Well in my seemingly never ending quest for a new car, I took the advice of some forum members, and drove the Astra, I really wish I had not done it. This is one nice little car. It is so German, it even smells like a VW. Understated, well finished, with tons of legroom. It's not perfect: one cup holder, and the digital display looks like it's out of the 80's. The radio is the most confusing thing I have ever seen. But I like the car.
They have really nice insentives $3500 plus $750 if you opt out of the maintanence deal from GM. The price is less then the Vibe, Matrix and Touring, BUT where is Saturn going to be in 2 years. The sales person had some long story (fairy tale?) about how the start up heads from Saturn where going to take it private and return to their roots. That's great but the Astra (and many of their cars) are built by Opel who has problems of their own.
So it comes down to saving some money on a nice car. (unproven new design) built by a European company (Opel) for a North American company GM (in trouble), whose brand Saturn is being sold, shut down?
I don't know, at least if GM goes (I doubt they will go away) the Vibe is a Toyota, so parts are going to be around.
Too many choices!