My mom uses her 96 saturn sw2 to haul a LOT of stuff when I drive it, the body rolls a lot when its loaded. Also the brakes are not strong enough for the load. My question is should she just get a different car? Or is there a cheap way to keep this car from dieing from this use/abuse?

This post has been edited by brk34: Aug 26, 2008 - 7:39 PM

Get something thats more suited for her needs. A forester, for example.

oh man Upgrade.

If she really needs to haul stuff she should get a crown vic.

They're abundant and cheap... PLUS if you're lucky you can find a de-commissioned police cruiser.

Late 90's Forester would be perfect, but look out for the head gasket.

My brother has an 04 Forester and there are no complaints. Great little SUV/crossover.

cool thanks but i'm not sure she will be willing to buy one. she is kind of in denial about how full the car is

This post has been edited by brk34: Aug 27, 2008 - 2:18 PM

Maybe a pick-up? I enjoyed my old F150. Enough power to get where you're going. Or a SUV or some sort. (i dont care for those at all)

But yeah, i'd upgrade to something that'll fit her needs. It'd be massive work (mostly custom) and massive amounts of money to fix those problems in a car that's not meant to handle that kind of weight.

You guys are thinking like guys. She probably won't buy a Subaru because she has a Saturn that works perfectly well and she knows Saturn at this point. If she's really hauling around so much cargo that it's compromising her suspension, it's becoming a safety issue. It's better to address it as a safety issue before it really actually IS a concern - and while it's still somewhat of a viable trade-in.

I'd recommend to her that she look at the Saturn Vue if the Subaru isn't a consideration for her. That way she still stays in the Saturn family but upgrades to something better suited to her needs. If the thought of an SUV turns her stomach because of the gas mileage, there's a Hybrid Vue that gets the same mileage she's getting in her sw2, 25/32 with 172 HP. It runs $26k. The XE (4cyl gas engine) gets 19/26 w/169 HP. IDK how much it is but I'd guess in the $22k range.

>and your griffs are thinking like griffs... Wait...

LOL!!

I mean girls

Yeah but it's his Mom, so you have to approach it from a perspective a woman would look at it from and understand