Saturn Vue Prices Paid and Buying Experience

jojoma · August 2007

Hello,

I'm just curious how you came up with these lease figures for a 24K car. Are you saying the residual is only 45% of the car price?

Thanks

CarMan@Edmunds · September 2007

Hi jojoma. You are referring to a post that I made several years ago. I would be happy to discuss this truck's current lease program with you. Vehicles' residual values are based upon a percentage of their full MSRPs plus the MSRPs of any options that can be residualized. Residuals vary by trim level, term, and mileage allowance. GMAC's current residual value for a 36 month lease of a 2008 Saturn VUE 4-cylinder with 15,000 miles per year is 50%.

Car_man
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gowick · October 2007

Hey all....

Can you help me with lease rates and residuals, and perhaps leasing cash, on 2008 Vue.

Looking at 36-39 months I would guess and 12,000 per year.

chigirlintexas · November 2007

Hey Car_Man,

Do you have any lease info on the '08 Vue XR V6 FWD, such as residual and money factor? I would be interested in 15K miles per year, 36 months.

Thanks,
ChiGirl

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2007

Hey ChiGirl. Here's the information that you're looking for. GMAC's current base lease rate and residual value for a 36 month lease of a 2008 Saturn VUE XR V6 FWD with 15,000 miles per year are 2.25% and 51%, respectively. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Car_man
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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum

majbabyarm · December 2007

Car_man,

Do you the money factor and residual on a 48 month lease? And is it a horribly bad idea to let them roll in neg equity in the 2-3 range.

Thanks
Majbabyarm

majbabyarm · December 2007

Greetings,
I am in the process of obtaining an 08 XR with leather and nav. I was lowballed on my trade, but they came up with some sort of vouchers they threw into the pot to keep me from bolting. Basically, there was 2k for the red tag deal and another 2k for some sort of corporate voucher that this dealership tossed in. I am getting 6K total off the deal because I am lucky enough to get a suppliers discount also.

I was told that certain dealerships get these 1K vouchers to use at will. The dealership is in a questionable part of town with limited traffic. Supposedly those in nicer areas did get as many if at all.

If you are in the market or shopping, it might be worth raising the question if they do not mention it. It helped me get past the low trade.
Good luck.

roadwarrior4 · December 2007

I bought the 07 Vue in August 2007. Sticker was $23,651. V-6, Onstar, 6 disc CD changer, cloth seats. No roof rails. Had dealer added pinstripe and mudflaps which I talked them into giving me at 1/2 what they were asking for it. I got the employee price (9%off) and $3000 in rebates. I did not trade anything. Also got 2 years of scheduled maintenance included. I live in Orlando but since they were out of cars, I went about 100 miles to Lakeland FL. The dealership was very courteous. I was out the door at $19600 including taxes, title etc. Had my own financing already arranged through my credit union.

It now has 4000 miles on it and no problems.

danylvenus · December 2007

I am very frustrated with my parent's 2005 Saturn Vue. My parents are seniors and make frequent trips out of state. The Vue's gas mileage was attractive and perfect for their lifestyle. Everything was fine for the first couple of months with the new vue.
Besides the many technical problems they have had with this vehicle, the most frustrating thing is the paint defects on the driver's side door.
Their Vue is bright yellow. (my parents are pretty hip) A black bubble appeared on the driver's side door and by the time my dad took it to the dealership the next week, a half-dollar sized peel had started, showing the blackness of the door beneath.
The dealership said that the paint wasn't covered under their warranty and that they would have to pay to have it fixed. :mad: Everytime the dealership has his vue, something else happens, so he has chosen not to take the vue back to the dealership. The peeling paint is now out of control and it looks like a yellow vue with a black drivers side door. The ironic part of the story is that my father is a GM retiree from the Columbus Ohio plant. He is very disappointed in the overall quality of this vehicle, especially the paint.
Does anyone here have any history with this problem? Any suggestions on how to get this fixed?

susansnider · January 2008

I have been investigating a paint problem on my 2006 Saturn Vue. It has paint bubbles on the back door where the silver ornament (w/Saturn logo) is. It's bubbled on both sides of this as well as directly above this. Someone I know that painted cars for 30+ years at a dealership said it is cause by the ornament vibrating and it needs to be supported better. Go to this website....very interesting stuff. http://www.lemonaidcars.com/secretwarranties.html

jclnick · January 2008

In March, 2005, I leased a 2005 Vue. It had leather, a moonroof and a single cd/mp3 player and the compass/temp guage showing in the rearview mirror. I loved this, my first SUV! Overall, I wasn't impressed with the MPG- usually got 25MPG on trips- it was a 4cyl, 5 speed, nor did I care for the way the Vue was put together at that time as far as seeing where the doors could be taken off, etc. It was definitely an entry level SUV, but fit my budget and served my needs very well for nearly 3 years without a problem.

