Wife and I both have old cars with no car payment, but we have the opportunity to sell one of them and get a very good deal on an upgrade from a family member. We have:

2002 Acura 3.2 TL
170,000 miles
Pretty good shape, very comfortable and safe

2006 Saturn Ion
80,000 miles
Fair condition with some scratches etc

Both have had routine maintenance and are worth about the same $. My question is really about longevity. Obviously the Acura has way more mileage on it, but it's a Honda and so could last a long time. I tend to think the Saturn is a peice of junk but at only 80,000 miles it could last a while as well.

Any thoughts or insight is appreciated.

the saturn hands down.

Sell Ion IMO

Sell the Saturn

It's unanimous. Dump the Saturn

I don't have any opinion on which to keep versus sell. Personally, I might list them both and see which sold first (assuming you could get the same amount for either).

I have had great experience with Saturns. Had an SC2 that I bought new in 2002 and put 215,000 miles in before we gave it to a college student who didn't have a car. That was nearly 2 years ago and as far as I know she still drives it.
Currently have a 2007 Saturn VUE that my folks bought new. We got it from them 3 years ago when they bought a new Traverse. It has 226,000 miles on it and we are still driving it daily.
Routine maintenance on both. They're not luxury cars obviously but have served their purpose well.
Good luck with whatever you do.

Those layer model year saturns were actually pretty solid cars. It was a shame to see the brand get the axe right as they hit their stride. But I agree with the others, sell the Saturn. Any repairs it will need will require tracking down parts from a brand that no longer exists, and likely paying a premium for them when you find them. Will be easier to maintain the Acura through high mileage maintenance.

"Sell" means there would be a buyer, hard to imagine with a Saturn

Id keep the Saturn or sell both and pay cash for Corolla or Camry

Nuke the Saturn from orbit

Rocky Top Aggie said:

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I don't have any opinion on which to keep versus sell. Personally, I might list them both and see which sold first (assuming you could get the same amount for either).

I have had great experience with Saturns. Had an SC2 that I bought new in 2002 and put 215,000 miles in before we gave it to a college student who didn't have a car. That was nearly 2 years ago and as far as I know she still drives it.
Currently have a 2007 Saturn VUE that my folks bought new. We got it from them 3 years ago when they bought a new Traverse. It has 226,000 miles on it and we are still driving it daily.
Routine maintenance on both. They're not luxury cars obviously but have served their purpose well.
Good luck with whatever you do.

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If that is the 6 cynlinder Vue that is a Honda engine, that is in the Pilot and Odyssey I believe.

Our VUE does have the Honda engine. Some of the VUEs have had notorious transmission problems but we've been lucky (knock on wood).

My parents have had a 1996 SL1 (manual), 1998 SL2 (automatic), and 2 VUEs (maybe an 02-03 model, manual? and the 2007 model, automatic). My dad drove the 96 model until the wheels fell off then sold it for parts and he still daily drives the 98 SL2 (granted, the interior is showing it's age). They traded in the first VUE on the second one. My husband and I now daily drive the 07 VUE.

I had a 1997 SL2 (manual) and traded it in on the 2002 SC2 (manual) when I was in college.

My point is we have had very good luck with Saturns since 1996 and I hated to see them go away. They were functional, fairly inexpensive cars and fairly easy to work on.

What's the upgrade? It's not a 10 year old VW I hope...

PT Cruiser

JSKolache said:

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What's the upgrade? It's not a 10 year old VW I hope...

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2010 Nissan Altima, 80,000 miles

Spotting a Saturn on the road today is almost as rare as a Sebring!

My DD is a '94 Acura Legend so I'm biased towards the Acura. However, Acura had transmission issues in your model time frame. But if you haven't had issues Acura over Saturn is an easy decision.

Ranger1743 said:

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JSKolache said:

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What's the upgrade? It's not a 10 year old VW I hope...

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2010 Nissan Altima, 80,000 miles

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Is it still on its first transmission? I thought Nissan had massive CVT problems around then.

I sold the Saturn! Thanks everybody.

First time in the history of the board that someone took our advice

Someone just replaced their Sebring

Sell the Saturn and use the funds to do the timing belt/water pump and transmission service on the Acura.

Could you donate the Saturn for a tax write off? I don't know your financial situation but that is probably the route I would take given the KBB values I just pulled up, combined with the difficulty in locating a buyer.

fire09 said:

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Could you donate the Saturn for a tax write off? I don't know your financial situation but that is probably the route I would take given the KBB values I just pulled up, combined with the difficulty in locating a buyer.

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Apparently not that difficult seeing as he sold yesterday.

The Wonderer said:

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fire09 said:

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Could you donate the Saturn for a tax write off? I don't know your financial situation but that is probably the route I would take given the KBB values I just pulled up, combined with the difficulty in locating a buyer.

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Apparently not that difficult seeing as he sold yesterday.

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Old thread but I'll bump this anyway because it's a good story. Obviously the Saturn is not a great car, I got a potential buyer (young woman starting law school) who asked if her friend, who "knows cars" could do the test drive. I said sure, see you tomorrow.

I show up with the car, get in the back seat while the guy is driving with the potential buyer in the passenger seat. The guy proceeds to take this old Saturn up damn near 100 mph on the highway, gunning the gas, slamming brakes, practically getting up on two wheels on turns. I'm just praying the car makes it through the test drive! We swing back into the neighborhood, he makes some tight turns, even does a full 360 at a 4-way stop. We pull in and the girl asks him if she should buy the car.

His response? "Definitely, I'd pay full price. IT HAS A GREAT TURNING RADIUS." No kidding, I sold this old junky Saturn with a broken driver's side window regulator for nearly $4,000 because of its AMAZING TURNING RADIUS.

Anyway, was scrolling through old threads and thought I should give the whole story. Plus I have nothing to do but talk to strangers on the internet during quarantine times.

Ranger1743 said:

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The Wonderer said:

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fire09 said:

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Could you donate the Saturn for a tax write off? I don't know your financial situation but that is probably the route I would take given the KBB values I just pulled up, combined with the difficulty in locating a buyer.

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Apparently not that difficult seeing as he sold yesterday.

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His response? "Definitely, I'd pay full price. IT HAS A GREAT TURNING RADIUS." No kidding, I sold this old junky Saturn with a broken driver's side window regulator for nearly $4,000 because of its AMAZING TURNING RADIUS.

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Sounds like something somebody on meth would say and do.

My first car was an 84 chevy blazer 4x4. Gave me so much trouble over the 4 years I owned it, but damn it had a fine TURNING RADIUS.