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Hybrid Vehicles Saturn VUE Green Line Hybrid New Saturn VUE Green Line Owners -Give Us Your Report
300 messages, Last post on Oct 07, 2009 at 2:54 AM
You are in the Saturn VUE Green Line Hybrid Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
| It seems that there are no deals on the lease/buy interest rates on this vehicle. GM is not making the purchase of the green line easy. It will cost us an EXTRA $200 per month to lease this puppy. Not exactly what makes sense. Probably will end up with the HHR! | |
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First off let me say that there is very little consumer information out their on the New Saturn Vue Green Line. Granted there is Consumer Reports, Car and Driver and other publications but almost nothing from the average owner. This web site is one of the only places besides Saturn's web site to get this information. That is why I feel complied to write about my experiences with the new Hybrid. Why did I buy the Saturn Vue Hybrid? Prior to buying the Saturn Vue Hybrid I owned a 1995 Saturn SL2 with 160,000 miles. The car was a workhorse and for the past three years I put on 70,000 miles and averaged 33.5 mpg. I kept detailed records of the gas mileage – hence the need for a Hybrid on my next car. I also like to road bike and need room in a vehicle for two bikes. That pointed me towards a SUV. So I was a Saturn owner + I wanted a Hybrid + I needed an SUV = Vue. I looked at the 4 and 6 cylinder Vues and compared the prices. The 6 cylinder was being offered for about $1600 less than a similar Hybrid 4 cylinder Vue. Granted the 6 had more horse power it did have 20% less mpg. Given the fact the government will offer you a $650 tax credit (not a tax deduction) the price difference was about $1000. Given my mileage per year at 25,000 miles, it would only take about 2-3 years to break even. Besides, the thought of owning a Hybrid SUV and helping the environment was very attractive to me. I picked up the SUV yesterday with 80 miles on it and it was a basic model. Blue with Gray interior and just the extra MP3 player. No other bells and whistles. The dealership had to look hard to find me a basic model. To echo a previous post – GM does not make it easy to purchase a Hybrid. Anyway, I am currently at 145 miles and here are my earlier feelings. Besides the fact that it has the new car smell and that I now am seated about 3 feet higher than my SL2 and I now park in a spot that is protected with a column on one side and a passenger’s door on the other to prevent dings – it is cool to drive as all new cars are. Details: when stopping at a light or in heavy stop and go traffic – I noticed that it switches the engine off with the gas. There is a slight but noticeable engine switch. Nothing major and it is something that I did take note of. Saturn states it does this to save gas and increase mileage. (We will see.) My Driving Habits: I commute 90 miles a day and it encompasses every type of driving you can imagine. I commute from a town in Maryland to just outside of DC. The Saturn will be going 80+mph on I-95 one minute and stuck in traffic the next. Anyone that has driven this way will know what I am talking about. I am very easy on the gas and easy on the break. My view is that if I don’t get good gas mileage with this Hybrid – no one will. Heck, I averaged 33.5mpg on an 11 year old car with 160,000 miles on it for a span of 75,000 miles- documented. In the weeks to come, I will be very honest & unbiased and update my real world findings on this web site in the hopes of providing valuable real time information about this Hybrid Saturn. -- HybridVue 
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Replying to: hybridvue (Dec 07, 2006 9:01 am)
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Replying to: pf_flyer (Oct 27, 2006 5:51 am)  We ordered the hybrid in July and recieved it the end of November. The first 2 tanks of gas got 23 mpg. Now we have 1200 miles on the car and the highest average we have gotten is 27 mpg. I know this is good compared to most suv's on the market, but we were really hoping to see something around 32 mpg since we do a lot of highway driving. The car is very roomy. We looked at the HHR also, but did not like the middle compartment extending into the back where the back seat passenger would have to sit in the middle and spread their leg. And lastly, it does not have a lot of pick-up. Are regrets are the gas mileage, wish we had known that the model was going to change in Spring 2008, wished we would have ordered the chrome roof racks(they jazz of the car), and the storm gray color looks green in certain light, yuk.
