Overview & Reviews

The Saturn brand, which was part of General Motors, has been discontinued as of the 2009 model year. Though popular in its early years, Saturn suffered from poor sales and was shuttered as part of GM's bankruptcy reorganization.

Despite its sad end, Saturn started with a bright future. After losing market share to Japanese imports during the '80s, General Motors launched Saturn, a new division that began selling small, low-priced cars in 1990. The division promoted itself as "different," with Saturn dealers offering no-haggle pricing and friendly customer service.

Saturn made its debut with the S Series line of vehicles. Available in sedan, coupe and wagon configurations, these Saturns differentiated themselves from other GM products with all-new platforms and flexible plastic panels meant to resist denting. Additionally, the brand was granted its own plant, with all Saturns being built at a dedicated facility in Spring Hill, Tennessee. These first Saturns weren't exactly built to burn rubber; they were powered by engines that offered from 85-124 horsepower. The payoff, though, was that these were among the most fuel-efficient vehicles of their day, offering up to 40 miles per gallon (when equipped with a manual transmission).

Just after the brand's conception, GM boasted that Saturn vehicles would benefit from rapid evolution, but in the early years, this wasn't the case. The brand's vehicles saw only one redesign in their first decade of existence. The revamp took place in the mid-'90s, and for the most part, it was only skin deep. Exteriors were spruced up and interior room saw a slight increase.

The Saturn brand enjoyed some success in its earliest years, fueled by buyers who were in love with its unique approach to customer relations that included "no-haggle" pricing. By the turn of the century, though, the novelty had worn off. With dated platforms and a limited range of products, the marque was neglected by GM, and disappointing sales figures showed that buyers had taken note and chosen to spend their dollars elsewhere.

GM responded by ramping up its commitment to the Saturn brand. In 2000, it rolled out the L Series; sharing a platform and an engine with the Opel Vectra (one of GM's European products) the sedan was the opening salvo in GM's ultimately futile fight to resuscitate the struggling brand. An SUV, the Vue, was unveiled, as was a minivan, the Relay. The S Series was replaced by the lamentable Ion, which was available as a sedan and a coupe. GM also added a hybrid to the lineup, with the introduction of the Saturn Vue Green Line.

Later, Saturn included the sporty Sky roadster, the midsize Aura sedan, the compact second-generation Vue crossover and the full-size Outlook crossover. For a brief period, there was also the European-sourced Astra compact hatchback.

Despite the increase in product quality, however, the Saturn brand effectively collapsed in 2009. As part of GM's bankruptcy proceedings, Saturn was offered up for sale. Initially, it was believed that the Penske Corporation would take over Saturn. But the deal fell through at the last minute, thereby spelling the final end for GM's import-fighting experiment.

User Reviews:

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  Disappointed... - 2007 Saturn Outlook
  By Jessica Williams - August 21 - 6:33 am

  When I first bought this car... It was love at first site. Beautiful outside, perfect size for my family, ran very well... But that didnt last long. After the first week of having it, I couldnt run my heater for too long because it would get too hot ( the car, not the temperature) and I had to avoid overheating, then it would periodically say "traction control turn a/c off" even when it wasnt running. Now it does it 7-10 times a day. I cant drive it a certain distance because I get a message that says "transmission hot engine idle" Ive tried method after method to figure out how to fix this problem and nothing has made a difference. This car has been nothing but problems and I can already tell its gonna shit out on me anyday now.... So disappointing.

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  My sorrow - 2003 Saturn ION
  By NOT WORTH IT - December 9 - 11:16 am

  I bought this car during my junior year of college and have had nothing but problems with since I bought it. I have had transmissions problems since one month after I bought it that have still not been fixed and the dealership has lied to me about parts that they did not fix when they said that they did ( I caught them) and I have had terrible problems with the lights and blinkers. But the worst problem of all was how easily the car was almost totaled just from hitting a deer. The car is so light that it is a terrible winter car. Never again will I buy a Saturn especially since the dealership has treated my so poorly.

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  Dont Buy This Car! - 2003 Saturn ION
  By Christopher N - August 22 - 2:00 am

  As far as I am concerned this car is the worst car Saturn has ever put out. Being a returning customer of Saturn, I expected a good quality car. However since we have brought it home it has been back to the dealership several times. Though there has not been any major mechanical problems yet, there have been a lot of annoying little things go wrong. For example lights burning out, steering wheel grinding, key getting stuck in the ignition three times, panels fell off on the inside, and the hood release broke. Not to mention the gas mileage has gone down. In my opinion a new car should not act this way. This experience has sworn me off to Saturns forever.

