A review of the Saturn Vue

I asked Andy Richmond to weigh in on his new company car...after a few months, this is what he has to say:

Okay, well, my new car is black, but it is also very green. Late in 2008 it was determined that my company vehicle was not terribly practical (how many chests of drawer can you fit into a Chrysler 300 anyway?), so I began looking for my next vehicle. Amelia gave me only one instruction: keep the monthly payment at or below the current payment on the Chrysler. Initially I looked at Jeeps because my first company car at Garth’s was a Jeep and I liked it. Price was right, but I felt a need to shop around. Then I remembered how much I liked the Saturn sedan I drove years ago, so I went to the Saturn dealer and checked out the Vue, their small-to-mid-size SUV…and they even had a hybrid version. So I took a test drive and voila!, we sealed the deal.

I’ve been driving the Saturn for about 8 months (over 1,000 miles per month) and am loving it. I’m averaging 27.7 miles per gallon over the life of the car, which is pretty darn good for an SUV. It has this little light (green, of course) that says “ECO.” It comes on anytime you are driving at better than posted fuel efficiency. It’s become a game…how long can I keep the ECO light on. I’m getting pretty good, and it’s made me realize how heavy on the gas I use to be as a driver.

So, are we saving money? The monthly payment is less than the old company car, so we are there. And it’s cheaper to insure, so we are saving there, too. Sure, I spend less at the pump than I use to, but in reality, because the purchase price was higher than the standard, non-hybrid model, the gas savings are probably a wash. But let’s face it, saving money is not why folks, including me, choose hybrids. It’s a message. A statement that we care about the environment and want to reduce our carbon footprint. My wife and I are rabid recyclers, we grow our own produce (which we fertilize with compost from our own compost bin), and we heat our house with a stove that burns wood pellets (that are derived from building-related byproducts). We strive to live as green as possible.

We, at Garth’s, also strive to be green as well. We sell antiques—the ultimate recyclables. It’s a natural move for us, as a company, to ensure that other aspects of our business are friendly to the environment. From recycled and FSC-certified paper to working hard to maximize the efficiency of our transportation fleet, we want to be green because we feel it’s the right thing to do. My new Saturn Vue hybrid is a logical next step. It helps Garth’s reduce our carbon footprint, and, when I pull into a client’s driveway, it’s a statement that we are about more than just business.