Good morning! On today’s exciting episode, we’re looking at a pair of cars that are similar in size, shape, and purpose, but were designed and built on opposite sides of the world. Which one accomplishes its mission better? That’s what we’re here to find out.
I figured that yesterday’s Oldsmobile battle would end up being a blowout for that Eighty-Eight. It is an awfully nice car, at least on screen. In-person, it might be a different story, of course; as anyone who’s ever tried online dating knows, sometimes the photos aren’t really representative of reality.
The other thing that gives me a little pause about that car is that it’s for sale by a dealer who doesn’t seem to want anything to do with it. It’s like they’re just trying to get it off their lot in a hurry, and they probably don’t know a thing about it. The Ciera is a little scruffier, but it’s for sale by owner, so someone can at least answer some questions. You may not like the answers, but at least you have a chance at getting them.
I imagine today’s vote will probably be closer, because the cars are a lot more evenly-matched. We’ve got one car from a Japanese maker that has since abandoned the US market, and another that was designed by one dead GM brand and sold by another. But they’re both manuals, both hatchbacks, and both low-mileage. Let’s check them out.
2002 Suzuki Aerio SX – $2,300
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Sachse, TX
Odometer reading: 82,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Suzuki stopped selling cars in the US in 2012, ending a twenty-seven-year run of providing us with brilliant little SUVs and quirky small cars. The Aerio, sold here from 2002-2007, was available as either a four-door sedan or a five-door hatchback. The sedan is seriously awkward, but the hatchback has aged pretty well.
US-market Aerios got a bigger engine than the rest of the world, a 2.0 liter four-cylinder as opposed to the little 1.3 to 1.8 liter engines the rest of the world received. It came with either a five-speed manual, or all-wheel-drive, but not both. This one has the five-speed, and the seller says it runs and drives well; they just got a newer car and don’t drive this one much anymore.
It only has 82,000 miles on it, but it looks a bit tired. It’s no one thing, just an overall feeling of wear and tear. The Aerio’s interior, by the way, is an acquired taste: the dashboard is weird. A long skinny digital instrument panel is crammed into that thin slot above the steering column, and I remember having trouble reading it when I test-drove an Aerio back in 2002. I must not have been the only one who didn’t like it; Suzuki redesigned the dash to a more conventional look in 2005.
Outside, the yellow paint is chalky and has some minor damage here and there. And I keep thinking it has flat tires, looking at the photos, but I think it’s just because they’re so low-profile. Those aren’t the original wheels, by the way.
2008 Saturn Astra XR – $2,999
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Zion, IL
Odometer reading: 99,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Of all the divisions of General Motors ruined by GM’s overreach and subsequent bankruptcy, I think Saturn might be the saddest story. After replacing the aging S-series with the Chevy-based, weird-for-weird’s-sake Ion, Saturn went from “A Different Kind Of Company” to just another outlet for GM’s badge-engineering farm. After the Ion failed to impress pretty much everyone, Saturn turned to the ol’ captive-import trick, and brought over the Opel Astra hatchback and added a Saturn badge to it.
The Astra also had a larger engine in the US than it typically did in Europe, a twin-cam 1.8 liter four with either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic. This one has the manual, and it’s just shy of rolling 100,000 miles on its odometer. It’s being sold by a dealership, so we don’t get much in the way of useful information about its condition, but those places generally don’t sell anything that doesn’t at least start when you turn the key and move under its own power.
It’s in pretty nice shape, it looks like, with only a little wear inside. It does have an aftermarket touch-screen stereo, which I’m not fond of personally, but they seem to be popular. I also see one of those stick-into-the-vent air fresheners, which could either be stinking up the joint, or covering up something else that is.
Outside, it looks all right, but I think that rear bumper cover may have been replaced. It’s just a half a shade darker than the rest of the car. I thought it might be a trick of the light, but it’s like that in every photo. I mean, it’s a three-thousand-dollar used car, so you can’t expect perfection, but it would be nice to know what happened.
