Pleasant Suprise from....a Saturn?

noisycricket wrote: Better build quality doesn't mean crap on the used market.

Stupidest thing I've read on this board in a while.

Is it?

You need to look at the car in front of you, not what it was when it was new.

Hondas have high resale value. So, a worn out, beat up, trashed POS Honda owned by a 3-pack-a-day chainsmoker who always drove everywhere with her three dogs is going to be about the same value as a Saturn that is in decent shape barring the usual mechanical maladies that affect all cars on the used market. In that case, the Saturn is the better buy because it's a better car, when considering the machine in question and not the theoreticals.

ignorant wrote:

noisycricket wrote: Better build quality doesn't mean crap on the used market.

Stupidest thing I've read on this board in a while.

ummm,

whens the last time you looked at resale value on BMW's ?

i mean.. i dont think you can really argue that they have bad build quality, but they have a very steep depriciation curve.

I got my beauty of a Civic for $4k. One owner perfectly maintained with all the service records and brand new tires. And my Civic is being prepared for FSP. And why should you really care if you are lumped in with ricer boy and his big wing. You aren't him at that is all that matters.

Apexcarver wrote:

ignorant wrote:

noisycricket wrote: Better build quality doesn't mean crap on the used market.

Stupidest thing I've read on this board in a while.

ummm, whens the last time you looked at resale value on BMW's ? i mean.. i dont think you can really argue that they have bad build quality, but they have a very steep depriciation curve.

The way I interpreted it was not from a pricing point but from a longevity point. Maybe I misunderstood, but I go by the Garbage in garbage out point of view. Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

noisycricket wrote: Is it? You need to look at the car in front of you, not what it was when it was new. Hondas have high resale value. So, a worn out, beat up, trashed POS Honda owned by a 3-pack-a-day chainsmoker who always drove everywhere with her three dogs is going to be about the same value as a Saturn that is in decent shape barring the usual mechanical maladies that affect all cars on the used market. In that case, the Saturn is the better buy because it's a better car, when considering the machine in question and not the theoreticals.

did you read my example. for the same price as a nice saturn, i bought a barely used professor owned honda civic. your generalizations do not work. The civic had a new t-belt, new waterpump, new distributor, 02 sensor and plugs/wires all from the dealer with recpits to back it up. Had a dented fender, which I replaced for $25.

Now back to saturns, I enjoyed the engine it was a rev happy little guy. i wanted an SL1 with a DOHC motor stripped out, I thought it would be a fun car for autox. I also thought the car handled pretty nice.. The low weight really helped it along. Even though it does have a crude suspension(welll.. the more politically correct term is "value engineered"), The auto transmission was very crude, which screwed things up a bit. Wish it was a manual. I was pretty annoyed with the fact that the car required regular throttle body cleaning, egr pintle cleanings, pcv changes, engine coolant temp sensor changes, and a yearly pull of the coil pack to sand the back side of it to make sure it got a good ground to the trans.(when doing that either replace the bolts or sand them as well.. remember coat with dielectric afterward)...