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#1
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RIP
I just heard the news... it got me to thinking, my very first internet
search was for "Saturn" (My second search: Saturn -planet). I had a photo of my '94 SC1 on the "Saturn Server", subscribed to the listserv, followed the newsgroup, laughed at the "Ellen" spoof. Farewell, Saturn. -- Geek code forgotten '94 Aquamarine SC1 '01 Blackberry SC2 |
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#2
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RIP
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#3
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RIP
"SMS" > wrote in message
... > > What was strange on the radio news today was that there was a commercial > for Saturn, and then the newscaster segued into the story about Saturn > shutting down, which probably didn't make whoever paid for that ad very > happy. The advertising is contracted for long in advance so last minute corporate changes often don't affect it. I remember when Texas Instruments, the semiconductor manufacturer, had cancelled their development of bubble memories as computer storage media. There was a big article on bubble memory technology in one of the engineering magazines which appeared several days after the press announcement that TI was terminating development. http://www.decadecounter.com/vta/tubepage.php?item=30 All the same, I'm now wondering where I will get repair parts for my L series. Many parts are dealer only. Hopefully, these will still be available through other GM dealers. I went thorough the same thing (25?) years ago when I had a Chrysler product at the point when they started to go under. Since the company was producing the Army M1 Abrams tank, they got a bail-out. Déjà vu... |
#4
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RIP
Oppie wrote:
> All the same, I'm now wondering where I will get repair parts for my L > series. Many parts are dealer only. Hopefully, these will still be > available through other GM dealers. I expect that GM will continue servicing Saturns for a few years, then they'll sell any remaining parts inventory to some third party that will make it available to independent mechanics (as happened with Daewoo). The lack of after-market parts has always been an issue with Saturn since they sold in such small volumes there was no incentive for after-market manufacturers to jump in with alternatives to dealer parts as you see with nearly every mass market brand. |
#5
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RIP
"SMS" > wrote in message ... > Oppie wrote: > >> All the same, I'm now wondering where I will get repair parts for my L >> series. Many parts are dealer only. Hopefully, these will still be >> available through other GM dealers. > > I expect that GM will continue servicing Saturns for a few years, then > they'll sell any remaining parts inventory to some third party that will > make it available to independent mechanics (as happened with Daewoo). > > The lack of after-market parts has always been an issue with Saturn since > they sold in such small volumes there was no incentive for after-market > manufacturers to jump in with alternatives to dealer parts as you see with > nearly every mass market brand. IMHO one of the most major failings of GM was their failure to integrate Saturn spare parts into their huge and well established GM parts distribution system. This, more than anything else caused Saturn to remain as a second class orphan in the GM family and was the major issue which almost caused me to pass on the purchase of my first new Saturn in 1996. I had existing relationships and understanding of the workings of the GM system that allowed me to buy GM parts wholesale, but was never able to get similar service from Saturn. This caused me to avoid the Saturn dealer shops even more than I would have otherwise. The closure of the Saturn brand and division will IMHO result in a steep drop in resale value due in large part to fears of parts availability problems. There is still good availability of S series cars at the self serve wreckers but this will probably diminish with time. Now is the time to stock up on spare parts such as radiators, wheels (w tires) and mufflers. I suggest that the low resale value will make the purchase of an inexpensive similar car a good strategy as a source for major spare parts or as a spare good running car. I suspect that normal aftermarket replacement parts such as brakes, plugs, filters and tires will continue to be available with better price and quality than the factory dealers were. I still think that the S series cars are an excellent design and give great value. I also think that Saturn should have continued to produce them (especially the SW1) and that the greatest failure of Saturn marketing was in not selling an optional turbo diesel. I lost interest in purchasing new Saturns when they dropped the SW1 but my existing cars are still giving excellent cost effective service and hope to keep them for many more years. My original 96 SW1 now has 330,000km and still burns only 1lt of oil every 1,500km and the gas consumption is getting even better (lower) than when new. Good luck and Happy trails, |
#6
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RIP
Private wrote:
> IMHO one of the most major failings of GM was their failure to integrate > Saturn spare parts into their huge and well established GM parts > distribution system. This, more than anything else caused Saturn to remain > as a second class orphan in the GM family and was the major issue which > almost caused me to pass on the purchase of my first new Saturn in 1996. There were so many reasons that Saturn failed it's hard to know where to start. From mediocre products to lack of innovation, to its stubbornness of sticking with fixed pricing while the competition priced their vehicles according to supply & demand, to depending on a small subset of the market that was more into a quality buying experience than a quality vehicle, Saturn will be a business school study for decades. |
#7
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RIP
On Oct 4, 1:16*pm, SMS > wrote:
> There were so many reasons thatSaturnfailed it's hard to know where to > start. From mediocre products to lack of innovation, to its stubbornness > of sticking with fixed pricing while the competition priced their > vehicles according to supply & demand, to depending on a small subset of > the market that was more into a quality buying experience than a quality > vehicle,Saturnwill be a business school study for decades. On a positive note- After more than a decade and many thousands of Saturn newsgroup posts under various names, your personal vendetta against Saturn and Saturn owners can hopefully be put to rest along with the brand. Happy trails. |
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