Fast forward to January 21, 2008. For a lark, I decided to check out the new body style. I knew I had a GM Supplier discount of about $1,000 I could use along with GM's loyalty discount for prior leases at $500 and the current "pull ahead" credit of $500. I took another 4cyl for a test drive and it was fine as far as power and the styling both inside and out have been dramatically improved- it's almost downright European! 2008 models have no moonroof due to a supplier problem, but as much as I've loved having one, I could live without it. The 3.5 AWD models are a bit hard to find in Indy and I knew that the XR would be overkill as I was interested in MPG with the current price of fuel.

The dealership had an "exposure vehicle", "first prod run" with four options installed by the dealer, separate from any of the normal packaging: Fog lamps, the annoying as hell reverse echo sensor (I turned that sucker off), roof rails and a remote starter. This vehicle is black with tan interior. I was looking for dark blue or grey/grey or ruby red/grey initially, but as long as it wasn't white, it didn't matter very much. WELLLLLL... I leased this vehicle for under base MSRP with the above mentioned options! The dealership gave an "age credit" (6 mos. on the lot due to demo status) of $1,000 and a mileage credit of $1,350 as it had just a little over 2,200 miles on it. It would have been worth spending some extra money in the GM discounts I did have before the dealership discounts. My preferred options were: 6CD changer, preferred pkg and maybe roof rails and a cargo cover. My 2008 has a single CD and due to first prod. run has no digital compass- which I will miss. It does have outside temp though and that's fine. I've not had a black vehicle since 1989, but that was in CA where I could wash it when I wanted. The midwest has changeable weather...

It was a pleasant experience and I knew what I wanted as far as the XE model- I wouldn't have chosen the reverse sensor, or the fog lamps, but all things being equal, I love this vehicle- it's very sharp looking and drives like a dream. Color wasn't a huge factor and I didn't have to be "sold" since I didn't have to do anything until the end of March with my 2005 Vue. I can scarcely believe the differences in styling inside and out though! This is one vehicle I didn't "settle" on- nor did I with my 2005.

I took possession on the 22nd and am now at just under 3/4 of a tank. We'll see how the mileage is in this one since the EPA finally pulled their collective heads out and rate vehicle mileage differently these days- with real driving conditions such as passengers, a/c, etc.

So, we'll see how it goes... so far, so good!

CarMan@Edmunds · February 2008

I sure so, majbabyarm. GMAC's current base lease rate and residual value for a 48 month lease of a 2008 Saturn VUE 4-cylinder with 15,000 miles per year are 2.25% and 41%, respectively. The lease rate for an otherwise identical lease of a VUE V6 would be the same, but its residual value would be 1% higher. GMAC's residual values for leases of Saturns with 12,000 miles per year are 2% higher than its 15k residuals. As you can see, GMAC publishes lease rates instead of money factors for the vehicles that it leases. You can convert its base lease rates into approximate money factor equivalents by dividing them by 2400. So a lease rate of 2.25% would be equivalent to a money factor of around .00094.

You definitely would be better off if you didn't roll your negative equity into your new lease.

Car_man
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kevin_garrett9 · February 2008

OK, Saturn has a total of $2,500 in rebates to the general population, plus a possilbe $150 dealer incentive. These posts speak of other discounts, yet the Edmunds True Market Price shows very near sticker. What's up? I want to set the record for the most amount below sticker paid on a Saturn.

phil56 · March 2008

Car_man,

I too am looking at leasing a 2008 Saturn Vue XR FWD. Below is the info on the car I am looking to lease:

MSRP = $26,670
Sales Tax = 7%
Down Payment = $2000
Term = 36 months
Mileage = 12,000

We have the GM family discount, which in our experience looking at Equinox's last weekend, knocked about $2,000 off the MSRP (although I don't know if the effect will be the same for the Saturn Vues).

