Long-Term Road Tests

I don't think the IL editors are trying to destroy the Aura's reputation; I haven't read anything that would keep me from considering one. I also don't think the Accord is being viewed through rose-colored glasses. The impressions of the IL editors actually mirror what I've heard from owners of both, and I am getting a realistic impression of what it might be like to own each. Isn't that the whole point of the blog? This throwing down of the gauntlet every time they say the Aura is just good-but-average is so silly, and by the fiftieth time, boring. But, you know, I'M the one who overreacts.... ;o)

"langie please give it a rest. You dont want anyone talking about your altima but you are quick to attemtp to discredit the Aura. have you driven the car? If not, perhaps you should stop assuming the worst about the car. NACTY is voted on my 45 auto journalists from across the US and Canada. Who said it was BS except you? If the Altima won I guess it would be legit in your eyes. I would love to hear your explanation as to how so many journalists from across the nation were convinced to vote for a mediocre car. Could it be they liked the car? Your comments (along with some other folks) show that you have read little about the Aura besides the BS printed in this LT blog which has become anti-Aura central. Read some reviews from 2006 when the car came out before assuming its as bad as IL staffers say it is. Even though the car finished 4th in a C&D comparo they didnt even have much negative to say about it. One of their criticisms was the way the trunk opened."
 
i wasn't discrediting the aura. i'm just saying what others had thought (and was published). my reference to MT was about how they judge COTY awards. not always the "best" car of the group, but sometimes the most revolutionary. 2002 altima, was not the "best", most well rounded car of the group, still won NACOTY because it revolutionized the family sedan (though the 240+ HP can be viewed as good or bad)
 
same thing with the aura, revitalized the american family sedan. might have it's flaws (as all cars do), but is a giant leap for GM (thus earning the COTY award).
 
i only said "i don't think you want to go there with the NACOTY thing" because of the flaming some people will do, not because i didn't think it deserved it.

"Always attacking edmunds for their truthful reviews. But even if you think edmunds biased, do you call Car and Driver, Motor trend, and many other publications biased cause they publish the truth and all rank the Accord near the top either at #1 or close to it while your POS Aura doesn't even make the list? Get real High School boy, just because your daddy owns the car doesn't mean your gonna drive it and when you finally get your liscence you will see how shity the Aura is. The interior screams cheap, heck that display looks like it came from the 1950s."
 
do you do any fact checking before posting? Accord lost to Malibu in MT. Only C&D seems to be obsessed with the 2008 Accord.
 
"i don't think you want to go there with the NACOTY thing. many people think that award was BS. but i think it's like MT where they just see what's revolutionary and for American cars, the Aura was just that."
 
langie please give it a rest. You dont want anyone talking about your altima but you are quick to attemtp to discredit the Aura. have you driven the car? If not, perhaps you should stop assuming the worst about the car. NACTY is voted on my 45 auto journalists from across the US and Canada. Who said it was BS except you? If the Altima won I guess it would be legit in your eyes. I would love to hear your explanation as to how so many journalists from across the nation were convinced to vote for a mediocre car. Could it be they liked the car? Your comments (along with some other folks) show that you have read little about the Aura besides the BS printed in this LT blog which has become anti-Aura central. Read some reviews from 2006 when the car came out before assuming its as bad as IL staffers say it is. Even though the car finished 4th in a C&D comparo they didnt even have much negative to say about it. One of their criticisms was the way the trunk opened.
 
 I dont even understand your comment about MT. They never gave the aura any award and anyone who follows MT (you must not) knows they have given their COTY award to plenty of imports in recent years.

pazbien-
 
You're an idiot.
(Obviously I have a lot of free time on my hands since I am wasting some of it to respond to your 5th grade nonsense.)
 
This blog is really not the place for you, but thanks for trying to contribute.

"It must be, as it was voted North American Car of the Year for 2007 (beating out such cars as the new Camry and Altima) by roughly 60 auto journalists,"
 
bluebomber6,
 
i don't think you want to go there with the NACOTY thing. many people think that award was BS. but i think it's like MT where they just see what's revolutionary and for American cars, the Aura was just that.

Don't worry, bluebomber. Most folks around here don't actually think that any car is a "pos," much less the very competent Aura. Well...maybe a Caliber would fall into that category, but you get the idea.
 
As for the NACOTY thing, my theory is that a large part of why the Aura and Malibu won was not because they were so much better than the other leaders in the class, but because they each represented quantum leaps forward for GM. The Aura seems like it kick-started the whole "Let's be European" thing for Saturn, a company who's previous motto was "Don't like to haggle? We've got your car!" Likewise, the Malibu may or may not be better than the Accord, but I think the fact that it wipes the floor with the old Malibu was enough to get it the win. The fact that each journalist's reason for voting is known only to that particular journalist, however, makes my theory totally debatable.

