We “old folks” will remember the close of the Mickey Mouse Club. The song said something like “…now its time to say goodbye to all our company…”. Well its finally time for us to say goodbye to our family Saturn Vue.
In all total we racked up just over 213,300 miles on “Goldie”. She still looked great, inside and out. But as time takes its toll on humans, it had begun to take its toll on her as well.
Earlier this year we started experiencing a transmission problem. I’ve heard about the common issue with a certain wave plate in the transmission, but this was a bit different. The codes thrown and symptoms indicated it was a throttle body pressure issue (or something similar to that). This was verified by the transmission shop. Essentially at moderate speed, any light increase in speed that normally require a gear reduction would generate a pulsing where transmission was and was not downshifting very fast. It was like there was not enough pressure to fully shift down a gear. If you pressed harder to the point that the trans would be required to shift down two or more gears, everything would be fine.
So after a trans repair it was fine for a while. But just like they say, once you go into a transmission, its never quite the same. Symptoms reappeared and were getting worse.
Well considering it was time for a new vehicle soon anyway along with the fact that it was time for new front shocks, we decided it was time to let her go.
So overall, the Goldie was a great part of the family. She has been packed to the gills taking our daughter to college. She has weathered plenty of Michigan winters. Her all-wheel drive was great. She never got stuck in snow or slowed due to extreme heat or cold.
So after some initial trouble with a bad wiring harness (see original Ultra-Long Term Review for details) this vehicle has been great.
It was sort of sad to see GM kill off the Saturn brand. I understand there were some issues and I guess we had some too early on. This particular design still looked great. So much so that they continued it on as a Chevy Captiva after Saturn was discontinued. But in retrospect and over the long term this car was pretty reliable.
Our new Lifestyle Contributor will give you some information of our new acquisition, but for now I can give the car some great accolades.
My grades are:
Design (long-term) – B+. Still looks good and not dated
Interior – B. It could be larger, but its a compact crossover
Storage – C+. We initially thought it could be larger, but due to a high rear floor and sloping rear deck, the ability to carry large items was somewhat limited. Overall good though.
Drivetrain – C. Typical.
Economy – D. For the size it should have been better. We typically achieved just over 20mpg. For a vehicle this size we expected more.
In Summary, we will miss Goldie. She served us well. We look forward to providing updates on the new addition to the family, a 2017 GMC Terrain SLT. So far it looks great.