On a dark and stormy night I wound up in front of the Saturn dealership. Saturn was a fairly new car company at the time. The basic premise was to give people a higher level of customer service and a decent car without any of the typical high pressure sales pitches or haggling sessions that were the norm for car salesmen before that time.
My dad came along with me and gave me one piece of advice. Get a standard transmission. They will be much easier to maintain and cheaper to repair.
My main criteria was price. Just out of college and making very little money, I couldn’t be picky. The sales lady showed me a Saturn SL1. The cheapest car on the lot with a standard transmission was a gold champagne colored car. I mentally groaned. A gold car. I would have preferred dark blue or black. I even would have accepted red or white, but gold? In my mind only flashy people had gold cars.
Finally I decided that whatever the color was, I had to take it. After half an hour I had completed the paperwork and it was all set. Part of the down payment included my old car. I had to dump some stuff out of my old car so I would return the next morning to pick up the Saturn. I have to admit I was reluctant to give up the old Nissan. You will always have a soft spot for your first car just as you will always be fond of your first love. So the next morning I took an extra long drive and took the car to the dealer.
Now something happened that nobody had thought of. I had no clue how to drive a standard transmission. I knew about shifting, and the clutch but had never done it before. The car made some terrible grinding noises as I tried shifting. So starting and stalling, starting and stalling I slowly drove away from the dealership. I eventually got back home, parked the car, and walked away. I was almost ready to return it right then and there.
Over the next few days I slowly got used to shifting. I found that I enjoyed being able to shift up and down and control the power. The manual transmission suited my more aggressive driving style and the little 4 door sedan was truly nimble.
Overall it was a very well made vehicle and I found it had many features that previously were considered luxury items; power windows, AM/FM cassette, keyless entry, and a brand new airbag system.
The Saturn was a great new car for starting out after college. The car never had a single mechanical problem while I owned it. Despite its gold color, I found it to be unobtrusive and not flashy at all. Yet it was sharp enough that I could take it anywhere. After 3 years though it was time to make a change into something more substantial. It was time for the SUV.
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