We bought a new Saturn Vue for my wife last weekend...the 2.2L four with the automatic and tan leather with a moonroof. This is my wife's fourth Saturn, and my first experience buying one. Well, the buying experience is certainly a nice change from the usual! I know that this doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of the car, but it sure can be a factor in selecting one!

So far, the Vue is very nice – it has more power than the old SL2 that we traded in and feels like it is very well put together - a noticeable improvement over the 2005 models we looked at last year! The leather interior seems like it is really first rate. Some of the reviews have mentioned the base stereo seems to be sub-standard – and I would disagree as it seems to be an improvement over the one in her old car, and the sound quality is better than in my GM car. The ride is superior to most SUV’s that I’ve ridden in – this one doesn’t bounce around like my mother in law’s Grand Cherokee does and the ride is comparable to most cars.

We chose the four cylinder engine for her based on pure economics. The Vue has adequate get-up-and-go, but it’s no race car. The Ecotec engine is available in many GM cars, and is very reliable and pretty fuel efficient as well. The jury is still out on fuel economy for the Vue, but it is rated at 22 in the city and 27 on the highway. I’m betting on 21 or 22 overall right now. Where we live, there are a number of hills, and the Vue has to work pretty hard to keep up with the flow of traffic on these hills, so I’m not expecting super-star mileage.

The cargo room is one of the best features of this little SUV – it has plenty of it! The back seats fold down almost flat, and there is no need to mess around with removing headrests, or flipping up the bottom seat cushions, just fold and go. We haven’t put anything big in the car yet, but I know that when we take a driving trip, we will have plenty of room to take whatever we need.

Overall, we are very happy with the Saturn Vue (so far) and if my wife likes this one as much as she has liked her past Saturn’s then we will have done well with this purchase!