So Wednesday I went to GMC and ordered the book. They charged me $40 for it and it'll be here in about a week. I questioned the charge. Didn't I pay extra for a certified vehicle just to have the piece of mind that they'd be doing anything that needed to be done and it would be covered under warranty? I informed them about the manual the morning after delivery. A bumper to bumper warranty and, less than 24 hours after taking delivery they're already charging me for the first problem. The manual is standard glove compartment equipment and the glove box is definitely between the two bumpers. So I asked my rep - what gives? His answer - he knows it defies common sense that an owner's manual would not be in English, but according to the terms of the warranty, the car did come fully equipped since it was originally sold in a French speaking city.
I've had many frustrations trying to figure things out the last couple weeks so I had to have a manual in English that I can read in the car. But even the manual can't be completely trusted. I've already found two things that are incorrect. The location of the hood latch is not where the manual says it is. I spent a great deal of time Wednesday trying to open the hood without any luck. Thankfully, my rep knew exactly where it was and, as you might guess, it wasn't anywhere that was even remotely obvious. In fact, looking right at it I would never have guessed it was a latch. It wasn't until I actually touched it and pulled on it that it became clear it was the latch.
The manual also failed to disclose what the recommended pressure was for the tires, instead instructing you to find the psi on the side of the tire. It wasn't there, which didn’t help at all when the tire went flat. (The tire was flat when I first went there and had to delay the test drive for a day until they fixed it. They claimed they fixed it. But they didn’t; they had only reinflated it. Of course, now they promise to fix it for real. If something that basic was neglected, how many other of the 172-point certified inspection were neglected?) Again, thankfully the rep knew that the psi was printed on the base panel of the front door. Every car I've ever owned it's always been either printed on the inside of the glove box door or on the side panel of the front door. Now why would anyone ever guess to look at the bottom panel? So yes, I have found a couple of design problems with the car already. And why wouldn’t the manual tell you it’s on the bottom panel?
Most of the instrumentation is electronic and I can't even begin to figure it out without having a manual in my hand. I did tell the rep when I was looking at the car that an engine temp gauge was very important and he assured me the Saturn had one via the electronic dash. It does not appear to have one and there is no mention of one in the manual.
One completely idiotic feature the car has is a readout on the dash that shows what mpg you're getting at any given moment. At first glance, this would seem to be a good thing. But it isn't. It fluctuates from 1 mpg to 999 mpg and everything in between from one second to the next, so it's pretty worthless. What's even more astonishing is that of all the options on the car, this is the ONLY one you can't shut off. You have to sit there watching this ridiculous reading all the time you're driving.
There are a couple more idiosyncracies that I'm really hoping the manual will eventually shed more light on. When the heat is on the forward position, all kinds of cold air comes spilling into the car from of all places the CD player. This does not happen in any of the other five positions. My favorite position has always been "forward" but, as you might guess, I have learned to start appreciating the other four positions.
There are a number of options on the car that I specifically purchased it for (like ABS and traction control) for which there are icons that light up when you turn the car on that tell you whether they're working or not. The problem is they go on for literally half a second and then go off again. I have not been able to figure out how to find out whether these options are even on my car, let alone working.
So there are a few bugs to work out and I might be experiencing buyers remorse if not for that 12 month bumper to bumper warranty, even if it doesn't cover an English-language manual. That's like giving you a set of keys that don't work and then charging you for replacement keys with the rationale: we only guaranteed to give you keys, we never guaranteed they'd actually fit. Well that's what they've done with the manual. They're telling me they only guaranteed to give me a manual, they never guaranteed I'd actually be able to read it.
If this is sounding like I regret the decision, I do not. I am confident the car will work out just fine. There are many things I like very much about the car. It was literally the only car I could find with the combination of manual transmission, ABS, and traction control, all of which will give me much peace of mind when the snow comes. And I just love the color and style, all in all the closest car to my Vibe that I could find. Saturn has a fine reputation. I don't know any Saturn owners who don't love their cars.
It's supposed to get 32 mpg (1 mpg shy of the Vibe) but I think I only got 20 on my first tankful. I'm hoping that's just because I had a soft tire. Of course, my main concern when I purchased it was that I thought the ride was a little on the rough side. I was hoping that was just because I wasn't used to the transmission and that's exactly what proved the case. It took me about two days to get the feel for the stick and it's been driving very smoothly ever since. So there are new things I'm learning every day and, except for the few idiosyncracies I described above, I'm very happy with it so far. I'm confident that, with time, these little bugs will work themselves out. The big bug right now is the mileage. I sincerely hope I end up getting considerably more than 20. The Vibe always got in the high 20s even in traffic, mid to high 30s on the freeway. If not, I'm thankful I'm not driving a lot until I'm done at OU and then I'll have to start thinking about another car.
One more bit of bright news on the horizon. Rumor has it that Roger Penske has re-entered negotiations with GM again to acquire the Saturn brand. I'm hoping this works out. I'm hoping Saturn comes back. If it does, I will very likely be buying another one. Unfortunately, I cannot find any verification of this development in any search I’ve done on the Internet so maybe the originator of this story (my Hertz rental agent) didn’t know what he was talking about.
Note: I wrote most of this on Wednesday night. Since then I have figured out how to make the dash icons stay on and have now verified that I do indeed have the Stabillitrak traction control system on this car, which is designed to keep the car from sliding when the roads are slippery. That alone makes me very happy about the purchase of this vehicle and makes all the other problems well worth putting up with. Between this, the stick, and the ABS, I will feel very safe in the winter.
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