I kind of lump therm all together lol

 

I never owned a Saturn but was intrigued by their dent-proof doors and no-haggle pricing, and I loved their quirky cheerful commercials. Thanks for the Retro Write-Up and trip down memory lane.

 

Friend of mine had a very old Cavalier coupe, and it was actually fine for what it was. Not an amazing car by any means, but simple reliable transportation. I do know they got dramatically worse in later generations, eventually being replaced by the horrid Cobalt that I rented.

I don't think I've driven ANY subcompact CUVs (smallest is probably the BMW X1), so I haven't "had the pleasure" of the Caliber/Compass.

 

Glad you enjoyed it. Since the pandemic two years ago, which greatly restricted the availablillty of new vehicles for review, I have been doing write-ups instead on older vehicles and/or those I have owned in the past.

Saturn employees, at the Spring Hill, TN plant, where the S-series was built, also had a completely separate contact from the rest of the UAW, enjoying perks and better working conditions than many other auto workers did at the time. Thus, to some extent, they were resented, not only by workers at other companies, but even by those at other Saturn plants like the one in Wilmington, DE, where the L-series was built.

 

Thanks for your input.

I remember reviewing a bright yellow Cobalt SS with the manual transmission. It was only marginally better then the previous Cavalier I had sampled...and had an awkward clutch that, especially facing uphill, was almost impossible to release smoothly without excessive-slippage, just like the old FWD Citation I had many years ago. Had a fair amount of power, though.

The Caliber and Compass were pretty much junk IMO. They were so much of an embarrassment at the time to Chrysler that a fair amount was spent trying to improve the Compass interior, and the Caliber was dropped completely and replaced by the much nicer Dart.

 

[QUOTE=mmarshall;11321079]
The Caliber and Compass were pretty much junk IMO. They were so much of an embarrassment at the time to Chrysler that a fair amount was spent trying to improve the Compass interior, and the Caliber was dropped completely and replaced by the much nicer Dart.[/QUOTE]

Speaking of embarassment anyone remember the Chevy Chevette?

I had the priveledge to drive one of those turds as a loaner from a friend.
All I could think of when driving it was, "what a piece of junk!". haha

That may be a car Chevy wishes everyone would forget too...

Makes the newer GM products like the Saturn look like Luxury vehicles.

 

Friend of mine when I was a teenager had one that he referred to as the "Chevette 'o Death". The driver's door was inoperative, so everyone had to get in from the passenger side, and the driver had to crawl over the shifter. The horn didn't work, so he installed an aooga horn with a button on the dash. And the first time I actually saw him driving it, the entire exhaust system fell off in the street as he was driving by. Truly a reprehensible POS. He replaced it a few years later with an Olds Cutlass Ciera coupe, which was actually quite nice.

 

Yeah......the El-Strippo Chevette Scooter was especially cheap, and, at first, listed for under $3000. It was decontended almost down to the bare walls inside LOL.......didn't even have a back seat.

The Chevette, BTW, was not a completely home-grown GM product....but it is unclear how much of it was GM and how much was rebadged-Isuzu.

 

We may (me included) ? be getting a little off topic....the L-Series.