2007 Saturn Aura XR: Stop Poking Me

I'm sure that's designed as a safety feature. In case the side airbags go off.
GM engineers think of everything.

It's hard to appreciate, just like when doctors tell you not to smoke and not to drink. It's for your safety!
Though I'd rather drink too.

Personally, it annoys me when the door plunger goes too far down when locked to easily use it to unlock. However, I wish auto companies had stopped using these things a long time ago, the door lock looks so much better as a switch near the handle.

why oh why must we see a re-birth of these in GM vehicles?? For a while there(90's-early 00's), all GM's offerings had the door lock next to the door handle. So much better IMHO. I have never liked the lock on the door sill. But this seems to be the popular place nowadays.

Yup, i hear ya.. my first generation xB gets on my dang nerve every time so i try my best to put my arms around it or in front of it. but it ends up being uncomfortable. i think Volkswagen does a good job and hiding the door plunger

Great fitment there on the lock bezel. Now if it'll fall off like on the Benz, we'll be all set.

Fantastic Post.

Best. Post. Ever.
The Onion is going to sue if you keep it up!

Don't worry, I'm sure it'll break off eventually. Oh wait, I was thinking of the Caravan.

You should have signed this post Omar Kharyam!

At least this design is better than Ford's. You lock the door and the plunger goes all the way in, you can't manually unlock the door! The plungers are also round and smooth so you can't grip them even if you could reach them. Duh!

Wasn't some other editor recently praising these types of door looks on the long term Mercedes?

Why would you want to manually unlock the door when you can pull on the handle and unlock it?

I'm not sure if the aura does that cx7lover. I know our toyota camry does, but neither of our two gm vehicles do it. I was quite surprised by the feature, it made sense the couple of times I don't shift to park and the passenger just opens the door to get out.

I was talking about altimadude00's comment, Fords unlock when you pull on the door handle. Audi/Volvo, 2 pulls(for safety I guess).

Oh and just for fun, the fit on the bit of plastic that rings the plunger hole is terrible.

Oh God, "Smoove B" is the only part of The Onion that I find completely unfunny. Figures that they would keep it running for about 10 years now.

"Oh God, "Smoove B" is the only part of The Onion that I find completely unfunny. Figures that they would keep it running for about 10 years now."

-agree.

It's because your damn guns are so humongous!! Stop working out so much!!

Maybe the Aura is waiting for you to scramble it some eggs.

There will also be orange juice.

I always find it weird when people say something is not funny -- but they continue reading it! Kind of the way it is with enthusiast sites -- so many people yap about how they'll never come back because of all the idiots, but they're always there! Smoove B is hilarious -- you don't like it, stop reading it.
This is the best post I've read in my short stint here.

These kind of door locks irritate me too, for the exact same reason. It's like having to reach all the way over to the radio instead of tapping buttons on your steering wheel, or having to choose between low and high wiper speeds instead of variable intermittent, or having to stick your key in a hole to unlock your car instead of pressing a button. Modern conveniences.

Sgude, I said Smoove B was completely unfunny, I never said I was still reading that column.

I still read and enjoy The Onion regularly (including the awesome print edition) -- which is why it irks me that they still occasionally take up valuable column inches with that played-out character.

On topic: The Aura's high sill, like many cars today, makes it uncomfortable for me to rest my arm way up there for very long anyway.

I like the lock design on my old 1995 Civic EX sedan. When the car is locked (which it does automatically when the car starts due to the aftermarket alarm system) the lock itself sits flush with the door panel. Its really not the lock placement its how its executed.

Yeah, I noticed this in the rental I just had in Vegas...kinda annoying. I actually didn't have any gripes about the XR my family rented...except for how odd this is. Really dig the cool accent lighting at night, though.

Some of the lock buttons (Ford and BMW, I think) pinch the skin on my arm when I put it down on the button and the button is pushed into the door. Now that's really annoying!