Being the orphans that they are, both of these cars are at a little bit of a disadvantage when it comes to keeping them on the road. It will be a lot harder to find some parts for them than it would a Nissan Versa or something more common like that. But who wants a Versa anyway? Both of these are way more interesting. So which one will it be – the quirky Japanese hatchback, or the badge-engineered German one?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
I had a rental Opel Astra of the same generation for about a week in Europe. I was appalled by how bad it was. Pointlessly odd ergonomics and surprisingly even worse GM of the era rubbermaid interior, which I didn’t think the European market would have even tolerated. Even worse was the terrible fuel economy. It had a 1.4. I mostly only drove it on a 80KM highway back and forth to a project site. A very strictly patrolled route too. Probably the most favourable test cycle you could imagine. My GTI back home that I would drive with abandon easily got better mileage. Sorry, kilometreage.
The Aerio is one of the ugliest things ever conceived, even though the shape is practical, and the dash really was dumb, but the mechanicals were stout. I’m going with the yellow tetra pack.
As soon as I saw the first picture of the Aerio, I KNEW it had to be somewhere in Texas. I don’t know what it is, but brick facades and ridiculously and sloped roofs are derigeur there. The Beaumont subdivision l lived in looked exactly like that, down to the St. Augustine lawn and concrete pavements with expansion joints.
Anyway, I’d take the Astra. As others have said, Opel parts should be easier to get and the IP in the Aerio looks unreadable.
For some reason, Saturn pulls me a lot more now than when they were a brand. Haggle a little, and that Astra gets my vote.
Obligatory Astra vote… totally not biased or anything 🙂
So strange, I always thought the Astra was a badge engineered version of the Pontiac Vibe, which was the same underneath as a Toyota Corolla/Matrix from the NUMMI plant where they make Teslas now. I could be totally wrong about everything in this post.
fun fact: even if the Matrix and Vibe were platform and mechanical twins, they never shared a production floor; the Vibe was built in NUMMI but the Matrix was made in Cambridge, ON
My heart is screaming Suzuki, I liked these when new and its the right color.
HOWEVER….I do like captive imports. The Astra is going to be easier to keep on the road and this one would be easy to do a badge-conversion to an Opel or a Vauxhall
Opel better, since it is LHD. Nearby my office there is a same-vintage Astra with Vauxhall badges. It looks silly.
SUZUKI J20 MASTER RACE. Good motors, if perhaps slightly unrefined. Change the oil in em to prevent timing tensioner issues and they’ll go forever.
Unless you have mine, which decided it’s head gasket was a lil tired after 220,000 miles
I like that these Suzuki engines have a timing chain. The Astra uses a belt and that might be the 1st item you might want to do for peace of mind, but the age difference, overall styling and handling won me over.
Astra. The family across the street from me had an Aerio that they bought new back in 2002/2003 and it was an absolute crapbox. The Astra was actually a reasonably competent vehicle, despite European claims that the Opel it was based off of was garbage.
yellow anything is a deal killer for me, but even without the color issues, the horror stories with suzuki head gaskets from friends that had other models makes me not want to go down that orphan road.
J20 is pretty solid. Mine DID blow a HG, but at 220,000 miles of very not nice treatment. It was easier for me to just slap in another motor (Tracker, probably harder on an Aerio)
certainly the tracker motor in a samurai is the hot ticket generally. I did not know the motor was the same in these though.
Yup! Damn sami guys buying up all of my precious J20’s.
The Aerio’s digital dash is cool! And yellow is nice too.
Also, the Astra was available with a huge sunroof that is awesome, but sadly this example doesn’t have it. If it did, I would’ve voted for the Astra.
In Europe and other markets, you could even get the 2.0T on the Astra but sadly not here.
I voted for the yellow Suzuki.
The OPC was a fast thing. Even if perhaps a little bit mad.
Both of these seem pretty meh to me, so I’m going with the Saturn. I prefer red over yellow, the aftermarket audio thing doesn’t bother me, and there’s a weird wear pattern on the Suzuki driver’s seat that I don’t like thinking about.
Saturn because sadly it’s only an hour away
Wow, you must be way out there. What spaceship do you daily?
‘ always like Opels, especially the Opel GT (poor man’s Corvette).
I’ll vote Red.
I’ll take gentle exception to your characterization of the Opel GT as the poor man’s Corvette. According to a very enthusiastic GT owner who I had the pleasure of meeting the two were at worst contemporaneous and more an example of parallel evolution. I love me some Opel GT.
