Oh my god Im going to buy an American car

["Chris Dinsmore" <dinsmoc@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

All,

After months of looking for a good used car at a good price with little
success, and a much larger than expected quarterly bonus on my part,  my
significant other has decided that we will be acquiring a new car rather
than the used BMW I had been looking for (that will wait till next year ;-).
She has decided that we will be purchasing a car that has a warrantee in
case anything goes wrong. She has also decided that she wants a Saturn. I
agreed to at least consider the possibility and went to Saturns excellent
web site at www.saturn.com and priced out a new SC2 with everything.

(this website is really cool. It let me select all this stuff and price it
out)

125hp dohc engine,5 speed (of course),  abs, traction control, 15' wheels
with low profile tires, cruise, power windows, locks, sunroof, alarm with
starter disable and remote keyless entry, leather interior, cdplayer, and a
five year full coverage extended warranty with regular maintenance.

 the whole shebang comes out to 20k flat and a monthly payment lower than my
phone bill.

Anyway Im looking for any advice/info about these cars that any of you may
have. Especially performance potential or first hand maintenace and upgrade
info. Im also looking for similarly performing and priced competitiors, and
before anyone says 318ti Im going to say that Im not paying that high a
payment and that high insurance. The payment on the 3 wouldnt be all that
much higher than on the saturn (100 more a month) but the insurance cost is
almost double for a 21 year old in Massachusetts.  Anyone have any ideas?

Chris Dinsmore
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The eyes may be the windows on the soul
But the word is the dorway to the mind
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