The Bottom Line: Very quick, and with a $2,500 rebate (as of March 2004) competitively priced. Worth a look--and a fourth star--if acceleration is a high priority.
My evaluation of the Red Line version follows the original review.
The compact SUV segment has become increasingly crowded. Nearly every major brand either has one or is getting one. To cut through the clutter a vehicle must have something special about it. For the Saturn VUE, this some special was supposed to be plastic body panels and the quality of its dealers. These were not enough, especially given the vehicles weaknesses in terms of interior materials, handling, and rear seat comfort. For 2004, the VUE has a new hook courtesy of an engine swapping deal with Honda. In exchange for diesels from Isuzu, Honda agreed to supply GM with V6s. GM decided to put the 50,000 3.5-liter Honda V6s it will be buying annually into the VUE. This makes sense for at least two reasons. First, Saturn is GM’s most Honda-like brand. Second, the VUE needs something extra to get noticed. Having 250 horsepower, by far the most in the segment, might just do the trick.
I was disappointed by the 2003 VUE. Do the new engine and minor trim updates for 2004 make a significant difference?
Styling
In styling, the VUE looks like a Saturn SUV might be expected to look: clean and friendly with a touch of quirky. Saturn stumbled when its designs got too plain in the late-90s, and it has learned from this experience. In the VUE, some character is provided by flared wheel openings, Audi-esque cutlines where the bumper fascias meet the body (okay, Olds and Saturn did this first, but it looks better on the A6), an upward sweeping indentation in the doors, and a hood that wraps over a bit into the fenders.
The last warrants a bit more comment. Like the S-Series (small) Saturn, the VUE uses space frame construction. What this means is that the metal frame provides all of the structural strength of the vehicle, enabling the fenders and door skins to be made of plastic. (The larger, L-Series Saturns have plastic front fenders and door skins, but metal rear fenders that contribute to the structure.) On the plus side, these panels resist dents and won’t rust (not that vehicles rust much anymore, with today’s anti-corrosion technology). The downside of plastic panels is that they expand and contract quite a bit with temperature variations, so the gaps between them must be larger. Some reviews have criticized these gaps on the VUE, saying they allow fingers to be inserted up to the second knuckle. This has not been the case on the VUEs I have seen. The gaps are perhaps twice as broad as those on a Honda or Toyota, but they are much narrower than those I’ve seen on past Saturns, and very even. Now for that hood. The VUE’s designers appear to have incorporated wider than normal panel gaps into the design. The way the A-pillar and hood are styled accentuate these gaps rather than hide them, lending the product a hyper-functional, overtly structural character where each panel is clearly visible as a distinct part of the whole. I personally think it works.
A few other features of the exterior design bear mention. The front end is perhaps the most car-like of any SUV, with very horizontal headlamps. Owing to these lamps, the VUE from the font looks like a car that has been given a serious suspension lift. The much more expensive Audi Allroad looks much the same way. Some people expect their SUVs to look more trucky, but then they’ll probably want other aspects of the vehicle to be more trucky as well. Think of this front end as truth in styling. The rear end is marked by blacked-out D-pillars, making it look as if the glass wraps around from one side all the way around the back to the other. The original CR-V was similarly styled in this area. That the new one has painted D-pillars, like just about every other SUV, suggests that Honda learned that SUV buyers desire the more rugged, stronger look of painted pillars. Though other features of the VUE’s styling may be quirkier, this one may cause Saturn the most heartache.
Some people will not like this or that detail of the design, but Saturn learned the hard way that overly safe designs make its vehicles too similar to everything else, and thus invisible to many potential buyers. Overall, I think they did a good job. The VUE is unique, it looks like a Saturn, and above all it looks both fun and sophisticated. Though about the same size as the CR-V, the VUE has more presence and generally looks much less like a toy SUV. I say cut Saturn some slack and be thankful it’s not a blatant copy of the CR-V or Escape.
For 2004 17-inch alloys with five thick spokes are standard on the V6 all-wheel-drive VUE and a $300 option on the V6 front-wheel-drive VUE. You can’t go wrong with a cleanly styled five-spoke wheel. These help the styling a great deal. I wouldn’t buy the VUE without them.
