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04 Ion- IS IT TRUE ????



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 29th 04, 11:11 PM
EDeneen
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Default 04 Ion- IS IT TRUE ????

is it true ??? last year for the plastic body panels, last year for the 5
speed and, sadly, last real Saturn .... ?
say it ain't so,
E


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  #2  
Old June 30th 04, 01:49 AM
Seamus's Stuff
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"EDeneen" > wrote in message
...
> is it true ??? last year for the plastic body panels, last year for the

5
> speed and, sadly, last real Saturn .... ?
> say it ain't so,
> E
>


Not the last year. There should be 2 more years before that happens.

Jim





>



  #3  
Old June 30th 04, 05:54 AM
Warren
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> > is it true ??? last year for the plastic body panels, last year for

the
> 5
> > speed and, sadly, last real Saturn .... ?
> > say it ain't so,
> > E


I was told this too - but didn't believe it. One of the only reasons I have
continued to buy Saturns is because of this unique feature (among others.) I
think it is unfortunate that GM wants Saturn to become so integrated with
it's control that it is losing everything that is unique about it. Soon it
will be another generic car with similar but slightly different body panels
(eg: Camaro/Firebird syndrome OR Cavalier/Sunfire syndrome, etc. etc.)...I
think it's a mistake, and one that will cost Saturn and GM. I guess the
price of oil makes the plastic panels too expensive to make anymore! As far
as the 5 speed - that is the AUTOMATIC 5-speed...it had too much "gear
indecision" (as I call it) so the 4-speed automatic will replace it. (And,
maybe a 6-speed will replace the 5-speed manual tranny!)


  #4  
Old June 30th 04, 11:31 AM
marx404
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All speculation and rumours for now so not to worry.
The rumour of the polymer panels being fazed out only pertains to the
upcoming Relay Van. There is talk of going from 5 to 6 speed in the ION.
Polymer is here to stay - for now. But then Saturn engineers are like the
weather in Florida, just wait a few minutes and it'll change again. I also
agree that if they do away with the polymer panels it will greatly influence
Saturn loyalty.

marx404
saturnofstuart.com


  #5  
Old June 30th 04, 05:59 PM
twinkie
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GM was always in control of Saturn.
after all it was their $$$$$$ that created Saturn.
to think otherwise is mere folly.

  #6  
Old July 1st 04, 01:05 AM
Seamus's Stuff
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"twinkie" > wrote in message
...
> GM was always in control of Saturn.
> after all it was their $$$$$$ that created Saturn.
> to think otherwise is mere folly.
>


There is only a couple of more years for polymer panels on Saturn products.
How
do I know this....My boss...General Motors...has told me this. And if GM
does
not convert Spring Hill to steel panels not only will polymer panels be gone
from Saturn products....so will I from GM employment, as Spring Hill
Manufacturing will be no more.

So if you like cars/SUV's with polymer panels, get them now while they are
still
being produced. I liked them well enough I have 2 Lumina APV minivans in my
driveway. Just wish that the manufacturing world liked them as much as I
do.

Jim


  #7  
Old July 1st 04, 02:59 AM
Art
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Many years ago there was a PBS show on Saturn and the factory. Made a big
deal of how all the panels for a particular car were made from the same
batch of plastic. Then in another scene they showed where imperfect panels
were dumped. What I found amusing was that logic would follow that if one
panel for a car was bad, all panels should be dumped but the pile seemed to
be individual panels. I'm sure there's a good explanation but kind of
amusing.


Reminded me of another PBS special on building the Boeing 777 jet. They had
a new door design and wanted to make sure that the door could be opened
after being very cold 30000 feet above the earth. So they took the assembly
and put it in a freezer overnight and were happy that the door opened the
next day. Seemed to me to be a defective test since the inside of the
assembly should have been kept at room temperature.


