Aside from the Ubiquitous Grand Am which is everywhere and seems to survive everything exactly like a cockroach would.. I rarely see Saabs, Saturns, and other Pontiacs on the road anymore. It was not all that long ago that GM orphaned those cars.. have they all died and been recycled already?
I see them all the time her in the Midwest. Saabs more towards the city, but out here in the boondocks, plenty of Saturns and Pontiacs.
The brands were killed in 2009.
For Saturn: The last models that sold well were the Ion and the Vue. Both were introduced in '03 and ran till '07. It can likely be argued that their last year of the models were the slowest selling; this means '06.
Therefore, it was '06 or 9 years ago before they had good sales years.
I think the expected "lifetime" of a vehicle is 7 years. This means that many for "the big sales years" have just aged-away.
In '08 Saturn put out the Gen2 Vue which probably sold well for 1 to 1.5 years before the plug was pulled. They are still out there and GM revived it as the rental-car-only, Chevy Captiva.
Aura had some sales success but you could get the same thing in a G6.
Astra never sold well.
Sky was a niche vehicle and the only Saturn that will be "collectable."
Saab also was left holding the bag on models that were "old designs"
Saab was never a large volume seller anyway. They are not that hard to find.
Pontiac was still selling strong but GM felt it could not keep Buick and Pontiac so they killed the wrong one. Wrong, except, the Buick name was/is strong in China. As you point out, the strongest sellers, Grand Am/G6 are still very easy to find.
At the end, the Saturn Aura, The Saab 9-3 and the Pontiac G6 were likely the largest seller for each brand and those models all shared the same platform.
There are still a decent number of GM era SAABs around here, but 9000s and c900s are getting pretty thin. In fact, nearly every time I see a c900 on the road near Philly, it's being driven by some one that I've met before. Ironically, I see way more 97x now, than I did when they were being built.
1st and 2nd gen Saturns are becoming a rarity.
All Pontiacs are like Cockroaches, declaring them extinct hasn't decreased their population at all. I just whish that they had made a few more GTOs
I live near a college so I see Saturns all the time. Also one of my coworkers has a Vue. But I think I've seen 2 Saabs this year (and one is actually a Subaru). I saw a new style GTO wrecked by the side of the road a few months ago, and my neighbor's son has a G8, but other than that, sightings are rare.
I still see a lot of Saturns and Saabs around here. In fact, I'm always seeing Saabs on Craigslist, though mostly of the 9-3 era.
They're in my driveway! (I only own orphans 
)
All the Pontiacs are in MN, every other car.
How do you feel about Oldsmobile? That brand went out in '04.
Still lots of Intriques and Aleros out there.
here, and looking for another 9-7x 5.3i for my mom. half contemplated selling my avalanche and looking for an Aero for myself.
JohnRW1621 wrote: How do you feel about Oldsmobile? That brand went out in '04. Still lots of Intriques and Aleros out there.
I see a few Aleros where I live, and occasionally I see a mid-80s Cutlass
I miss Oldsmobile, although Hummers seem to cockroaches unlike Daewoos
I still see lots of them in Michigan. Released my own '97 Saturn to the wild a year ago after 200K. Replaced it with a Pontiac. Now I have 2!
Son's 2004 Saturn is in the driveway right now (he & DIL are visiting for the weekend).
I still see a decent amount of Grand Prix's on the road and for sale, same w/ G6's. Olds, only an occasional Alero anymore. Saturns have thinned out significantly tho. Still some Hummers around too, maybe I just notice 'em because of their presence... say, vs a Saturn.
Hated to see any of the brands go. Actually glad they kept Buick as they're building some good E36 M3 these days. Dad has a Verano, yea I'd DD that, great ride. Really like the Regal and LaCrosse too.
Wonder what Pontiac and Olds would be building now if they were kept on?
Tons of Saabs here in falls church. But then again, we are the Saab demographic
I usually can't leave my house without seeing a 9-3. They are all over around here. I see saturns but not too many pontiacs, at least that I notice.
I guess it is just this area.. you see two types of vehicles here.. mostly dead and sparkling brand new.. the stuff that is in it's mid-cycle between being built and being dismantled just does not seem to exist in this part of NJ.
I first noticed this when the E90s came out.. within a year, all the E46s were gone
mad_machine wrote: I first noticed this when the E90s came out.. within a year, all the E46s were gone
I was at a BMW track day last weekend, and I was the only person there with an E46 M3. Last year they seemed to be the car of choice.
I also learned that the new Ms are much, much faster than my car . . .
of course this may have something to do with it:
Atlantic County leads in foreclosures
This area has a bubble economy based on the casinos.. I am willing to bet all the people living in the area buy new cars every couple of years and just keep themselves swimming in debt
there are a lot of Grand Prixs and Bonnevilles around here- most of which are from the 2000 era before they got their last makeovers.
Wrecks will take most of them. Saturn Ions are ugly little things and have very little value so they total quickly. They do not incite the love of the earlier SL and SC series.
Pontiacs soldier on simply because they are GM products and parts are everywhere. The GTO is the exception: the parts are so hideously expensive ($1000+ headlights) that it takes very little to write one off in even a minor accident.
Saabs are a car an insurance adjuster will work hard to kill. The parts situation is so tenuous and difficult (have to call for prices, pay in advance, no returns) that no one wants to be bothered with them. Kill it and move on. It's a little less so with the rebadged Saabaru and poorly disguised GM SUVs but as a rule everyone in the insurance/repair biz would rather they all just went away. Expect the same fate for Suzukis.
The Saabs and Saturns all moved to my driveway.
Just buy one of them and then you'll start to notice just how many others there are.
I see them all on cl. My cl searches max out at $1800. That's where you'll find 'em: The bottom of the barrel.
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