as part of the new Saturn, so how would you know how bad that is? I agree with you on the rest, though.

[klutch]

Ugg...the Cobalt SS. I know its been manufactured to a price point, and I wanted to like it for being such a cheap, supercharged compact...

I took a new one for a drive, off the dealer's lot this summer. As I got in the car, the salesman notified me of a few things I should be aware of: the boost gauge didn't work, the right headlight was broken, and the seatbelt retentioner on the driver's side was a bit "grabby". I realized within the first 5 minutes of the drive that the rear left brake was locking under hard braking, meaning a few hard stops produced a lot of lockup and noise as the tire slid at the lights. Torque steer was pretty violent in first and second gear, and the car seemed to run out of steam on the highway around 90. "But for the money, its a good car..."

[jetsetter]

Ugg...the Cobalt SS. I know its been manufactured to a price point, and I wanted to like it for being such a cheap, supercharged compact...

I took a new one for a drive, off the dealer's lot this summer. As I got in the car, the salesman notified me of a few things I should be aware of: the boost gauge didn't work, the right headlight was broken, and the seatbelt retentioner on the driver's side was a bit "grabby". I realized within the first 5 minutes of the drive that the rear left brake was locking under hard braking, meaning a few hard stops produced a lot of lockup and noise as the tire slid at the lights. Torque steer was pretty violent in first and second gear, and the car seemed to run out of steam on the highway around 90. "But for the money, its a good car..."

Seems that the magazines like it. Not sure about your experience.

[NAIDANAC A]

Perhaps you had a crap car? My dad took two out this year (me in passenger I can't test drive only G2) and they were fine.

[Cobol74]

jetsetter Crap dealer, you should not be allowed to take a car out in that condition; the dealer should NEVER let a vehicle out with a customer in that state, it should always be perfect.

[jetsetter]

jetsetter Crap dealer, you should not be allowed to take a car out in that condition; the dealer should NEVER let a vehicle out with a customer in that state, it should always be perfect.

That is what I was thinking. Perhaps it was a demo vehicle or something like that.

[scoops]

That is what I was thinking. Perhaps it was a demo vehicle or something like that.

the unfortunate thing is that Suturn is only allowed to sell so much volume compared to the other Chevy products, maybe that will change in the coming years because the styling on the Saturns is way ahead of the others.

[jetsetter]

the unfortunate thing is that Suturn is only allowed to sell so much volume compared to the other Chevy products, maybe that will change in the coming years because the styling on the Saturns is way ahead of the others.

Styling on cars is much like styling on buildings. There is no ahead or back. These may be new styles but that does not mean that they are ahead, just differrent.