Smile and Wave

[marx404]

Permit me to steal a line from the famous penguins of the movie Madagascar for a moment.

Being this is the GSD, I will already take to heart that some may understand what I am about to say, some may not and some may totally misconstrue it.
This....is for those who do get it and did get it all along.

Only if you live in a cave, deprived of all media and isolated from others would one possibly not have heard what has happened to Saturn.

This is not about that.

Those who remember a time of small, efficient plastic cars that came along with caring sales staff and service consultants will remember a little thing we all used to do when we Saturn owners drove past each other. I don't know who started it, or why. But it was like an unspoken friendly "Hello" that you would give to your good neighbor, a acknowledgment of passing on the good will that started with the purchase of that small dent-proof car. Like we were all members of a VIP club or something.

That thing was called the "Saturn Wave". That tiniest of gesture we used to do just seemed to spread everywhere you passed it on. Like passing on a good feeling inspired others to pass on the same.

I have met many people since my first Saturn in 1993. We now have had 14 Saturns total since. From the first local car show I attended to the online car clubs where I have made many new friends and all the great people I came to know who worked at Saturn, the passion all came down to one thing: our Cars - how our Saturn Cars make us feel.

I still wave to other Saturn owners on the street and many, especially the older model owners still wave back and smile. Back then it was because we knew we were part of something special, something only a Saturn Owner could embrace.

I still wave to Saturn Owners today, because we know we are still part of something special, despite what is happening today. Many of us with 100, 200, 300 Thousand or more miles know what I am talking about.

I still will wave at other Saturn Owners today because beyond our cars, it was also about the people. The people who made Saturn a great car to own, who made it easy for us to own our cars and who worked hard behind the scenes to make it so for us. But most of all, the end result is we love our Saturns, we acknowledge each other for whatever reasons and that - is what makes us Saturn Owners special -

- and that is why I'll still do the Saturn Wave and encourage you to pass it on too.

[SC2SkyVue]

Know what'cha mean but it's just not the same.



Times have changed and not for the better.

[plato]

Porsche owners waive all the time.

[unkle bik]

As do Harley riders...

[davidsky]

It's impossible to keep waving to Saturn drivers because there are too many of them here. I would constantly be waving

[madpogue]

I bought my Saturn when it was just two years old, and I was specifically looking for a Saturn wagon. That was 11 years ago. At that time, and throughout the run of the S-Series, people bought new or slightly used Saturns specifically because they were looking for a Saturn. At that time, the "wave" made sense; you saw another Saturn driver, you figured they probably had the same, or similar, "intention" to their purchase.

By this time in history, the vast majority of Saturns on the road (of S-Series, anyway) are owned secondhand, and among them, I'd reckon the majority of them were bought by people just looking for an economical car, or one of a particular size, or price, or condition. So the Saturn make is of little consequence to them. Wave at them, and they'd probably not even notice that you're also in a Saturn, and would puzzle at your gesture. This isn't a reflection on the identity of the brand, or the success or quality of the car, it's just a natural historical progression. Just look at all the Craigslist ads for Saturns where the seller clearly doesn't even know what model, and sometimes even what year, of car s/he's selling.

[Saturndude82]

+1 So very true, every other listing on craigslist is for an sl2 when the car is an sl, or sl1 colored bumpers

[Derek McNelly]

Well, if any of you see the goofy blonde kid in a blue SC2, go ahead and wave. I'll wave back!

I got my Saturn BECAUSE it's a Saturn.

I remember when I was 11, my mom pulling into the Saturn of Warren dealership, dropping off her little blue '89 Honda Civic, and walking with me into the showroom. There was this shiny, blue 2001 SL1 with balloons tied to the antenna and a Red Wings flag in the rear window, and when I opened the door, in the backseat, there was a little bear with a Saturn emblem on it's chest just sitting there.

And as we pulled toward the driveway, the employees came and clapped for us as we drove off. It was something special, that even 9 years later, I still remember fondly. Had that car up until about two years ago when my step-brother got into a pretty bad wreck, and they had to total it out. That was the first Saturn I had ever really known personally.

Mom wound up buying an '04 Ion Quad Coupe, Grandma bought an '02 Vue (and currently owns an '05 Relay), my step-brother bought an '07 Ion Sedan, and my step-dad is leasing an '07 Ion Sedan. There are many other Saturn owners in my not-so-immediate family, and now that I was in the car market, I wanted something I knew would be fun, reliable, and economical.

Managed to find that SC2 in the exact blue color my Mom's SL1 was, and every time I get in it, I just remember how special that moment was. How there was at one point in time a brand where the car wasn't the most important part of the equation.

There never was a brand like that before, and I doubt there ever will be again.

[jaman]

I still wave , but the smile is gone !

[AuraDrvr89]

I wave to other Saturn owners fairly often.... Usually, no one waves back.

[Chazberry]

Originally Posted by Derek McNelly

I remember when I was 11, my mom pulling into the Saturn of Warren dealership, dropping off her little blue '89 Honda Civic, and walking with me into the showroom. There was this shiny, blue 2001 SL1 with balloons tied to the antenna and a Red Wings flag in the rear window, and when I opened the door, in the backseat, there was a little bear with a Saturn emblem on it's chest just sitting there.

And as we pulled toward the driveway, the employees came and clapped for us as we drove off. It was something special, that even 9 years later, I still remember fondly.

At least most of us Saturnfans were lucky enough to experience this unique car-buying experience, and at least we will always have the fond memories. And maybe someday we will fully understand how something that seemed so right went so wrong.

[Chazberry]

Originally Posted by AuraDrvr89

I wave to other Saturn owners fairly often.... Usually, no one waves back.

What do you expect from NY? You're lucky they don't flip you the bird!