I’m not saying cars capable of killing their passengers are really good – certainly not. Saving costs while preserving human life is a bad look, whoever you are. Still, the set of GM small cars equipped with those lousy ignition switches is actually good, if you ignore the whole, you know, fatal crashes.
How did I come to this conclusion? Simply – these cars are among the last affordable, small sedans from not only General but also any American brand. The Saturns, Chevrolet Cobalts, Pontiacs, and others among the staggering number of vehicles recalled are vehicles that once turned young customers into brand-standard loyalists. But there’s more money in SUVs and light trucks. GM followed Ford in removing most affordable small cars from their lineup, and that’s a damn shame.
I personally own a 2004 Saturn Ion (yes, I’ve owned both a car with an ignition switch and a rogue diesel.) It’s perfect for a poor and running college student like a tank for eight years before the fuel pump failure became too costly. Repair what the car is worth. However, that car was bulletproof all those years. Sure, it’s been trying to kill me the whole time, but what about a minor mechanical failure between friends?
Are the cars sexy and exciting? Damn, but at least they’re accessible to lower income people and don’t cause all the problems The reason the world is full of SUVs. That’s not much comfort, however, to 124 people died because of this ignition fault, or their families. So does the $594 million that GM paid in the lawsuits.