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Replying to: crazedcommuter (Dec 28, 2006 5:12 pm) One important note - as for driving 80mph - I discovered that the gas mileage goes way down - 15 - 20% decrease in mpg. I am currently up to 2500 miles on the Hybrid is less than 4 weeks. Over that span I am averaging 29.1 mpg - very good in my mind. On a recent trip from Baltimore, MD to mid Ohio - I drove between 75 and 80mph over the hills of western Maryland and averaged about 25mpg. On the way back I drove between 70-75 and averaged 25.8mpg. However, while in Ohio I drove the posted speed limit of 60-65 and got my best mileage at 34.5mpg. My local commute to DC has been in the 30.5mpg range. That would explain why some people get in the low 20's while others are around 30+ mpg. If you speed you compromise your gas mileage. By the way - I found my first bug in the Hybrid. The cruise control stopped working after 1000 miles. The light to engage cruise control would go on but it would not set. After two hours in the dealership - they discovered a tech note from Saturn that the Powertrain Cruise Control Module (PCM) sometimes needs to be reprogrammed. They reprogrammed the PCM and the cruise control is working again. I will let everyone know if the problem resurfaces. By the way the dealership was very nice and really worked to solve the problem. I am still very happy with my purchase. PS: The Saturn will get up to 80mph with no problems - good pick up, just remember that the gas mileage goes down. |
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Replying to: jtstahls (Dec 31, 2006 8:05 am) As for the 2008 Saturn Hybrid Vue model, it will be a true Hybrid auto with electric only propulsion up to 35 mph. That will again increase the gas mileage upwards of 10 - 15% from the current numbers.
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Replying to: hybridvue (Jan 04, 2007 5:19 am)
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Replying to: jtstahls (Jan 04, 2007 7:33 am) Oh yeah when they came out with the relay I spoke to a Saturn spokesman who told me they dont have the plastic doors because it was cost prohibit. Give me a break. |
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I have had my green line for about 2 weeks now. I absolutely love everything except for the gas milage so far and lack of hybrid related fuel economy gages. I got a totally loaded model and love the leather heated seats the most (my first car with leather heated seats). Dashboard cruise and hill assist lights aren't working. I saw a post that there is a bug and the gages need reset to fix - so no biggie. It seems like you have to really work hard for the any gains in gas milage (to get close to EPA estimates) which is a pain. You have to train yourself for sure. My last 2001 V6 ford explorer sport tract met the EPA estimates (18/22) exactly no matter how i drove the thing for the 5 years i owned it. It seems as though saturn is off with the estimates and they are misleading. I understand there is alot i don't know and am learning more and adjusting my practice with the hybrid. I will update this in a few days once complete with my 3rd tank of gas. On my 3rd tank of gas. The first two tanks rated as follows: 1st tank - 14.25 gallons - 409 miles - 28.75mpg * Drove normal without taking into consideration the hybrid eco and charge/assist gages. 2nd tank - 14.38 gallons - 364 miles - 24.82mpg * drove cautiously with defrosters on the entire time since it was raining constantly (oops). Tried to drive more efficiently, but didn't consider eco and charge/assist gages. 3rd tank - Read the quick start guide (Will report in a few days the results.) * Tried to drive without cruise control and defrosters on, tried to maintane the eco light as much as possible. |
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Two days after my cruise control problem was fixed it reappeared. No biggie I thought until I noticed that my brake lights would not turn off. I got home around 6pm on Friday and noticed that the brake lights remained on after I turned the Hybrid off. I checked the brake pedal, made sure the car was in park and started the Hybrid several times to see if it would go off. No luck. I then decided to pull the fuse for the brake lights - they still remained on. So I resolved to take the Hybrid in on Saturday to get it looked at. I got up at 7am and noticed that the brake lights were off. I thought, this is good - until I realized that they were off because the battery was dead. I called roadside assistance and within 65 minutes the Hybrid was jumped and I was on my way to the dealer.  I picked up a loaner vehicle and left the Hybrid at the dealership. I just picked it up yesterday so they had it from Saturday until Wednesday. Here is what they found: the technician found the plastic teeth on the brake switch retainer was stripped causing the switch not to engage as it should. The tech replaced the brake switch behind the brake pedal and it corrected the brake lights on problem as well as the cruise control not engaging problem. (The other Hybrid owner in this post should have the cruise control and the brake pedal switch retainer checked immediately.) You do not want to get stuck somewhere. I tested the Hybrid this morning and everything is working properly. The service department once again was very helpful. Now I know some owners would be fuming that it took two visits to the dealership to get the issue resolved but being angry in this case would not get you anything except high blood pressure. Things brake so you deal with it and get it fixed. It also helps that it is covered under the standard warrantee. I also have a 5 year 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warrantee that I purchased at the time of sale. If you plan on keeping the Hybrid more than 5 years it is well worth the money. (For the record the issue had nothing to do with the fact that it is a Hybrid.) So for now the Hybrid is rolling again and I hope it stays that way. I will keep you all posted. 
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