Saturn Vue SUV headed for record sales

Introduced in calendar 2001, the Vue is mildly restyled with a new hood, grille, headlamps and interior. But it retains the dent-resistant plastic body panels that Saturn is known for. These panels can withstand a grocery cart banging into them and dings from adjacent car doors — all without any lasting evidence of damage.

Plastic panels

Still, because these plastic panels need room to expand in the heat of a sunny summer day, the gaps between some Vue body panels are larger and not as attractive as those found on other vehicles, such as Toyotas and Hondas.

During 2005, the Vue has been outselling several notable competitors, including the Toyota RAV4, Nissan Xterra and Hyundai Tucson SUVs. And it’s likely that the addition of a gasoline-electric hybrid Vue next year could boost sales even more.

How can the neither wimpy nor brutish Vue — which is sold at the decidedly non-truckish Saturn car brand — keep improving its sales and getting them near the 100,000-per-year mark?

It’s the package.

With a starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $17,990 for a base, two-wheel-drive model with four-cylinder engine and manual transmission, the 2006 Vue is a conveniently sized, five-passenger SUV that’s affordable.

Affordable

Indeed, it has the lowest MSRP-plus-destination-charge total among all 2006 SUVs at parent company General Motors Corp.

Meantime, the 2006 Xterra, which comes only with a V6, starts at $20,530, and the 2006 Tucson starts at $18,300 for a base, four-cylinder model.

The Vue provides good views over traffic because of its higher ride height, but it doesn’t sit so high off the pavement that adults have to hoist themselves up to get inside.

Two- and all-wheel-drive Vues are available, and there are two engines — a fuel-thrifty four cylinder and a confident V6.

Don’t overlook the Vue’s status as the fifth-best gasoline-powered SUV in fuel economy in the 2006 model year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

When fitted with the base four-cylinder engine and five-speed, manual transmission, the front-wheel-drive 2006 Vue is rated at 23 miles a gallon in city driving and 29 mpg on the highway.

A four-cylinder, two-wheel-drive Vue with automatic is rated lower, at 22/27 mpg.

But when a fuel-conscious consumer gets to the point of considering a Vue with an automatic, I recommend going on up to the Vue with the V6, which comes only with an automatic transmission.

This V6 is a Honda engine and arguably the best perk of the Vue. (GM and Honda signed an unusual agreement in 1999 for this powerplant-sharing, which put the Honda-engineered and Honda-built 3.5-liter V6 into the Vue starting in the 2005 model year.)

This Honda V6 gives the Vue very nearly the same fuel economy, overall, as the much more anemic-feeling, GM-built four cylinder.

Specifically, the Vue with V6 has a noteworthy 250 horsepower and 242 foot-pounds of torque while maintaining a government fuel economy rating of 20/28 mpg, for a combined city/highway rating of 24 mpg.

This compares with the combined city/highway rating of 24.5 mpg for the four-cylinder Vue with automatic that generates just 143 horses and 152 foot-pounds of torque.

The test 2006 Vue, with uplevel V6, responded readily, and driving was pretty effortless. It slipped into city traffic easily and merged aggressively onto highways without hesitating. In fact, I found myself on several occasions traveling faster than I thought — once getting up to 65 miles an hour quite quickly on an uphill entrance ramp to a freeway.

This V6 comes with a smooth-shifting, five-speed automatic transmission and torque peaks at 4,500 rpm. There’s no shift-it-yourself, manumatic mode, though.

Comparatively, the Tucson’s 2.7-liter V6 produces 173 horsepower and 178 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 rpm. The Xterra’s 4-liter V6 is more powerful, generating 265 horses and 284 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 rpm.

Inside, the Vue has more modern-looking audio and ventilation controls for 2006, and plastic trim on the insides of the doors and on the dashboards is updated.

There was some wind noise from the driver door window in the test Vue, and I heard some road noise from the tires.

But it rode and handled like a car, with only vibrations — not jolts — coming through, even on dirt roads.

At times, though, the steering felt light and a bit disconnected.

In an unusual offering among lower-priced, compact SUVs, all Vue models now come standard with the OnStar emergency notification system with a free, one-year subscription. OnStar notifies emergency personnel if a vehicle is involved in a crash that’s severe enough to deploy the front airbags.

Also new for 2006: All Vues come with standard remote keyless entry, cruise control and power windows, door locks and outside mirrors.

I just wish the rear seat cushion was updated, too. It’s flat, feels thin and doesn’t extend far enough to provide the support for my thighs that I like. In addition, I could easily see components of the rear seats where the cushions join.

Rear seatbacks are split into one-third and two-thirds sections that fold down. Maximum cargo space is a commendable 63.8 cubic feet.

The Vue lags in some safety equipment. Hyundai’s Tucson, for example, has standard curtain airbags and antilock brakes, among other things, on all models.

But on four-cylinder Vues, antilock brakes are a pricey $600 option. Curtain airbags are an optional $395 on all Vues.

The door handles outside can accommodate a full hand, but they don’t pull straight out as you might expect. They must be lifted upward as well as out, which takes some getting used to.

In addition, a blinker bulb indicating to other drivers when I was turning right was burned out in the tester.

Note that the Vue is rated "poor” in reliability by Consumer Reports magazine.

The last safety recall involved 6,134 models from the 2004 model year that had incorrect tire labels. A 2001 recall, of just 327 Vues from the 2002 model year, involved seat belt bolts that might have been installed improperly.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported the 2006 Vue earned five out of five stars for front-seat passenger protection in frontal crash testing as well as front- and rear-seat occupant protection in a side crash.

Its rollover rating is three out of five stars.

Look for the gas-electric 2007 Vue Green Line to debut in mid 2006.<