As a Saturn car owner you are already aware the Saturn brand is being phased out. Of course Saturn maintenance and service is necessary to protect your investment, but you may be wondering where you can go for service.
Beginning in the late 1970s Japanese imports began to dominate the US car market to the extent that American manufacturers were suffering huge losses. In an attempt to compete with Japan, General Motors established the Saturn brand in 1985. More than just an economy car designed to compete with Toyota and Nissan, Saturn represented an entirely new concept in American car branding. GM set up Saturn as an independent subsidiary with its own manufacturing and sales infrastructure.
Saturn did fairly well throughout the remainder of the 1980s and into the 90s, but ran into financial trouble at the turn-of-the-century. GM officially ended production of Saturn vehicles in 2009 and completed the closing of all dealerships by the end of 2010.
If you own a late model Saturn today it’s quite likely you’re nearing the end of your loan within the next 12 months or so. When that time comes, you can drop your collision and comprehensive coverage if you prefer a more affordable car insurance premium.
The fact that Saturn no longer exists makes it difficult to say just how much the average owner pays for car insurance, but we can say that annual rates for liability, collision, and comprehensive will probably be in the $1,000-$1,200 range along with similar Japanese cars in the same class. It stands to reason that as these cars age and gradually disappear from the roads, any owner who decides to keep his going will find it more difficult to find parts and repair shops. Ultimately this could reduce the value of any cheap car insurance policy on the vehicle.
If your Saturn is more than four or five years old you should strongly consider dropping all of your insurance coverage except your state-mandated liability. There simply isn’t enough value left in your vehicle to warrant extra coverage. For example, if you were to continue paying for collision coverage on a 2007 Saturn you might only get $700 or $800 for it should you wreck it in a collision. That small amount of money is less than you’d pay for 18 months of insurance premiums. It simply isn’t worth it for the amount of return you get.
Even as the value of your Saturn continues to decline, you still need to compare quotes when you’re looking for cheap car insurance. Annual premiums change from year to year and from company to company based out of whole variety of circumstances. It’s quite possible that when it comes time to renew your policy, there will be another car insurance company with a better rate. You won’t know unless you take the time to compare.
When it’s time to retire your Saturn in favor of a new car, you might consider a compact or subcompact from an American manufacture if you want a similar sticker price and affordable car insurance. There are enough good deals that you should be able to find something as attractive as your original Saturn deal so many years ago.
