Best Of

That was the Aura, on the GM Epsilon platform which also begat the Opel Vectra and Saab 9-3. Not a bad driving car with a V6.

The Aura XR looked great at the time, but probably would have been a nightmare to own once the warranty was up (one of the first applications of the GM 3.6 liter V6 plus the early six speed automatics had widespread issues, if memory serves).

The 3.5 liter overhead valve V6 had variable valve timing, and drove pretty well in a few rentals I had. Of course, the car I ended up buying with that powertrain, a G6, was plagued with transmission issues and, consequently, never drove quite as good as the others I had driven.

We had a 2008 Aura XR bought new for the wife. We only brought it up to 65,XXX miles but overall was a great car. GM did step up after the warranty was up and replaced the transmission wave plate which was a weak point in the 6 speed transmission. I got an extended warranty letter a year or 2 before offering a replacement transmission up to 8 years after purchase. It was done by our local Chevy dealer because by that time Saturn was gone.

The XR was fully loaded and had the 3.6 V-6 which had I think 258 HP and was plenty quick. The sticker was $30K and we paid around $24 as that was when GM was in the process of getting rid of Pontiac and Saturn.
I sold it to a friend for his daughter and she got good use from it for few years and traded for a Honda Civic.

I always got compliments on the Moroccan Brown leather interior which was a $100 option

@roadburner said:

“You gotta deal with flakes and idiots in any profession.”

That is the absolute truth.

I had a conversation with a sales rep the other day that truly questions how people even get out of bed in the morning.

I told this story in another topic:
I was in the middle of a hearing where I'm wanting to revoke a guy’s probation. Against his attorney’s advice the guy wanted to testify. When it was my turn to cross examine him I asked him just one question:
“So you are telling this court that aside from failing two drug tests, picking up a new felony arrest, and not reporting to your probation officer, you have done exceptionally well on probation?”
His reply? “Yes!”