Just Alike, But Different

That's what my Mom used to say when we were growing up. It meant two things were similar, but not exact matches. This is our new car...just like our old one, but different. We have been very happy with Saturn over these past four years.

On Thursday, we got a flier in the mail from Saturn saying we could get into a new car for $x more than we were paying on our current car. They wanted a down payment equal to a car payment. I called and told them I was interested, but not in the down payment. They immediately did away with the down payment and scheduled us for a "visit" at 10:30am on Friday.

Short version: I calculated what would be a good deal for us based on what we had left to pay on the old car and what we were getting with the "upgrade". In the end (after FOUR hours at the dealership), we got a good deal but had to play the games (I HATE CAR BUYING GAMES!) . I gave in a little more than I had planned, but not so much that it was not a great deal for us. By the way, the color is called "deep blue" even though it looks black from a distance.

So this really was an "upgrade" for us. We've never had power windows, power locks, cruise control or the little remote thingy to unlock your doors, pop the trunk, etc. And all Saturns come with one year of OnStar, and that's a pretty cool toy, too (although very expensive after the free year). But I think my favorite upgrade is the stereo. It has a lot of nice features, but my favorite the is audio "in" jack in the front. We can now plug in our MP3 player and have it play through the stereo system.

One other really nice upgrade. Granted, I paid for it, but I think it will more than pay for itself. We got a 100,000 mile/5 year warranty on the car. It is bumper to bumper, no deductible. If anything goes wrong with the car (other than the clutch or body damage), I do not have to pay a cent to get it fixed. If my car breaks down, they will come tow it at no cost. If we run out of gas or get locked out of our car, they will come take care of us at no cost. We also get a free rental car if necessary. And then I also got a 4 year/48,000 mile maintenance warranty that gives me no charge oil changes, air and oil filter changes and a radiator flush treatment. I am not a "car guy", so the extra cost of the warranties is worth my peace of mind.

Scratch HERE to smell that "new car smell"...just don't scratch my car!