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 Aura
  By missmollyk - October 23 - 4:03 pm

  This is my third Saturn in over 10 years, and while I love the product, I am kind of disappointed in this car. I was told the MPG was better than it has been (lucky if I get 19 mpg both street/hwy) and have had little things going wrong on it from day one. The OnStar was leaking water in when I washed the car, the stereo jammed CDs in it, now the AM doesnt work and the OnStar is cutting out during phone calls. The front bushings are squeaking on turns and bouncing. It has a lag when getting on the freeway, seems to take a few hiccups to get up to speed.

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  Performance and gas mileage! - 2004 Saturn ION
  By evan - October 22 - 12:06 pm

  This care has been great to drive. Its rare to find a six second car with grocery-getter gas mileage. Unsure about annual gas mileage...sorry.

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  Good solid SUV - 2002 Saturn VUE
  By jafick - October 20 - 10:00 am

  I got the sport edition and really enjoy it for the most part. Its a four cylinder stick, but surprisingly peppy. Excellent fuel mileage considering its an SUV. Whats really neat is some of the features. I really like the ride and the new electronic steering (derives power electronically versus ol power steering off the engine). Resistance on the steering lowers with speed and once you get used to it, its pretty cool. Overall, I like it and would buy it again. The best thing about it though? The price! Less than $16 grand for power everything (including moonroof), ABS and AWD. Fantastic!

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  Love my Aura - 2007 Saturn Aura
  By kell - October 18 - 9:13 pm

  I love my Aura. It is so beautiful and I always am getting compliments. I purchased the XR fully loaded and I love all the little extras. My car came with locks on the gas cap, big mistake.. It is so annoying. It feels so sporty inside and looks very classy. I would definitely recommend this car to anyone who is looking for a stylish car with lots of power.

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  Love my Hybrid - 2007 Saturn VUE
  By Albert - October 17 - 9:43 pm

  Looking for an SUV Hybrid? This is the one. I have been very happy with my hybrid since I bought it 2 months ago. Just wish it was capable with the OnStar onscreen navigation, only complaint. But drives great and has saved me on gas! Fill up once a week instead of 2x a week

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  Styling is all this has to offer - 2007 Saturn Sky
  By Insane Driver - October 12 - 10:00 am

  I must say im dissapointed in this vehicle. Leave it to GM to again take a good idea and mess it up. The interior layout is terrible,and the cheap plastics dont help it any. The way the top works is a terrible design.Their are stories going around GM dealers about how the rear ends go out in the vehicles,which mine is already making noise,and how the tops begin to leak terribly. These cars look nice and thats about it. My CX7 gets almost the same MPG, and its a SUV, what gives? The power window buttons are in a place so you have to bend your elbow to find them and it seems that GM tried to hide the seat recliner. Cupholders are also in terrible places.2 years in development,and GM builds this?

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  I live at the repair shop! - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Ricky Reynolds - October 11 - 10:00 am

  2003 Saturn VUE has had serious engineer flaws, to include suspension problems times two.The vehicle has 3 onbaord computers that do not function well & as a result will not report problems such as transmission slipping & completely going into a neutral state. The computer that controls the dash panel cause many of the warning lights to malfunction but never registered. No register, not get fixed says Saturn, unless they see it happen. I was luck on the way out it malfunctioned. The computer never registered a problem. Same thing with the transmission. Computer never registers an error.

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  Not so happy - 2006 Saturn Relay
  By tee - October 9 - 9:26 pm

  We have owned our Saturn for 9 months now and are not satisfied. We have been in and out of the dealership with so many problems : electrical ( abs and traction tire system needed to be serviced every other 3 weeks) front tires squeal like a 50 year old car. The darn car beeps at you for no reason while driving down the road. The engine light goes on and off and dealership cant find a problem. Lost cruise control while driving on freeway, just cruising along and bang lost speed no warning just shut itself off. So not happy wish we could get rid of it.

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  Amazed. And its a Salvage. - 2005 Saturn VUE
  By janell26 - October 9 - 4:45 am

  I bought my Vue with 60k miles from a private seller for $2k due to a Salvage Title. I was a little hesitant going into it but since it was so cheap I figured why not. Ive had the car 2 years and it is now nearing 90k miles and I have absolutely NO problems with it whatsoever. Ive never had anything go out/stop working on me. The car has never stalled or done anything suspect. It needs brakes/rotors right now, thats about it. Im pretty impressed considering the salvage title, not to mention I was in a major accident with it about a year ago also....runs as if nothing happened even though its had the crap kicked out of it.

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  Design Debacle - 2007 Saturn Outlook
  By justdontdrive - October 5 - 6:26 am

  Writing in after being outraged at a $3000 timing chain replacement, most of it 17 hours of mechanics labor. Come on GM, timing belts and chain replacement are as given on a car as is the tires. Why would you approve a design that requires dropping the engine to replace them! On a Honda or other Japanese car, its $400-500 event. Not so for GM. I bought the 07 new. I havent had a great deal of trouble, like some here who have all kinds of failures. But there were some: the lift gate which has a complicated motorized latch, failed so that it remained unlatched while driving. There was simply no way to hold it shut. Dangerous! Then it was $400 to have that fixed. All electrical.