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Unread 03-07-2004, 12:52
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Re: Help Billfred Find a Ride!

If you want a decent, economical car, a Saturn S-type sedan is a candidate. Ours gets around 38 mpg highway, (it's a 1999 basic model with manual tranny). We have often driven it from Los Angeles to Sacramento (over 300 miles) on one tank of gas, while carrying 3 adult-size people and their luggage. So far, it's been pretty reliable.

Our Saturn's major drawbacks: I have trouble getting it into any parking space other than our driveway at home, and when we go camping, we cannot fit all of our gear, plus the 3 of us, into it. We had to buy a roof rack. These drawbacks are probably due to the American manufacturer's inadequate efforts to imitate a Japanese company. The parking, ratio of interior room to exterior dimensions (oh, yes, and the force needed to open and shut doors) seem to be holdovers from large American sedans of the past.

Normally, I wouldn't take a car to a dealer for service, but I like our local Saturn dealer. The best thing, though, is that Saturns are cheap to buy, especially compared with Toyotas and Honda, and widely available.

Another tip: avoid buying an "orphan," a specific model or line that is not widely available. We used to own a 1986 Plymouth Colt Premier (not a DODGE Colt, and it was made by Mitsubishi, which also made a twin model with the Mitsubishi label). I loved it (it held all our camping gear), but as it got older, I had a hard time finding parts. Also, I got tired of mechanics writing on the paperwork that it was a Dodge, not a Plymouth. Adding to the confusion was the fact that it had a "performance package" which included a turbocharged engine, and tires in an unusual, hard-to-find size (I have an interesting story about those tires, but it would make this post way, way too long).
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