The VUE’s interior styling is more conventional. The gauges and switches generally come from other Saturns. Overall, they look and function well. Some people will object to the power window controls’ location near the shifter, but I don’t mind it. The basic design of the dash resembles the Lexus RX 300, with the shifter mounted on a shelf that protrudes from the center of the dash. Lower down, on the floor between the seats, Saturn has included a low, non-movable center console with a smallish storage compartment and cupholders. The last might be too low to be used easily. I suspect it’s low to attempt to mimic the open feeling in the front seat of the CR-V. Unfortunately, the promontory on which the shifter is mounted kills that effect. I don’t mind the sportier ambiance this design lends myself, but there is something to be said from the much more spacious feeling of the CR-V, with its unique dash-mounted shifter, dash-mounted parking brake, and fold-away console. A significant difference to keep in mind, either way.
My least favorite parts of the interior design are the door panels and center console. These are covered in a hard plastic with a pebbled surface texture. It looks and feels cheap. The padded door panels and armrests of the Saturn L-series are much missed here. The shifter and door handles have a hollow cheap feel to them. And these are just the worst examples of cheap materials.
For 2004 the interior has received some minor updates. The gauges gain white faces and chrome rings. Plastic with a faux titanium finish now adorns the center stack and door handles. Best of all, the ugly steering wheel from the Saturn LS has been tossed in favor or a much more attractive wheel from the much pricier Cadillac SRX. Given that Cadillac’s marketers no doubt fought this tooth and nail, someone high up within GM must have recognized the gravity of the problem. (Sadly, the steering wheels in other Saturns remain unchanged for 2004.) These updates help liven up the interior, but cannot compensate for the substandard quality of many materials.
Overall, the VUE’s interior is more stylish than those in the CR-V and Escape, but the low quality of many materials negates this potential bonus. The interior of the Forester is perhaps even more stylish, and the materials used are the best in this class. The higher quality materials in the CR-V reinforce its utilitarian aesthetic, recalling older Mercedes. The Escape’s materials are not much better than the VUE’s, but they somehow seem less out of place in the Escape’s more utilitarian interior design. Redesigning the door panels and center console would help the VUE a great deal.
Accommodations
I have already mentioned that the CR-V’s interior feels more spacious. This is partly due to its design, but also because it is more spacious. Though the VUE is three inches longer and an inch wider than the Honda, it has 6% less passenger volume. Most notably, it has an inch less shoulder room (more significant than it would seem) and a whopping three inches less rear legroom (front legroom is virtually identical).
This last disadvantage may be the largest weakness of the VUE. The CR-V has a very spacious, surprisingly comfortable rear seat. It’s not just that the Honda has 39.4 inches of rear legroom, which is big car territory. It also helps a great deal that the Honda’s rear seat cushion is mounted high off the floor, so it provides thigh support for adults. The rear seat in the Escape is similarly high, such that it is also comfortable despite providing the same amount of legroom as the VUE. The VUE’s rear seat, in contrast, is mounted fairly low, as is frequently the case in GM vehicles. As a result, it provides insufficient thigh support. It does not help that the map pocket on the back of the driver’s seat bulges out, making contact with the shins of this 5'9” male. (There is a bit more knee room behind the passenger seat, which has a plastic back.)
Why didn’t Saturn mount the cushion higher? There is more than enough headroom, so that wasn’t the limiting factor it often is in sedans. It seems that they wanted to avoid the complexity, expense, and owner inconvenience of having to fold the rear seat cushion as well as the seatback. It is easier to fold the Saturn’s seat, especially since you do not need to remove the rear headrests first as you have to do in the others. However, I believe that the loss in rear seat comfort and load floor flatness is too high a price to pay for this convenience.
Front seat comfort is better. The seats are moderately firm, softer than those in the Honda but not too much so. Though lateral support is minimal, you sink in just enough to feel well-supported in regular driving. The front seats are fairly high up, and combined with a large amount of glass afford excellent visibility, especially forward. Some of the pillars are a bit thick, but none obtrusively so. As in the CR-V and uplevel Escape, a manual height adjustment is standard. Leather seat faces are available, and the all-wheel-drive VUE I drove was so equipped. The leather is of a fairly low grade, which is typical of vehicles in this price range. The seats feel a bit less comfortable and supportive in leather, as you don’t sink in as much. I felt like I was sitting on the seat more than in it. In hard turns the side bolsters were too soft to provide much support—I slid right over them.
