I somehow thought that you had the V6 model. I was looking at a Vue in a dealership when the model was first introduced. I wanted to see what the car was all about. It was a V6 AWD model and it had the 5-speed automatic. I was told by the salesman that it was a Saab design and therefore assumed all of them were like that. The main thing that turned me off was the lack of interior room. I was cramped in the drivers seat with it all the way back since I am about 6'-2. There was no room left for the rear passengers. The other thing I didn't like was that there was no room to service the engine. I'm glad that it was too small or I would have bought one.
I hope your luck with your Vue changes for the better.
~DJ

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

The V6 does come as a derivitive of the SAAB V6, but it is essentially the same V6 used in the Caddy Catera, except with a different intake manifold, and it is detuned.
I find more than enough room in my VUE, a a matter of fact, I am 6'2 and cannot put my seat all of the way back. As I stated above, I work for a Saturn retailer, actually the highest volume Saturn retailer the mark has. The interesting thing is, I have been in thousands of each of the different model that Saturn produces, and in some, the seat goes back really far, and in others not so far, and with my rhyme or reason.
~D.J.~

Ya need a Power Wagon. Lasts forever, don't have to worry about where ya park it, and will winch out a stuck Hummer

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past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

I never claim my VUE to be a truck, for it is a station wagon on stilts. However, I have had it offroad numerous times, had it in a creek, through cornfields, in the middle of nowhere near our old summerhome in Kentucky, and it never once felt out of place. Mine is a FWD model, without traction control (I was too antsy to wait another 8 weeks when I ordered it to get ABS/TC), and I still had enough traction/power to help drag my friend's Z71 out of a mudhole... he is never going to live that one down.
~D.J.~

Ya gotta love that!
I winched a 10-wheeler garbage truck out of the mud with my Power wagon. Wish like heck I'd had a camera that time!

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

There's nothing like the sound of a big 350 rumbling and 4 tires screeching in the mud... and then the feline snarl of my 2.2 overpowering it, and then sounding like a huge blender as it nears 5K RPM...
If there is one thing I really have to complement GM on with the VUE is the engine noise. It sounds kinda tractorlike around town; but at about 3,500 RPM it makes a bassy growl, at about 5,000 RPM it makes a great snarl, and from 5,500 to redline, which is 6,750, it sounds like a large blender. It really is quite the tasty little powerplant to listen to when tooling around town.
~D.J.~

I'll take on ANY feline snarling blender sounding car with ANY of my V8 powered GM's for a power match and I will put them to the most embarrassing shame. There is no substitue for cubic inches. Nor there is nothing that sounds as powerful as a V8.
~DJ

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

I'm not a fan of any V8 (except maybe a Mercedes, and the sound does not to much for me)
~D.J.~

From one DJ to another, we can't all like the same things. That's what makes the world a more interesting place.
I like a V8 powered vehicle because it doesn't have to work as hard a four banger and you can get a lot more work done in one shot. I tried a four banger Toyota 4X4 for a while. Sure it got better mileage (20 MPG vs 13 MPG) than my GMC 4X4 for every day driving but when it came to hauling things like top soil for the gardens or whatever, I had to make 3 trips with the Toy where I could make one trip with the GMC. At full capacity the Toy was straining big time where the GMC was just starting to feel like it was carrying something and they both had the same ratings, half tons. The GMC can easily carry 3 times its half ton rating and still be safe on the road and it is still 100% stock.
~DJ

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

I like to be able to get in and work around the engine if I have to. I don't know though what it is that attracts me to having a smaller engine in my car. I could have afforded a V6 VUE, but instead, I went with a special value package and loaded up my 4 cyl, and at least the engine hasn't been something to let me down, other than what looks like a possible pending oil leak.
~D.J.~