Saturn Vue

Check Consumer Reports for this advice. Rather than rely on customer loyality biasing people's option.

Good luck,

tom @

Just AWD, 4WD is only for offroad use and usually isnt found on anything other than a truck anymore.

Personally I would stay way away from Constant Velocity Transmissions,

3.0L (english), and 3.5L (honda). Belt Drives and Timing Belts do nothing but wear and brake at the strangest times. The 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto mated to a Ecotec makes for a good driver. Also I wouldnt bother with AWD, just look for traction control unless you have a mountain to climb.

To add to what blah blah sez -

IN '05 model yr, they did away with the CVT on 4cyl VUEs, stay away from CVT trannies if you can. Manual 4cyls of all yrs are ok. V6 used a smaller caddilac catera engine until 2004, now they use a honda pilot variation only made for Saturn, much more powerful. All V6 models have traction control and ABS standard, optional on 4cyl. AWD is completely unnecessary in most climates, unless you drive in deep snow. AWD loses up to 5mpg because of the extra weight too.

marx404

They are basically the same. Inorder to use the AWD term, there has to be a differentail between front and rear axle to eliminate driveline bid on hard surfaces. Power is still deliverd to all wheels with AWD (usually 50/50 split) and some AWD's even have a lockout that enable you to lock center differentail in Tcase. Some AWD do lack lo range though to limits some offroad uses but AWD will statisfy about 90% of offroad needs for all but the most hard core usage. Over the years (Jeep for one) has offered AWD with a lockout and lorange so it is a AWD and conventional 4WD or just 2WD too. THe draw back with any fulltime AWD system though is skid control because once you get into a skid in 4WD, it is very hard to get out of it. With AWD it is a little easer because it can allow for diferent axle speed during skids.

----------------- The SnoMan

If I can add to that: The VUE AWD primarily runs in F(ront)WD then transfers power to all 4 wheels as needed, power is not delivered to all 4 wheels all the time with the AWD VUE, ergo, its not fulltime AWD. The VUE can handle some offroad such as unpaved roads or trails, but not rough terrain like a Jeep can.

marx404

Good point, it is not really a AWD vehicle then per say but more of a AWD on demand controled by vehicle ECM likely monitoring ABS speed sensors to check for slippage..

----------------- The SnoMan

yep, Saturns ain't fer muddin' less'un you like ter see yer differential pin from the outside-in.

marx404

Nothings for muddin anymore, cost to damn much. Ever seen a muddy Hummer not owned by the military? From the looks of the H2/H3 commercials my car can handle all of the same terrain they run them on... :-|

Oh and have you seen the one with that truck that yanks down a garage door so a guy can get his hand carried tool box to stick in his truck bed? My car can do all that as well...

On Sun, 23 Apr 2006 20:07:47 -0400, Tom The Great took a five-minute break from flipping burgers to boot the etch-a-sketch and scribble out:

Heh, that's a good one! I've yet to have seen an unbiased opiniion in CU! That magazine is about as biased as they get!

Read Edmunds and other online sources for a much better grip of what a car or truck is like.

Oh, my wife's 05 is doing quite well. The car is FWD with the Honda 3.5 engine. (Yes, it apparenly has a belt, though I don't know if it is an interference engine.)

I don't know about intentional bias, but they tend to want to test everything like a toaster. They're OK for appliances and gadgets, but I find their car tests to be lacking.

It has a belt and it's an interference engine. My advice would be to change it every 5 years or 100,000 miles (at most...I change mine every

75,000)...regardless of what the recommended interval is. New engines are VERY expensive and you'd lose the use of your vehicle for a week or three in the event of a failure. You'd also change the water pump (which is driven by the timing belt) and the tensioner at the same time.

Cheers,

The wife's 04 4-cyl manual is treating us good outside of some suspension rattles that conveniently popped up at 36,001 miles (maybe not quite that, but close - hehe). Traction control is pretty nice, but can be annoying at times, so you just lock it out with the button if you don't want it on. Really a solid vehicle all-in-all, and it fits my toddler great.