I was again unable to find a fully comfortable driving position. The recliner is a ratchet type, and none of the settings felt quite right. The steering wheel felt a bit far away, and it does not telescope. The other notable aspect of the driving position is the view forward. The VUE has a high arching roofline. The thick curved A-pillars are mounted well forward. The distance, height, and thickness of these pillars provide the impression that the VUE is larger than it is. A more extreme rendition of this treatment can be found in the VW New Beetle. The thickness of the pillars impedes visibility somewhat, but otherwise the view out is expansive.
Many people buy SUVs for their interior versatility. Here the VUE comes up a bit short, but not overly so. The storage compartment in the center console is small, but then the Honda does not have one at all. As in the Chrysler PT Cruiser, the front passenger seatback folds forward to permit very large objects to be carried inside. A cargo organizer folds out of the rear floor to form a box about one by three feet in size. It is a bit flimsy, but not nearly to the degree some other reviews have suggested. It should be more than up to the task of keeping small objects or a few grocery bags from rolling about the interior.
With the rear seatback up or down, there is a usable amount of cargo space. But there could be more. Though a bit smaller outside, the Honda provides about ten percent more cargo volume inside. Credit/blame goes largely to the location of the spare. The CR-V’s is mounted on the tailgate, while the VUE’s, like the Escape’s, is under the cargo floor. As a result, the cargo floor is lower in the CR-V, and a decent amount of additional storage is available beneath it. That fixed rear seat cushion also causes problems here for the VUE—the rear seat doesn’t quite fold flat, though I suspect a bit of weight on it might fix this by compressing the seat cushion.
Many people will be more than willing to give up 10 percent of their cargo room in exchange for the advantages of having the spare inside. Though this means the spare cannot be full size, it stays cleaner inside and is less likely to rattle. It allows the vehicle to look more sleek and car-like. Perhaps most importantly, in a minor rear collision the spare won’t be pushed into the tailgate, causing hundreds of dollars of damage. This is a danger with the CR-V, and with the Toyota RAV4 as well, since the spare extends further rearward than the bumper.
One final area where the VUE comes up a bit short is the tailgate. Like the Escape but unlike the Honda, it opens upward rather than to the side. Some people prefer one, some the other. Shorter people can have trouble closing upward opening tailgates, and taller people can hit their heads on them, but they do get more out of the way. Neither is easy to open in a closed garage. That’s where a separately opening liftglass can help. Unfortunately, the VUE, unlike most of its competitors, does not offer this feature.
On the Road
Honda’s CR-V is only available with a 160-horsepower 2.4-liter four-cylinder. Yet Honda sells a 250-horsepower V6 to GM for use in a vehicle of similar size and weight. To put it another way, the VUE’s new V6 is closely related to those in the nearly half-ton heavier Honda Odyssey, Honda Pilot, and Acura MDX. (The six in the two Hondas is actually rated to produce ten fewer horsepower.) Unlike in many GM vehicles, performance is not dulled by the transmission. As in earlier years, the VUE V6 is one of the few GM vehicles with a five-speed automatic. The fifth ratio permits the gear ratios to be more tightly spaced, aiding performance. Putting this all together, for 2004 the VUE has become a very quick SUV. I haven’t seen any times yet, but my subjective impressions are that the VUE should get to sixty in about seven seconds. Driven back to back the lighter front-drive model feels a bit quicker.
The only other compact SUVs with similar grunt are the more-car-than-SUV Subaru Forester XT and Hyundai Santa Fe. The latter like the VUE is available with a 3.5-liter V6, but the Hyundai’s engine for all of its low-end grunt produces over fifty fewer horsepower up top.
Subjectively the Honda-produced 3.5 is very smooth—far smoother than last year’s V6--but noisier than I expected. The idle is far from silent. While accelerating the engine note sounds more American than Japanese. At most speeds the exhaust is mildly boomy.
Despite the gain of 69 horsepower, fuel economy has stayed much the same with the new engine. A tall fifth gear helps: the engine turns just 2000 RPM at 70. The EPA ratings are 20/28 for the front-drive V6 (the latter figure is up three from last year) and 19/25 for the all-wheel-drive V6. Either is very good for an SUV with so much power. The Subaru and Hyundai both earn lower marks—much lower in the case of the Korean product.