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  A Lousy Car and Company - 2002 Saturn VUE
  By Sandi Conner - July 28 - 11:36 am

  I have had nothing but trouble with this car from the get-go. First and foremost, when I bought it, I was supposedly buying one exactly like the car they used to "puppy-dog me" into buying one. Never did they mention mine was a 5 speed. All I got was the speech about the "free" upgrades. Since then I have had the gromet break in the transmission and oil "disappear". I have been through 3--yes 3--ignition coils and believe it or not, although I was guaranteed a "free" inspection every year, I have yet to get by without paying at least $20 for the installation of a broken light bulb. This year I took it somewhere else for an inspection, paid for the inspection and passed! DUH!

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  RUN! - 2007 Saturn VUE
  By Pekin08 - May 1 - 2:52 am

  This vehicle is a pile of junk! I bought my 2007 Saturn Vue with 110,000 miles. It now has 125,000. In seven months I have had the wheel bearing and hub assembly replaced, the alternator, and now the air compressor just went out. The cost to replace an air compressor on 2007 Saturn Vue $835.

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  Dissappointed, sad, and upset - 2006 Saturn ION
  By Annie - February 13 - 10:03 am

  I bought my Saturn Ion new in February of 2006. After the first year of ownership I had the transmission replaced and it was not something I did but something they say just happened. I paid for it out of my pocket. I called GM and they said they were not going to reimburse me. I still own the vehicle and cannot drive it now. As of April 6, 2009 I was returning home from work, tried to turn off the ignition and it would not turn off. I called Onstar and they GM. Neither one knew what to do. My Saturn Ion ran for three hours sitting still because they could not figure out how to shut the car off. I had to have the ignition switch, steering column, and the key replaced. GM said it was natural.

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  VTi Transmission BAD NEWS - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By bab702 - October 17 - 10:00 am

  Dont buy this car!!! We ended up PAYING $5,500 dollars to get OUT of the car! It was in the shop reguarly and the service at Saturn of Metairie was the pits! NEVER got any call backs on trying to get out of the VUE; until we traded it in of course! The transmission gave us problems almost immediately...and service dept. could never pin point the problem...it was on going until we got rid of it! Dont make the same mistake! You wont save money in the long run! If you must make sure you like the service department....you will see them A LOT!!!

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  Id rather be driving an import - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By Dissatisfied - August 31 - 8:50 pm

  Very poorly built car. I have had the vehicle less then 2 years it has been in for service at least a dozen times. Ive actually lost count. Engine problems, buttons that fall into the dash, doors that wont open, CD player stops working, switches that get stuck, etc. Im afraid of going on long trips in fear it will leave me stranded. The seats have little support and the rear seats are too low. The front a-pillars are too wide and create large blind spots. Lots of interior road noise. Loud interior vibrations created when the A/C fan is operating. Hard to locate the passenger front and rear window switches when driving without averting attention away from the road.

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  LEMON!!! Dont buy one of these cars - 2005 Saturn Relay
  By jamikey - December 25 - 12:00 pm

  I have had multiple problems with this car. My side paneling has peeled off 3 times now, the ABS system has had problems, and the remote sliding door has been replaced and the remote for it doesnt even work. That is just a few of the problems associated with the car. My latest problem is the engine blew in the car (yes, that is right!!) while in another state. They said that there was a bulletin about this potential problem, but since there hasnt been very many people with this problem, it wasnt a recall. The car has 26,000 miles on it. I have 2 children and do not feel safe driving this car. The child lock on rear door also locks on its own, trapping kids inside. Dangerous car!

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  Typical GM junk! - 2008 Saturn Outlook
  By Deckman88 - May 5 - 11:58 pm

  GM does not care about its consumers. My Outlook needed a new transmission for $5000 (a common problem from a faulty wave plate) and it should have been recalled. Also replace countless other items worth probably an additional 2500 in repairs including new front struts, alternator, gauge cluster and oil cooler. I was stupid to buy this vehicle as before it I had a Hyundai with 150k on it that never required one single repair!