Why I decided on the Saturn Vue

As you know from Tim's blog , we have purchased another Saturn. Playing musical cars again. I had looked on the website to see what used cars might be available and some stats about them. After looking at things, I decided I wanted something a little bigger than the Saturn sedans because it seems we so frequently think "if we had the minivan or the wagon here we could haul this". I also like to sit up a bit higher so I can see over the hood better and see over some of the cars better (guess that comes from driving the Aerostars and the conversion van for all those years). However, I was open to looking and seeing what was on the lot and possibly test drive a few.
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So last Saturday I ask Tim if he wants to go to Saturn. Even though he had other things he would have probably preferred to do, we knew we needed to do something so Ryan had some transportation without planning the big car switch every night. (By the way, Ryan, you still owe Mom a down payment). When we get to Saturn, I almost immediately gravitate to the Vue. I like the size (it's the same length as the L series I was driving), I like the way it sits, I just liked it overall. We get greeted by a salesperson fairly quickly and start talking about needs and wants. She talks to us about the Vue as well as their newer L-series car (Tim, you'll have to remind me what that model is called) and we sit in the new cars. We also talk about the used cars they might have on the lot. We pretty much decide on the Vue, go out to look at the used cars. She shows us a 2007, 4 cylinder and a 2006 6 cylinder and we decided to take them both for a test drive. I had also seen an L-series wagon on the web, so we ask her about that and sit in it. I immediately knew that wasn't the car I wanted. The 2007 was SO comfortable, did feel at all underpowered, and I fell in love! I didn't really like the 2006 mostly for the color (a pretty bright, ugly red), but also because it just didn't really need the 6-cylinder engine. We looked over some of the other used Vue's, but none had the low mileage that the 2007 had (18,000 miles--it really was the best value on the lot). It will seat five for short distances fairly comfortably and with four, there is plenty of leg room in the back. Tim can even sit in the driver's seat with me having it raised as high as it will go and not hit his head on the roof (which he couldn't do in the L).

Now to decide if that was what I really wanted or if I wanted to go new to get all the bells and whistles because I know I will be driving this car for several years. I do like a front-wheel drive (I think our second Aerostar was front wheel drive), liked the power seats on the new cars and thought about the possibility of heated seats if I got a new car. So we tested the 2008 Vue as well because Saturn has changed the body type and it does drive and sit very differently. After the test drive, I decided that the 2007 was the one that just "fit" me best. It was the most comfortable and the most fun to drive as well as the best value for the money. We probably saved $6000 by going with the used car. After driving it now for a week, I know we made the right decision. It would be nice to have a couple of the other luxuries, but overall I just love my new car! It's a lot of fun to drive and I really couldn't be happier.

So that's the story of how I decided on my new car. Next time it will be Tim's turn for the new car--but probably not for a while.