Last year I drove a front-drive V6 and noted a disagreeable amount of torque steer. I feared this would only get worse with the much torquier 3.5. Yet somehow torque steer is lower with the new engine. When the pedal was floored at low speeds in the front-drive VUE the front end still got squirrelly, but otherwise the chassis felt reasonably well buttoned down. I recall much less composure in the 2003, suggesting that modifications were made to the front suspension and/or the halfshafts. Some torque steer is also evident in the all-wheel-drive VUE, but not as much and it only lasts until the all-wheel-drive kicks in.
The VUE’s four-wheel-drive system is very similar to that in the Honda. Usually power goes entirely to the front wheels, but if these slip some power is automatically diverted to the rear wheels. This occurs very quickly, and is transparent to all but the most perceptive driver. Such a system is generally intended for slippery roads, not going off-road. Last year I drove the VUE over roads with a bit of ice on them, and it performed well. The Escape has a bit of an advantage here. Left in “auto,” the Escape’s system functions much like those in the Honda and Saturn. But a switch is provided to lock the system in all-wheel-drive, such that torque is split 50/50 between the front and rear, much like in the RAV4. This provides a little more off-road capability, and subtly affects handling. That said, the Escape like the others lacks a low range, and is generally not designed for off-road use.
I had fewer issues with the ride and handling this time around. The steering remains numb despite the moderate amount of effort it requires, but otherwise the chassis behaves well if not especially sportily or luxuriously. I did not notice a significant difference between the front-drive VUE with 16-inch wheels and the all-wheel-drive VUE with 17-inch wheels aside from the duration of torque steer. The 17-inch tires are wider as well as lower in profile, but even the 16s allowed me to take turns as fast as I cared to in such a tall, softly sprung vehicle. In hard turns understeer is heavy and lean is substantial. Much like in the Hyundai Santa Fe, you’ll want to back off long before even the 16-inch tires give way. The Escape is more fun to drive on a curvy road. A Subaru XT is even more fun.
Any of these vehicles feels considerably more nimble than even a midsize SUV, much less a large one. Yet at the same time none handles nearly as well as a good sedan.
The VUE uses an innovative power steering system that gets its assist from an electric motor rather than an engine-driven hydraulic pump (which should aid fuel economy). I hated a similar system in the Saturn ION and Malibu. I don’t mind it as much in the VUE, likely because I expect less from trucks than from cars. I still found it the worst of the small SUV bunch in terms of sharpness and feedback. The Subaru is the best here, with the Honda in second.
The VUE’s soft suspension settings and tall tire sidewalls contribute to a fairly comfortable ride, especially if your definition of a good ride is a lack of sharp jolts. Still, as in the even softer Santa Fe, I’d trade off a bit of softness for more body control. The VUE lacks the steadier, more planted feel of the others. Noise levels remain moderate, a bit better than the Escape but a bit worse than the others.
Help is on the way in the handling department. In calendar year 2004 a Red Line package will be available on V6 VUEs. This package will include a ground effects package, monotone paint, a ride height lowered by two inches, stiffer suspension, and 18-inch performance tires. It could well provide the sort of handling the powertrain deserves. The bad news is a steep price: $1,995. If the suspension is good, it would be nice to see it as a standalone option on the regular VUE for, say, $300.
Saturn VUE Price Comparisons and Pricing
GM is probably paying dearly for the Honda V6. This, plus the large power gain, led me to fear the price would rise substantially. This has not happened. The base price of the front-drive V6 model has gone up $1,335, but ABS and alloy wheels, formerly $1,000 extra, are now standard. So the actual increase is $335. The prices on the four-cylinder models have gone up nearly $1,000, suggesting that GM is actually charging less for the Honda engine.
The all-wheel-drive model’s price has gone up $150 more. All-wheel-drive adds $1,650 to the price, but this includes 17-inch wheels that cost $300 extra on the front-drive V6. Is all-wheel-drive worth the $1,350 it costs? Probably. And it costs only $1,100 on the four-cylinder.
Now for the real shocker: Last year after adjusting for equipment the V6 cost $1,725 more than the four. This year, the premium is only $785 in the front-drive VUE and $1,035 in the all-wheel-drive model. You’ll pay far more for a third pair of cylinders in any import brand, and generally get fewer than 107 horses in the bargain. This is very cheap horsepower. I don’t see how Saturn hopes to sell the average buyer on the four.
