2007 Saturn Aura XR Sedan Road Test

In the past, whenever I've thought of Saturn, my mind conjured up visions of a slightly "peculiar" company who cover their vehicles in plastic body amour, and whose sales force was totally unwilling to haggle over the price of an automobile.

Car of the Year Winner, the Saturn Aura.

Call me old-fashioned, but I've always seen them in a similar way to which I might look at Feng Shui. It's all right for some, if you like that sort of thing, but not for me, I'm afraid. You see, I like to polish "real metal", and I almost enjoy the fun of the car buying game, as it brings out the "market trader" in me.

It was with this in mind that I left GM's head office with a set of keys to my latest test vehicle, the 2007 Saturn Aura XR sedan.

As always, the press parking lot was quite full, so I had to search for my ride. This proved to be a little difficult at first, as I passed it twice without even realizing. Actually, that's not strictly true, I had noticed it on the way in and thought to myself "that's a pretty smart looking vehicle".

You see, I knew that the Saturn Aura XR sedan was priced just over $30k's, so I was looking for a vehicle which suited that tag.

After a few minutes spent wandering around like a lost sheep, I pressed the unlock button on the remote and, lo and behold, the lights flashed on the rather sharp looking sedan that I spoke of earlier. A smile crept onto my face. Of course, it might have been slightly expanded, due to the fact that I had just come out of a little Pontiac Wave!

The Aura looks more expensive than it really is.

The 2007 Saturn Aura XR certainly looked the part. My tester was painted in a striking "pearl effect" blue-ish grey, and together with plenty of chrome accents and some distinctive alloy wheels, it appeared to offer quite exceptional curb appeal for the money.

Upon opening the door, my smile got even wider as the inside complemented the exterior to almost perfection.

A well-designed dashboard lay before me. It appeared to have been crafted using good quality materials and again, this was better than I had expected.

This vehicle has leather-appointed seats with embossed seat inserts, seat heaters, and an eight-way power adjustable driver's seat. It also boasted a leather wrapped steering wheel with all kinds of controls mounted on it.

It offers a lot of features that we are not used to see in a Saturn.

Then I noticed the paddle-shift controls. Oh no! This is just going too far! A company like Saturn is not meant to produce things like this. They're known for producing Tupperware doors and robotic sales staff. Well, aren't they?

Before I set off, I positioned my power seat, adjusted the mirrors, and tuned the radio to my fav... wait a minute! XM Satellite radio?

Now come on, either I had entered another dimension in time and space, or GM had borrowed some expensive Euro model, stuck some Saturn badges on it, and were playing head games with me.