Isn't this the first Saturn that was introduced, the one with the "no dent" plastic bodyside panels?

Saturn didn't admit to being a GM product until a story broke in Time Magazine. It p!ssed some owners off, because they thought they had bought an 'independent.'

I'm surprised that there are any Saturn dealers remaining after GM cancelled it. Saturn never made a cent of profit for GM

 

It's not an exclusive Saturn dealership. But he services these cars all day long... so it was a good choice in that I had someone to help if/when it needs stuff LOL

 

The local (Whittier) Saturn dealer folded, the dealer also sold Pontiac, Buick and GMC trucks.

When GM cancelled Pontiac, the dealer closed for good. Originally it was an Olds dealer.

After closing, a sign on appeared on the building: Harris Motor Company 1947-2010 RIP

 

Good, now you can get on to worrying about more important stuff like Jade Helm.

 

Seems you're searching from 79336, 1995 or newer, under $8000. That's a pretty wide range to choose from. Things you'll want to consider include: do you have emissions testing in your county (I think that's a no)...are you OK with a salvage titled vehicle...what is more important to you low miles or a car thats reliable regardless of miles...would you rather have a vehicle you can fix yourself or will you take it to a dealer or shop for repairs...do you have a budget to stick with?

I would avoid a lot of modern vehicles for reliability issues. Really anything newer than 2008 or so. It was at that point that a lot of vehicles were so computer integrated that a simple issue like a bad ground at a radio speaker would cause starting/running problems. GM vehicles back to about 2000 that have Passlock run it through the radio so you can't change the radio without remounting the original radio in the trunk along with a little breakout box and a wiring harness. Very annoying. I would concern myself less with the miles on the car and be more concerned with how it's been maintained. You can run a half million miles on a Crown Victoria easy with a little preventive maintenance. You can kill a Camry by 100K if it's not cared for.

If you have $8000 to spend on a vehicle I would actually say get a $2500-$4500 vehicle and put the rest in reserve should it suddenly need an engine, a transmission, or both. My wife and I did this with her last two vehicles using eBay and it went well. $1700 Durango with a known bad engine, replaced it for $1300, put a radiator and water pump and fan clutch and electric fan in it over four years, sold for $1300 and we got a good 52000 miles out of that truck. Currently have owned our 2000 Suburban for 61K miles (showing 233K now) and it cost us $3100 knowing the transmission was suspect, so we spent $2600 at the Chevy dealer on a new transmission (3yr/100K warranty) and since then some other minor repairs (fuel pump, belt tensioner, tires, brakes, battery). We budgeted the vehicles needing both an engine and transmission and one needed one and the other needed the other. Worked out well. Had we purchased an $8995 Suburban from a dealer and then it needed a transmission, we'd have been in trouble. Had we financed a $5995 Durango from a car lot and then needed to replace the engine, we'd have been in trouble. Sometimes the broken car is the better deal.

Anyway, Lubbock CL has a LOT of scammer ads for vehicles. A 2007 Accord for $2169 is a scam. Just saying. The Cobalt Charlie posted and the Camry Jim posted are two good ones. Here's a pair of vehicles I think would work out well from the Lubbock CL:

2002 Accord coupe, $3990 https://lubbock.craigslist.org/ctd/5017238358.html
2002 Accord coupe, $1200, leaking power steering https://lubbock.craigslist.org/cto/5016554335.html

Buy both of them. Use the black one as parts for the white one, but you can still drive it too. Or use the black one until it breaks then drive the white one and take your time fixing the black one cheaply.

Cars I would avoid include:

GM cars with the 2.4L four, 3.1L-3.4L-3.5L-3.9L V6's.
Ford cars with the Duratec V6
Chrysler cars with the 2.4L four or 2.5L/2.7L V6

Cars that aren't so bad:

GM cars with the 2.2L Ecotec four or 3.8L (3800) V6
Ford cars with 2.0L, 2.3L, or 2.5L fours or Vulcan V6
Chrysler cars with the 2.0L four or 3.2L/3.5L V6 or 3.6L Pentastar V6

That said, a few good ones that can be had cheaply are the 2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5, 2004-2007 Chevrolet Malibu (4-cylinder), and any big GM sedan with the 3800 (95+ LeSabre, 95+ Park Avenue, 06-08 Lacrosse, 06-08 Lucerne, 00-05 Impala, 97+ Grand Prix, 00+ Bonneville). Focus and Fusion and Taurus are great (4-cylinders on the smaller cars or the Vulcan V6 in the Taurus). Ford Escapes from 2004-2007 can be had with the 4-cylinder and automatic and I like those. I don't like a lot of modern Chrysler cars but the 3.5L engines in the 300/Charger and the 3.6L engines in the 200/300/Avenger/Charger/minivans/Journey are just fine. $8000 kinda keeps those out of reach (3.6L started being common in 2011 and they start in the 11-12K range).

 

Umm....I think she already bought the little red car.

 

I ain't worried about Jade Helm. I'm sure it's nothing good, I already know that. Nothing else for me to do there.

 

Congrats, the search is over, good

 

Congrats Riggs...the drama is over...at least for now. Smart move going with a cheapo for the first car!!!

 

Okay... she scared the crap out of me driving the standard. We got her a 2002 Ford Focus, 42k miles, $3000. It drives good, clean inside. Only thing I've noticed that doesn't work is the lighter plug in for my car charger. lol

 

There is a lot to be said for Momma's peace of mind. Scary enough just to have them on the road.... alone.

 

Exactly.

 

Starting to look like a whole slew of people live here though... OR one car hoarder. There's now 6 vehicles out front. lol (and likely more to come before it's over!)

 

Gotta get a bigger place soon then Riggers.......
When the grand kids start drivin, u gonna need a parkin' lot....... LMAO