This is a picture of my old Saturn VUE that my mom now drives in San Antonio. Shockingly enough, this picture was actually taken by me in SA a couple of years ago during a freak ice storm (one would have expected this to be in the frozen hell that I now live in, no?).
Sadly, the deal to buy Saturn from GM fell apart yesterday and they are getting rid of the brand. TRAGIC, I tell you. We have been a Saturn family for a long-ass time. My mom got her first one way back in the day when the brand was only a couple of years old. It was her first ever "non-used" car and when my dad bought it, he told me that it would be mine when I turned 16 (lies, I tell you because my mom loved it so much that she wouldn't give it to me). That car went through hell and back because my mom very near totalled it a couple of times. It was like a cat with nine lives.
When I was in college, my mom got an upgraded and bigger Saturn that ironically was maroon HAHAHA! My college is her college's rival and maroon was our color so I liked to make fun of this fact. She stuck a big fat silver longhorn on the back of it to spite me, I swear. And one on my old VUE, which reminds me that I need to flip that bad boy over or figure out how to "saw the horns off" next time I'm home.
When my brother started driving he got a little red 2 door Saturn coupe stick shift. I was without a car one Christmas break and he'd gotten into a little trouble that involved him not being able to drive so I learned how to drive a stick on that bad boy. I think he called it Red Rover if I remember correctly. Learning how to drive that thing was such a project that involved lots of my dad and brother yelling at me because I sucked royally at it at first.
When the VUE (SUV) came out, my mom and I practically drooled over the thing in the showroom. It was a lovely little car for driving challenged people like us because it's an SUV that sits on a car chassis so it's not a land yacht to struggle to park. After this evil man totalled my jalopy one year (STAY IN YOUR OWN LANE, IDIOT SAN ANTONIO DRIVERS!), I made my first ever car purchase of a used Saturn VUE (the one pictured above). Last year when I moved to Chicago and decided I didn't need a car anymore, my mom took over the loan for me and she gets to drive it now. It makes me a little sad and forlorn when I visit home sometimes because I dearly adored my little dream car.
Needless to say, I'm slightly crushed by today's sad news. What the heck is GM thinking? Saturn is one of the most unique and cool brands of American made cars. They run like little champions too! I'm disappointed and frankly shocked that they aren't going to try to save Saturn because I assume it's a decent seller. Those cute (and powerful) Sky convertibles supposedly have a couple year waiting list. Oh well, I'll have to find a new car brand to be loyal to and I guess it works out seeing as how my fiance despises American made cars.
*on a completely unrelated note, tomorrow is a mega-huge day here in Chi-city. The International Olympic Committee makes their 2016 Olympics decision sometime in the morning. Check out my ethnocentric mini-rant about the other bid cities for reasons why Chicago should totally win. And seriously, if Oprah can't convince them, I don't know what else the city could have done.
I know how you feel. I've had my SL2 for almost 10 years - and will probably be driving it until it falls apart. I've been wanting a VUE for years. Should've moved faster I guess. What was GM thinking? I know so many happy Saturn owners, and the people at the dealerships are always so nice. Chevy and GMC basically have the same models - why not get rid of one of them instead?!? Ugh.
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