Anyway, I was hoping that you could give me a range of what I should expect for a lease price. Looking online, it currently looks as though Saturn has a 2.25% lease incentive for 36 month Saturn Vue leases. Thus, I'm not sure but I think that would bring the money factor to around .00094.

So based on my caluclations, I should expect somewhere between $329 ($2000 GM family discount) and $359 ($1000 GM family discount) (NOTE: would be $390 with $0 GM family discount).

Let me know what you think. I was hoping not to be too surprised when I go to the dealership. Thanks for your help!

Phil

sheepdog1 · March 2008

Now the VUE XE lease deals look better than the Lucerne. What are the residuals for a 10k mile lease for a 39 mo lease and int rate? Do you know if Saturn is allowing the auto show rebate till 4/5? Thanks.

daytonjohn · July 2008

My family just purchased a Saturn Vue EX FWD, with as few options as we could find. I think the only options we had included Roof Rails, Special Paint, Front and Back Carpet Mats. The only other item adding to the MSRP was Destination Charge. This put the Saturn at about $22,495.00 The GM 72 Hr Sale offered discounts of $500 + $500 + $1,500 or, as you have said $2,500 off MSRP. We did receive an additional Supplier's Discount. The Dealer offered the same Trade-In Value for our MiniVan that Edmunds.com said they would. We were able to get an extra $500 more, when we objected. All in all (other than the crowds) this was a great car buying experience. We absolutely love the vehicle. It drives great, has enough power and has a very well done interior. Like all GM Vehicles this car had OnStar with a one-year subscription. The Radio has XM with a three-month subscription. The vehicle has a Cell Phone with it's own number. Wow! We looked at the Honda CR-V but found it a great deal more costly.

cryogenics · October 2008

I'd like to know whether anyone here still have the record of incentives and rebates for 2008 Saturn VUE XE FWD for September, 2008 (09/30/2008). The reason I asked is because I purchased a 2008 Saturn VUE XE AWD last month with $2500 rebates ($1000 Consumer Cash and $1500 Purchase Bonus), however, I decided to exchange the vehicle to a XE FWD since the first one is defective. The dealer told me the rebates for FWD was only $1500 in September ($500 Consumer Cash and $1000 Purchase Bonus). I just wonder if they are telling me the truth.

Please let me know if anybody still have the record of rebate history on 2008 VUE XE FWD.

Thank you very much!

tpm3 · November 2008

Turned my key about 3/4's and the engine tried to start but did not completely start. As the egine was winding down I quickly turned my key back to the off position and turned it to the start position again. That's when all hell broke loose. My engine block warning light came on and my engine was sputtering and shaking. When I put it into drive and tried to move the vehicle my engine was still sputtering and shaking and I had to put the gas pedal to the floor just to advance the vehicle. Does anyone have any idea what could have happened? This happened Friday afternoon & my Vue is sitting in the Saturn dealership parking lot & won't be checked out by the Saturn folks until Monday when they will run diagnostics check ($65). HELP!

kyfdx · November 2008

It looks like you found a better place for your post in maintenance and repair. Hopefully, someone will have an answer for you there.

rocketbob · February 2009

recently notice that GM Canada is currently offering a $6500 "price adjustment"
for a 2009 6 cylinder Vue XR. The current list price is $31000 Can, which brings
the price into line with US prices. Since we rarely get any real incentives in Canada
has anyone heard any more about closing Saturn down. Judging from the lack
of activity on Edmonds Vue Forums, the cars must not be selling.
I am interested because I am in the market for a new small SUV. I currently
have a 2003 FWD 6 cylinder Vue which has been a great vehicle.

jfritsch · February 2009

I don't know. With only 4 pages of posts one can see hardly no posts is par for the course for this vehicle.

In the U.S., a used 08 24000msrp vue has a trade in value of about 13000. That said, A very good price on a new 09 here would be about $16000-17000.

Good luck
--jjf

macca2008 · February 2009

I just got out of the Saturn dealer for a 3rd time in 6 months to look at buying a Vue. The 0% 60 month financing made it hard not to return.

