Would it have killed them to put an eternally mounted donut tire under the car even? (I wanted to buy a donut and figure out a mount arrangement but these things cost a fortune after-market so I nixed the idea).

Heck, perhaps I could padlock it if I lived in Detroit :-). For now, the spare lives in my garage so local problems can be solved by a call back home - a bit inconvenient but better than the alternative. Longer journeys will require a bit more thought though I do have one of those rooftop shells that might mount on the roof rails and do the trick.

(By the way, I've seen much debate about this - I had a VUE before this GL. The old cross rails fit despite what Saturn will tell you, and we had Saturn take them off the old car and put them on the new ones when we bought it. I'm talking about the basic black ones, not the later high chrome glossies). So if anyone cares to debate further, trust me, they fit as nothing changed up there over all the years of the VUE I).

I guess the bottom line is, if the tires aren't readily available, Saturn needs to back us up by always having some somewhere that can rescue us. Getting a tow 24/7 is no use if you're 500 miles from home with a 5 day turnaround really is it. Ditto on run flats - so I can get it to Saturn, then they still won't have the tire - same problem. Ah, you say, they give you that spiffy little kit with the sealant gunk and an inflator. True, that will work for small temporary patches to get you to the dealer. Guess what - if you use it, the tire can't be repaired and you need another one so back to the 5 day turnaround. All in all, Saturn need to step up with a solution.

As soon as these tires go, I think I'm just going to abandon the low rolling resistance in favor of something common. At least then someone will have it in stock.

Honestly, with this, the numerous other quality issues we've had, the move to steel panels, and the oversold fuel economy, I think this will be the last of our line of Saturns. Sad but we're feeling driven away really and Saturn is just another GM division now.