"Seamus's Stuff" > wrote in message
...
>
> "twinkie" > wrote in message
> ...
> > GM was always in control of Saturn.
> > after all it was their $$$$$$ that created Saturn.
> > to think otherwise is mere folly.
> >

>
> There is only a couple of more years for polymer panels on Saturn

products.
> How
> do I know this....My boss...General Motors...has told me this. And if GM
> does
> not convert Spring Hill to steel panels not only will polymer panels be

gone
> from Saturn products....so will I from GM employment, as Spring Hill
> Manufacturing will be no more.
>
> So if you like cars/SUV's with polymer panels, get them now while they are
> still
> being produced. I liked them well enough I have 2 Lumina APV minivans in

my
> driveway. Just wish that the manufacturing world liked them as much as I
> do.
>
> Jim
>
>



  #8  
Old July 1st 04, 06:29 PM
Ron Herfurth
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Default


"Seamus's Stuff" > wrote in message
...
>
> "twinkie" > wrote in message
> ...
> > GM was always in control of Saturn.
> > after all it was their $$$$$$ that created Saturn.
> > to think otherwise is mere folly.
> >

>
> There is only a couple of more years for polymer panels on Saturn

products.
> How
> do I know this....My boss...General Motors...has told me this. And if GM
> does
> not convert Spring Hill to steel panels not only will polymer panels be

gone
> from Saturn products....so will I from GM employment, as Spring Hill
> Manufacturing will be no more.
>
> So if you like cars/SUV's with polymer panels, get them now while they are
> still
> being produced. I liked them well enough I have 2 Lumina APV minivans in

my
> driveway. Just wish that the manufacturing world liked them as much as I
> do.
>
> Jim


It sounds like in a couple of years there won't be anything different about
Saturn anymore, so why would it exist?
Actually "Saturn" is already gone since there aren't anymore cars called
"Saturn". There are IONs, VUEs and Relays, but saying you drive a Saturn
isn't anymore descriptive than saying you drive a GM. I kind of miss the
alphabet soup, C, L, S, & W, in what ever order you pleased.
ron
94 SATURN SL-1


  #9  
Old July 8th 04, 12:39 PM
Steven M. Scharf
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"Seamus's Stuff" > wrote in message
...

> So if you like cars/SUV's with polymer panels, get them now while they are
> still being produced. I liked them well enough I have 2 Lumina APV

minivans in my
> driveway.


""If you find something you really, really like, buy a lifetime supply;
because it'll either be changed for the worse or go out of production."

> Just wish that the manufacturing world liked them as much as I


No doubt the accountants weighed the extra cost of the polymer panels
against the number of lost sales that they believe will result from dropping
them. The polymer panel over sub-frame approach was supposed to be cheaper,
but never was. The manufacturing cost of the polymer panels, the yield, and
the problems associated with painting them, made them more costly than
steel. The need for a sub-frame also raised the cost. Furthermore, there was
no safety increase with polymer over steel, versus steel alone, just look at
the crash test results.


  #10  
Old July 8th 04, 02:28 PM
Seamus's Stuff
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Posts: n/a
Default


"Steven M. Scharf" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> "Seamus's Stuff" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> No doubt the accountants weighed the extra cost of the polymer panels
> against the number of lost sales that they believe will result from

dropping
> them. The polymer panel over sub-frame approach was supposed to be

cheaper,
> but never was. The manufacturing cost of the polymer panels, the yield,

and
> the problems associated with painting them, made them more costly than
> steel. The need for a sub-frame also raised the cost. Furthermore, there

was
> no safety increase with polymer over steel, versus steel alone, just look

at
> the crash test results.
>


It did involve cost...but not those. It was the cost to convert every other
plant from steel to polymer...and the cost of having only one plant that can
build polymer panel cars/trucks. Since we were the only one out there. We
can not build any other product GM makes at our plant. With GM moving to
the flexibility of any plant being able to build most any product. We were
becoming a large cost to the company. So either we change....or the
accountants get rid of the dead weight. I think you can figure out why we
said change...

Jim


 




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