I found the 2009 Vue XR 4-cyl FWD with premium trim package (leather, heated seats, etc.). Sticker was $27,020; I am GM supplier so my discount took it to $25,906.88; $5,500 on my trade-in (2003 Subaru Forester 2.5XS). With 10% down ($2,200) on the subtotal, with 0% for 60 months, I'm looking at $332/month. Here's the official breakdown:

Price: $25,906.88
Trade: -$ 5,500.00
Tax: $ 1,428.48
Tags: $ 65.00
Doc.Fee $ 195.00

TOTAL: $22,095.36
Down: -$ 2,200.00
Finance: $19,895.36

Deal or no deal? Since I'm not buying down any interest on the downpayment, I don't have a problem paying the 10% as it goes directly against the principal.

Aside from the uncertainty of Saturn past 2011, just looking at the deal itself... what do you think? Can I get them to give me more incentive to take delivery by Saturday 2/28?

macca2008 · March 2009

Hi again. Well, I went back and forth with the dealer and got them to give me an additional $700 on my trade-in for the deal I wrote about, above. I went in with the 0%, so my payments would be reduced to $320.89 - I was willing to pay $320/month with $2,100 down (which goes right towards principal anyway). They offered a different deal that, surprisingly, was better - a 5.8% APR 60 month but with $2,750 cash incentive off the bottom line from Saturn. I calculated the interest on the principal for the life of the loan and found it was less than $2,750. Meaning, Saturn paid for the interest of the loan at the time of sale. Comparing the payments and overall out-of-pocket, I saved another $150 going this route, and I could still ride out the 60-month term without paying off early if I still wanted. I still put down the same amount ($2,100).

I was pleasantly surprised, and believe me I went over this at least 5 different times while they waited. Hey, it's my money and I wanted to be sure.

I did opt for the gap insurance, having consulted a good friend who is lawyer who said for the right price it's a good idea. I got them to knock it down about $60 which essentially covered the interest I would pay by rolling it into the 60 month loan. So my total monthly payment is $328.

Finally, I did the car care on a 12-pay to avoid paying interest. So my first year out-of-pocket for the entire package is more, which I expected. But from years 2-5 I'm satisfied with where I landed on the deal. I'm also not overly concerned about maintenance after 2011 when manufacturing stops. Saturn is so entrenched in GM that I would most likely continue my service at a Buick or GMC dealer.

intotheoh · March 2009

Here is the offer I have on the table. Deal or no deal?

2008 Vue XE AWD (V6)

MSRP: 24,700
Dealer offering Price: $22,475
Rebate: $2,750

Price before Taxes: $19,725 + TTL

My only hesitation is that the V6 in the XE is a little rough. My wife really really wants a hybrid. Have you heard of any rebates on those?

macca2008 · March 2009

I would say as long as the rebate covers the interest you'd pay for the life of the loan (because they don't offer the rebate on the 0% 60 month as I understand it), then it's probably worth it.

How did you get the dealer to offer it at $22,475? GM supplier discount or employee discount?

I chose the 4-cyl because of the gas mileage - i liked the ride of the V6 better, though. I went with the XR trim to "treat" myself, really.

I also considered total cost of ownership, which you can figure out easily with the saturn when you get a car care package. with the car loan and the car care, plus the gap insurance, the total cost of ownership still ended up being less than my price for the car after my GM supplier discount. That to me sounded like a good deal.

I haven't heard of any rebates on the hybrids. I decided to wait until hybrid technology is more advanced, and cheaper; for that matter, when it's time to get a new car years down the road it may be a hydrogen or electric car, who knows.

lb61 · October 2009

We have a 2007 Vue and the lease ends 1/8/10. The buyout is approximately $12,500. We obviously want to offer well below the buyout amount, but does anyone have an any opinions about a good starting point for negotiation?

emona · November 2009

I need a little advice as to the future of my smart buy,in 05 I purchased a saturn vue with a $10,000.00 down payment, upon bringing my car in for service( when it was 15 month old) i saw the newer model that i really liked and traded in the car that i had finaced to a smart buy which the salesman had me believe was the same as owing the car, which i know now is another word for leasing.Anyway my lease is up in December (by the was the smart but is a GMAC lease) and i am not really sure as what to do as far as a new model. I do like my car but I don't know if it would be a wise decision to buy this car or look for another suv....i cannot a foord to make another costly mistake. Any suggestions? emona

ellobo1 · March 2010

We went and bought a used Vue today, got a 2009 XE V-6 AWD for 17,000. Had 24,000 miles on it. Very good shape, they gave us 3.6% financing so I went ahead and got the 4 years additional bumper to bumper warranty.

