Ps. If you look/ask around you might fine used stuff for a lot cheaper. I was talking to the father of a friend and ended up with a used stowmaster with safety cables and electical connector for $150. Saved about $300 right there.

Another good web to find good baseplates,tow bars Etc.--www.hitchtrader.com GLS

Here you can find two Saturns with tow equipment already attached...or tow equipment. Check # 7


www.hitchtrader.com

[This message has been edited by Al Benton (edited October 30, 2003).]

Well - we went to a Saturn Dealer last nite after dinner. We found many of them and one even had a base plate attached. It was blowing a cold brisk wind and it got dark while we were there so we got the general idea of price and what might be available here. Checked locally and can't find much in a tow bar used or used towed vehicle except at that one lot. Put an ad in the local supershopper for a used tow Saturn and for used tow equipment. I am not sure what Canadians do with their toad when they don't want it anymore! They must plant flowers in them on the lawn as I can find NONE here. I think we may have to either bite the bullet and pay big bucks here or head down to one of the ones in the Hitch Trader in USA. I am wondering if it is a problem to have a USA vehicle and bring it back to Canada? Registration etc could be a problem perhaps. Anyone know what is involved in that?
Thanks
Linda

Linda I just a search in Ontario on Trader.ca and found 82 Saturn hits in the years 1992 to 1995. There are dozens avaliable as well here in Calgary. As far as vechicles go the Cavalier and Sunfire with the 4 speed auto is the same as the Saturn. Same parent company. There are 1000's of those out there. Hitch resources are not a problem in Calgary. The sky's the limit on selection and price. As far as Canada being light years behind the good ole USA I think you better come in from the back woods to a major centre and you will find what you need.

Saturns I can find - I don't live in the backwoods and still maintain that Canada is behind USA in RV's and towing - I can find a couple of towing places in the area - London Ontario is a major centre and I am looking in all of south western Ontario - Canada doesn't seem to have much in used towing equipment, tow vehicles with equipment or any bargains re towing equipment. Western Canada does seem to have a lot more and out west the insurance for RV's is much less expensive and it is not available here. I found a great web page for insuring rv's - they have an office out west and one in London. I called the London office and they stated that the RV insurance isn't available to Ontario residents - only out west. Ontario also has stringent rules re small motorcycles-but 7 other provinces are much more realistic and you can register a small motorcycle as a moped even without pedals. Here we are limited and have to pay exorbitant prices for motorcycle insurance even though a tiny 50cc cycle is a 'limited speed' vehicle....so perhaps out west you have more options. If you can find an Ontario site that sells used tow equipment, let me know - I have been searching for days and still can only access USA resources for most things. Ebay has US sellers for towing equipment, none for Canada - so perhaps you aren't exactly informed re Canada and only have info on the west. (and Canada will always be far behind USA in most things - that is a reality!)
Linda
From Shedden
which is NOT in the backwoods

When you look at Saturns, beware of sunroofs. The drains can clog and standing water will rust things out in a major way. Check the drains with a bottle of water and look VERY hard for rust and headliner stains.

The up side of a rusted out sunroof is that it will really diminish the value of the car. So you buy it low low low and glue the thing shut with 3M5200 and call it a moonroof. The Saturn headliner is hundreds of dollars, but you can glue new material on the original fiberglass backing very cheaply.

The SL2 is a fun little car. Really zippy engine and better suspension. If I were not too tall, I would have kept my son's when he bought a truck. If either of you is tall or has a long torso, the non-sunroof models have more headroom.

Thanks Bill H - my husband is big and tall and needs the headroom - I am ok as I am not very big so I fit in anything. We will watch out for sunroofs - and likely avoid them altogether as he needs all the room he can get. We were considering trading in my Olds 98 but it has so many bells and whistles and I am not sure I want to tow a new vehicle. So now I think we are looking at ooooollllld Saturns that are as cheap as we can get - just have to decide how many miles on a Saturn are acceptable before it is more junk than towable. I don't want to have my toad in the shop spending lots of bucks on it just to tow. But since we would only be using it when we are travelling, perhaps the low mileage we would add to it would make it still viable with high mileage.
This towing thing is quite an endeavour. If my husband had better health we would have many more options. But since he can't walk too far and can't use a motorcycle or bicycle, we will likely need a toad.

Linda, we have our little SC2 (too small) with some 87K miles and runs like new. Even though Saturns are made in the US/Mexico/Canada. I think of them in the same breath as Honda/Toyota. The Saturn is the only "American" car we have owned in 15 years. It is great if it were a little larger. I would not shy away from 120K miles on a Saturn. Remember when you tow it the odometer does not turn...

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Ships are safe in the harbor.....But that's not what ships are for

1985 28 foot Regal
Dave and Deb Bowers

I have found a 1992 with 143k kilometres on it - about 100k miles- a SL model-looks like a 4 door-and auto locks, cruise, etc. -new tires and certified -asking $2950.00 ($2237.00 US) - so if she calls back and it is decent, we will likely buy it - older but I think an older one lets us get in with a lower investment, lower insurance and we would only use it for towing so would not be putting many miles on it. We then could check into getting a brake buddy on ebay- but have to find a seller who will mail it to us as sending it by UPS incurrs very high customs charges and that would not make it viable, but hopefully we can get a tow bar and a brake buddy-maybe even a towing breast plate for the Saturn, and then have it all ready for our upcoming trip. Will update you after we hear back from the seller of the 1992! Certainly can keep yourself busy just getting ready for the trip - will need a trip real soon if we keep up this pace!

The 1992 has been in an accident with a post in the past - My info is that we should not pull a vehicle that has been in an accident. The seller was too busy to show it to us yet-perhaps she will be available on Tuesday - doesn't seem like it will be a car we will buy....so the search is on again.....

IMHO - If your hubby is big and tall, the Saturn is likely to be cramped. Saturns, and most similar sized cars, are not a good option for someone who is large, or has limited flexibility. I have two friends as ancient as I, or more so, who have dumped their Saturns because they're too hard to get in and out of.

The four door Tracker/Suzuki Sport Sidekick has tall seats, wide-opening doors for entrance and exit, goes anywhere (though it rides like the small truck it is). But I don't have to tell you that, you've already owned one.

Down here, the NADA book on a 1996 4-door, A/T, 4x4 Tracker is about 20% higher than a 2wd Saturn Sedan, but they're both under $5K US. I think the Tracker is likely to last longer.

Another advantage of the Tracker is the 4WD. We went that way with our toad, as we explore a lot.

As you see below, we tow our '96 Explorer and the big difference in these discussions probably centers around power, hitch and preferences.
We also have the brake buddy system and like it.
With a 300 Cummins engine we hardly notice the additional weight while towing and driving but there is some difference in braking and accelerating because it's an additional 4000 lbs.
By the way, hope you AZ folks and the Canadian connection are considering the Barth rally in Quartzite in January as well as the one in June in Indiana. Lots of helpful and useful information and nice people besides! Happy Halloween or rather All Saints Day today.

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Susie and Gary (SUGAR)
'95 Barth Regency 34'
'96 Explorer

Up here used Trackers are harder to come by - and we noticed you are supposed to stop every 200 miles and start the engine. We are hesitant about that because we might forget or not be able to due to traffic somewhere or might not want to if it is cold or raining when we reach the 200 mile mark. Does anyone who tows a Tracker have a problem with this. When we bought our Tracker we did choose it because it was sufficiently adequate to accommodate my husband and my sons - all of whom are big and tall. It definitely was roomy enough to meet the requirements. It is still the 200 mile stop and start the engine requirement that is the problem for us with it.