2008 Saturn Astra consumer reviews

the saturn is a great car, good milage and handles well. really hugs the corners. the snow mode is a nice addition and helps a lot. My only complaint is the cup holder. There is one that is almost in the back seat and you have to be somewhat of a contortionist to reach it while driving. Maybe this isn't a problem for taller people but us short folks it just doesn't work. It has a nice sounding steroo system and a surprising amount of room for its size. Mine is a four door, well I guess they call it a five door, with the sun roof with sun screen. except for the cup holder it is a fine car and I would recomend it to others if they want a dependable car that is realy good on gas.

There is a reason this is the number one selling car in Europe. Valleydrive does not know ,he drove a preproduction model. The saleable units just got on the lots. Some of it's excellent features include: superb handling, spacious well designed and well built interior, very cool stereo system, huge dual sunroof, beautiful exterior, Onstar, nice shifting transmission(drove a manual) full safety features, good gas mileage. My one and only complaint is that the engine could be more powerful. For most people it will be fine, but they should add the turbo and desiels from Europe. If you want a compact car, buy it.

Got a chance to drive the car at one of the Saturn 'early introduction' events. Not a bad car, but I was expecting it to be a bit more exciting, with some pizzazz. While there's the novelty of a European car being imported to the US, it's nothing more than that. If you're going to bring a car over from Europe, I think you would want to make some accommodation to the American market. So, I was disappointed to note that a few 'standard' features on American cars haven't been added - I'm not talking about expensive things, but 'convenience' things. For example, the cup holders are mediocre, in fact it's 'a cup holder' for the two people in the front seat. I know this is a European/American thing, but it can't be that difficult to adapt a feature like this. There's also no driver's side arm rest for the driver's right arm. I'm guessing that for Europeans most models are sold with standard transmissions and this isn't such a big deal. But here in Southern CA where this car is going to be purchased with an automatic transmission and we sit in a lot of traffic, you want to be able to adjust your body and lean to the right. Lastly, call me whiny, but there's no input for an iPod or other MP3 player. I'm driving a Honda Element now and it came with an iPod input. (I know not all cars do; I'm surprised that my wife's Lexus 330 doesn't have one either.) These are just three things that struck me as a lack of attention to detail or localization. And while I imagine these things would add to the cost of the vehicle, I can't imagine they would be thousands, let alone hundreds, of extra dollars. When I took a look at the Mini Clubman at the LA Car Show the Mini people said there was either a simple iPod input for 'free,' or as an add-on, an input that would use the Mini's installed sound system to stream the band/song info. That's cool!