The amount of flaming in this blog is hilarious! Before I continue, I will admit right away that I am an Aura owner (2007 XR), and that I happen to love my car. Is it going to blow the doors off a Benz, BMW, Caddy, or Porsche? No. Does it have every single technological doodad that you can cram into a car? No. However, it has a great combination of power, fuel economy, safety, bells and whistles, head and leg room (I'm 6'5"), and it looks fantastic (get a lot of double-takes from other drivers on the roads) - it is a very good car. It must be, as it was voted North American Car of the Year for 2007 (beating out such cars as the new Camry and Altima) by roughly 60 auto journalists, while the redesigned Malibu, which is based on the Aura, won the 2008 version of this award (beating out the much ballyhooed new Accord). It also won a number of other awards from well-established automotive magazine TV shows in Canada and the US. My friends who drive Acuras, BMWs, Hondas, Nissans, and Toyotas are very impressed with the car, so much so that they said they would actually consider buying domestic (and esp. GM) for the first time in years when it's time to replace their current vehicles. Considering all of this, I think pazbien is slightly offbase when saying that "the car is a POS", or referring to it as "your POS Aura". As for "the interior screams cheap", my aforementioned friends really like it for its clean lines and simplicity (including the stereo head unit discussed in the editor's blog entry) . If you're looking for a cheap interior, have you checked out the new Camry (esp. the instrument cluster and the LCD display on the stereo head unit)?! But hey, just because I don't like it doesn't mean I'm going to call it a POS...

thanks pazbien for that overally insightfull and thoughtfull post.
 
your insulting me, is really big of you.
 
and I wasnt talking about other magazines, the issue at hand is edmunds and their blog posts.
 
I know its hard to win an argmunent when you are wrong, so you try to change the subject. But thanks for not trying

opfreak, stop with the Aura infatuation. The car is a POS. Heck even the camry is better. That says alot. You are biased opfreak. Always attacking edmunds for their truthful reviews. But even if you think edmunds biased, do you call Car and Driver, Motor trend, and many other publications biased cause they publish the truth and all rank the Accord near the top either at #1 or close to it while your POS Aura doesn't even make the list? Get real High School boy, just because your daddy owns the car doesn't mean your gonna drive it and when you finally get your liscence you will see how shity the Aura is. The interior screams cheap, heck that display looks like it came from the 1950s.

^maybe it's just that bad? *shrugs*

James Riswick
 
sorry your spin is weak.
 
when the honda fit had tranny problems, the first update to the blog happened in the OLD blog post... Just like edmunds to hide bad news about its favorite brand.
 
so in a week or too, are you going to pull out a another car and say, hey look, these blue lights work bettwer then the saturn amber?
 
For the record, I dont own the aura, nor, do I really like it, but the treatment it gets here is so over the top biased, its hard not to comment.

If it's like the 08' Malibu (and you're like me, one of the east-west in the morning, west-east in the evening drivers), just make sure you get the rear window shade option and use it. It works wonders, even killing the highbeams in the mirror of the occasional moron coming up at high speed on the interstate (don't ask how I know).

opfreak,
You forgot the finger prints.
 
That's a deal breaker.

"You need to be in direct sunlight to have the washout problem."
 
my guess is only a small portion of the population would have this problem...anyone who's commuting from east to west in the morning and west to east during sunset
 
time to get tints

" agree with dougtheeng. The comparison photos and comments are interesting and informative. Much of the bias ranting on this forum got irrational a long time ago."
 
well there we have it folks. There is no such thing as bias. Life is always fair. Glad we got that cleared up.
 
All Saturns except the Outlook have the Amber lighting. Even the Ion had it before it ceased production. You need to be in direct sunlight to have the washout problem.

In the year I have owned my Aura, I have had the instruments wash out maybe once or twice? It really takes the EXACT right situation for this to be a problem. That being said, maybe my commute just doesn't cause this as much as others.
 
I actually prefer the amber, and think they may have chosen it because in all other situations, it looks really slick, especially at night. So my two cents is, I would rather have the look of the amber display, even if it washes out once in a blue moon. But thats just me.

Displays that wash out are incredibly annoying. My 94 Saab has an amber display that is totally unreadable in direct sunlight, but since red-ish tones are easy on the eyes at night, it remains a popular choice.

OMG! Get over it. This is not a scientific study, it's a basic comparison. I find that orange as a lighting color tends to wash out more easily than white.

It looks like there is a difference in lighting conditions. The Saturn picture has light coming from nearly behind the camera (maybe the flash?). The GMC picture has low-angle light coming from the right. That could explain part of the difference.

1487 - Yup, I have an Aura and an Outlook. Aura = Amber; Outlook = White