Prices change frequently, and differences will vary based on feature level. To quickly generate these and other comparisons with the specific features you want, visit my Web site, www.truedelta.com. (It's the only site that provides true "apples-to-apples" price comparisons.)
TrueDelta's page for the VUE:
http://www.truedelta.com/models/VUE.php
Last Words
The VUE is much more competitive than it was a year ago. The new six is far superior to the old one, the interior has been spruced up a bit, and the suspension seemed better behaved. The Red Line could finally get the handling where it needs to be, but its price will push thirty even without the entertainment system.
Ultimately, I can again recommend the VUE, but unless acceleration is your top priority most competitors are better values. If a better handling suspension were offered as a low-cost option and the cheap interior bits were upgraded its high price would be easier to justify.
Update March 2004: A $2,500 rebate is now available, making the VUE's price much more competitive. If strong acceleration is a top priority, add a fourth star.
Update April 2004: Red Line test drive.
In an effort to appeal to the tuner crowd, Saturn is introducing "Red Line" versions of the VUE and ION. While the ION Red Line gets a unique engine--a supercharged 2.0-liter based on the regular 2.2--the VUE Red Line is a wheels, tires, and body kit package. It still costs $1,995, though, pushing the list on my nearly loaded electric lime VUE to $30,060. (My wife likes the color, by the way.)
The body kit is fairly attractive. The open front grill is an especially nice touch, and the 18-inch wheels certainly enhance the look (though the 2004's regular 17s are also nice).
I drove the Red Line hoping that the slop and plow in the standard VUE's handling had been elimiinated and that the numb steering had gained some feel. Well, the Red Line does corner much flatter and feel more balanced. But the steering is as bad as ever, or even worse. For an SUV the VUE Red Line has very high limits--245/50-18 Bridgestone Turanza's contribute with a minimum of fuss.
But exploring these limits requires guts, as the steering provides absolutely no sense of what is going on where the rubber meets the road, and the seat of the pants does little better. I could not form any connection whatsoever with this vehicle. Worse, the steering reacted poorly to quick inputs. Sometimes I found the assist going one way when I had decided to go another. This happened most often when I made a slight turn in one direction, then quickly went the other way. Such as when starting to change lanes, then spotting a car off my quarter and deciding not to. At first I thought the suspension was quivering--a common trait among softly sprung conventional SUVs--but it turned out that this sensation was all in the steering.
One good result of the firmer suspension: combined with the all-wheel-drive you can nail the throttle halfway through a turn and the VUE just takes off with little drame or fuss.
Given the much firmer suspension, I expected abysmal ride quality. Perhaps because of very low expectations, I actually found the ride passable. At least it never became harsh. If anything, the suspension is at its worst on roads that appear smooth. On these the ride is characterized by constant miniscule motions. It's never entirely settled. Hardly uncomfortable, but certainly annoying.
Although the ride quality is passable, every bump provokes numerous vinyl-on-vinyl rubbing noises from the seats, interior trim, and (perhaps) the roof panels. These lend this $30,000 vehicle a low-rent feel rare in recent vehicle designs. The Chevrolet Equinox feels far more solid. I don't recall these in the regular VUE; the higher frequency of the firmer suspension's movements might be the culprit.
A couple new notes on the unchanged interior: The seats feel small and lack the lateral support the Red Line needs. The package should include better bolstered seats. Many have critiqued the overuse of hard plastic in the interior. One especially bad application: the interior door pulls. No area is more often touched--why on earth are these cheap looking and feeling hard plastic?
In the end the VUE Red Line looks good and its suspension definitely improves handling, but the whole feels half-baked. This vehicle is so rough you'll think it was put together by a tuner, not an OEM.
A Note on Saturn VUE Reliability
I cannot practically cover reliability within the context of this review. However, many people are interested in such information, so I've started collecting my own data. Results, once they are available, will be posted to my site, www.truedelta.com, with updates every three months.
Unlike other sources, TrueDelta will clearly identify what difference it will make if you buy a VUE rather than another vehicle by providing "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats (among others). You will be able to specify the number of years, annual miles, and types of repairs to include in Saturn VUE reliability comparisons.
Before I can report results, I need data on all cars--not just the VUE--from people like you. To encourage participation, those who help provide the data will receive free access to the site's reliability information. Non-participants will have to pay an access fee.
For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.
A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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