SamGrant951

dave, great quote..its so true

"Reliability these days means how long you can neglect it before it breaks."

Jeff928S4

Hey - at least the poster makers over at Saturn know which car DOES handle the best.

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

We shouldn't be pissed.....we should be pissed if the poster said "...handles better than a BMW".

944S Boyeee

BeerBurner

Well, I suppose a Saturn would probably outhandle a '52 356.

Too bad that after seeing my mom's '95 Saturn SW2 need a new tranmission, timing chain and rings by 75k miles, I don't have too many good things to say about Saturns...

BB.

Z-man

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">From Saturn Dealer's sign:
Our new Saturns will handle better than a Porsche</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Should read:
Our new Saturns will handle the trip to the grocery store better than a Porsche[/b]

While I admire Saturns for their no-haggle policy, their plastic body panels, and their overall success and relatively positive reliablity history, I seriously don't think too many people take their claim too seriously.

But: with Porsche's recent witch hunt (Don't even try to secure a domain name on the web with the letters P-O-R-S-C-H-E in it! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> ) I am surprised they haven't wailed on Saturn yet.

-Zoltan.

Skwerl

Hopefully the poster will have an * and some fine print at the bottom to shed some light on this.

Bryan

I dunno guys, I see this Saturn poster as kinda flattering. Saturn and many other car manufacturers frequently use Porsches as the "other" vehicle when making comparisons. Why pick Porsches? Because Porsches are the best. And Saturn, GM, whoever, is acknowledging this when they say things like "Our Super Duty 1/2 ton crew cab can haul more sheets of plywood than a Porsche". Comparing yourself favorably to something that sucks doesn't say a whole lot about you. But if you can compare yourself favorably to the recognized leader in the industry, then hey - you must be great too. I don't think Porsche even needs to run ads themselves because they are shown in other companies ads so frequently.

The subtext here is really that Porsche performance/design/capability/quality/etc is what the other companies are striving for and feel they need to tell you about it.

It's really a backhanded compliment.

Bryan

BeerBurner

Valid point. After all, what's that easiest way to find out who everyone thinks is the best? It's to find out who everyone says is the second best.

BB.

Bryan

944S Boyeee - right on brother! That's what I was going for.

In fact, I think a cool collection to have would be advertisements and posters from OTHER car companies that show Porsches. Maybe not even limit it to other car companies. Back in the '80s, there was a famous Klein bicycle poster "The Aluminum Klein. It could re-arrange your priorities". It showed the bike, but also a nice 911 (in a clever and humorous way - I'll try and find a pic).

Basically, the fact that so many other companies pay subtle homage to Porsche in their ads says way more about Porsche than about the companies who made the ads.

Bryan

NerfRacing

i have a saturn for a winter beater and it handles like a shopping cart. absolutely pitiful excuse for an automobile. it reminds me of a little tykes first car kinda thing. everything is plastic and big and just apalling to the eye.

EZRider

No biggie,...what Saturn is really saying "when I grow up I want to be as good as Porsche". Hmm this reminds me of another car commercial. I don't remember the brand, maybe Saturn?, about avoiding old age LOL.

944Play

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Bryan:
<strong>In fact, I think a cool collection to have would be advertisements and posters from OTHER car companies that show Porsches.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">I'll start:
<a href="http://sonic.net/~johnboy/images/toaradargun.jpg" target="_blank">Volvo ad</a>

MichelleJD

A couple of reasons why Saturn can get away with this:

1) Puffery - Same thing when the salesman tells you it's the most reliable car on the market. It's sales talk. On the other hand, get'em to put it in the contract for sale and you've got an actionable offense ( legalese for lawsuit!).

2) It's become part of the vernacular to say "it handles as good as a Porsche!" Sorta like saying "I need to xerox this" or "give me a kleenex." Just as xerox = copy and kleenex = tissue, it's come to represent what good handling means. You're right, it's a great compliment

Wachuko

The VUE looks nice... I have seen it on the road...
<img src="http://www.saturn.com/fwd4/images/fwd4-gallery7-big.jpg" alt=" - " />

I have no experience with the Saturns so I really can't say if there are good and reliable cars but a comparing it with a Porsche... those are strong words.

yarin

You can put wheels on a rubber garbage can but can't expect to "drive" it.

cheetah chrome

this is very fitting, last friday my daily driver (the stealth) decided its too cold and its not going to run anymore (some f'n electrical issue but thats another story). my 951 i have apart for some winter projects and the triumph is sitting in storage 30+ miles away so my parents were nice enough to let me use thier saturn for a couple of days. i laugh everytime i get in the car cause next to the AT gear selector theres a switch for "performance driving mode". keep in mind this isnt thier 2 dr "sport" coupe...this is the 4 dr grociery getter. im pretty sure the only thing that switch does is turn the LED in it on and off. heheh when i step on the gas it sounds like i have a salad shooter under the hood.