I have bad blood with Suzuki owners. The kid across the street from my parents owned an SX4 in that yellow, all riced out and stanced.
One of that guy’s friends decided to slash my tires and burn circular marks (probably a cigarette lighter?) in my hand-me-down Civic “just cuz” one night and I still don’t know why.
I have to vote for the yellow Suzuki because it’s more adequate a shitbox, and part of the shitbox mentality is extremely ‘meh’.
Almost ended up with an Astra for a new driver a few years back. Seemed to be an easy way to get a good car for a low price.
Suzuki all day long. I’ve had a Suzuki Grand Vitara and before that a Geo Metro (which was a Suzuki in GM clothing) so I’m partial to them.
Same motor in the Aerio as the regular Vitara! It makes…enough… HP in my Tracker, id imagine it’s actually pretty decent in a little hatch
I have had great experiences with Suzukis in the past, so I went with the Aerio. It’s yellow, AND it’s not in a rust belt state! What more could you ask for?
I had a 2006 Arieo as a company car. That thing was a trooper. I did almost 250K on it. It was so great on maintenance. In that 250K I did brakes a couple times, one new set of struts.. buts that’s about all. it never needed anything. Nothing broke, the interior stayed in fine shape and although not fast, it wasn’t in its own way on the highway or merge lanes.
My only complaints were these:
Cruise control had to be added after sale as an aftermarket part
The interior was very spartan, only the driver seat got an armrest
“After replacing the aging S-series with the Chevy-based, weird-for-weird’s-sake Ion…”
The Ion was introduced in 2003 and was the first model released on the Delta platform. The Chevrolet Cobalt was introduced for the 2005 model year.
Exactly, just like the Vue debuted with the Theta platform before anything else
The tow ball on the back of the Suzuki gives me a little pause, but it does look to have a slight edge in cleanliness to my eye.
Both are equally likely to have endured neglected maintenance as cheap old small cars, but I trust the Suzuki to have endured it better. The Astra was not exactly light on maintenance and used a timing belt vs. the chain (I believe) on the Suzuki. What are the chances it was done at 60k…or ever?
Though I think it’s been kicked in the Astra, I still went with the Saturn over the Suzuki because the yellow Aerio looks like it may have been some teenager’s romper wagon.
I always thought the Aerio was one of the most JDM-looking cars ever to be sold here. If you’re into that sort of thing, more power to you, but I never liked the looks of them.
As much as it pains me to vote against a yellow car, I’m going with the “Saturn”.
100% agree on the one of the most JDM comment – it’s the tailgate/lights/trim of the rear that does it for this take. The most JDM has to be the Cube though.
i owned both of these and you are right on both accounts. The Arieo is very spartan inside with a nice simple layout. The Cube while still very JDM felt like a premium experience compared to the Areio, the materials were softer, more thoughtful touches (steering wheel mounted cup holder!!!) that kind of thing.
I always thought the Scion xB was the most JDM car from the 2000s
The xB is definitely up there, but the completely asymmetrical exterior design plus wacky interior (shag carpet dash pad, wavy dash front, ripple headliner, etc.) of the Cube is something that wouldn’t have existed without the home market.
Scion xA has my “Most JDM Looking” nod, despite ironically not being sold there (I think)
The Scion xA was a rebadged Toyota Ist.
The Opel will probably be easier to keep on the road. It’s an orphan brand, but Opel parts were in production long after GM gave Saturn the Old Yeller treatment. Practicality wins out over the appeal of a chalky yellow Suzuki that would look right at home in Jimmy McGill’s driveway.
That’s my take too, as much as I love the Blade Runner extra car look of the Aerio. I can’t imagine sourcing some of the more uncommon parts w/o tweeting at Vin Diesel asking how to overnight things from Japan.
Back in 1992, I bought a Saturn SL1 to replace my first-ever new car, a Pontiac LeMans GSE, which was (as has been well-chronicled elsewhere) the worst variant of the Opel Kadett E.
So of course I went for the Astra.
When I was shopping for a car earlier this year, I drove an Astra. It’s a very comfortable car with a decent amount of pep. Despite the Saturn badge, its German roots were evident.