I am thinking of buying a Saturn Vue but have a concern that the auto stop feature, fundamental to fuel savings, is disengaged (so the motor continues to run when stopped) if the heater, defogger, or A/C is on. Any comments? Hopefully I am mistaken, or it does not make much difference.

The AC has an "eco" mode that when selected will still allow the car to auto stop. As for the defroster, if you have the control set "one click left" of the blended heat/defrost icon, the defroster will work without running the AC compressor thus allowing auto stop.

Firenurse,

Thanks. I am close to making a decision, but want to drive the Vue one for time and fiddle with the dials to make sure if I can get gas mileage, with heat and defrost. Thanks. Any reservations about the Vue Greenline?

Make sure your commute is suitable before you decide though. Check out the reported MPGs. A short start/stop will not be good. We're regularly under 20MPG under these circumstances. Expect high 20's on the highway on a decent run at moderate speed.

Others report similar experiences

We have enjoyed our Vue and have been fortunate to get some very good mileage from it. I will say that if your typical commute is very short and/or heavy stop and go, you may be better off with a full hybrid.

For us, most of our driving is highway with little stop and go so we do well. Part of the decision for us was the higher highway EPA ratings compared to the Ford Escape. Based on our typical driving patterns, the Vue seemed a better fit for us and our mileage shows it. Right now I am working on our best tank with 2 segments over 40 mpg.

For comparison, my trip to the firehouse is about 1.5 miles from our house with two stoplights. The mpg for that trip has been 19 mpg in cold temperatures to 26 mpg in moderate temps. I even ran that trip responding to a fire call and got 21 mpg .

One thing I would recommend is purchasing a ScanGauge II since the Vue only has the eco light.