This was in houston, at Katy Saturn, once interesting note, on there website the cars where much cheaper then when we got there. So on the website they had it for 18,500 but when we got there it was at 20,500. Just thought I would warn people, but I guess you expect shady practices form a used car dealer.

shopdog97 · December 2010

Good Morning and Merry Christmas to all:

There is a 2008 Saturn Vue XE V-6 AWD for sale here locally at a small used car dealer. We will be actively looking for a small to mid size SUV in a few weeks. I'd really like to know your heartfelt opinions on this model. I'm not sure of the mileage on this one, but the asking price is $9500. And if it is still there in a few weeks, I may go to see it. What should I keep an eye out for? Has this motor/transmisssion in this model/year been reliable? I know proper maintenance is the key to any vehicles success. I own a '96 SL-1 that has been nearly flawless to me in going on 4 years. But with Saturn now defunct, would any of you consider this vehicle or would you run away from it? Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

kyfdx · December 2010

The VUE is mechanically identical to the Chevy Equinox, so I wouldn't let the demise of Saturn bother me, when buying a used car.. In fact, it's probably depressed the resale values a little bit, so that should be a bonus..

With used cars, mileage and condition is everything.... neither of which you have mentioned...

shopdog97 · January 2011

Thanks kydfx, for your response to my post about the Vue. Since I do not as yet have cash in hand to buy, there's no way I can know the condition of it or how many miles are on it. My main concern is how reliable these SUV's are, and I know that's a hard question to ask, sight unseen. Since I posted the original blog, I have leads on an '03 and an 04'VUE AWD and would like to know how these years faired. Does Edmunds have a site where you can go to get this information answered by just plugging in the year, make and model and seeing what owners of such say about them? I see some of that commentary in these blogs but always wondered if there was something that might go more in depth. I have a neighbor who has Vue with manual transmission that his wife drives and he says it has been very reliable for them. I THINK it is an 04 or 05, and I'm not sure if it is an AWD model. Funny you should mention the Equinox as I also have a few leads on that as well. We rented one in 2006 while our vehicle was in the body shop and although it was just FWD, we both liked the ride and performance with it. I thought it got fairly decent gas mileage for a vehicle of it's size. Anyway, thanks for the response and Happy New Year to you.

kyfdx · January 2011

Scroll down, and look on the right side of this page. Under "Browse by Vehicle", you will find a dropdown menu, where you can choose the Saturn Vue.

Click GO, and you will find many, many discussions about the Saturn Vue.. You can do the same thing for the Chevy Equinox, which may have more posts, because it sold in greater numbers, when new.

regards,
kyfdx

tsi222 · March 2011

Does anyone have any information on this? My lease is up in July and the buyout price is 12,000.00.

CarMan@Edmunds · March 2011

gmcustsvc · March 2011

tsi222,
What information are you looking for?
Christina
GM Customer Service

kcrossley · April 2011

I have an opportunity to purchase what looks to be a well maintained 2004 Saturn Vue V6, AWD for my youngest son. This will be his first car. The catch is this car has 172K on it. He will primarily be using it locally to go back and forth to school and work.

Is this car near the end of it's life or can I get another 40K out of it?
How can I tell if it has a Honda motor in it?
What Vue specific questions should I ask?
What would be a reasonable price?

Thanks!

michaellno · April 2011

I believe 2005 was the first model year where the Honda 3.5L V6 and 5-speed automatic were used in the VUE.

Having owned 2 VUEs (2005 and 2008), I can tell you that the service and maintenance history are quite important. Make sure that all maintenance has been done.

172K is quite a few miles for any car ... why do you want to get 40K more out of it? Do you have a specific budget in mind for a car for your son? There are plenty of vehicles available with fewer miles that might be a better choice for your son.

Best of luck, and let us know how it all turns out.

kcrossley · April 2011

We're trying to get something in the $2,500 range. I said 40K because I figured since he's using it locally that would last him a few years.

Saturn Vue Prices Paid and Buying Experience

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