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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  Buyers remorse - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By POd in Pittsburgh - July 8 - 6:23 pm

  Never regretted a purchase of anything as much as this vehicle. I have had it for 14 months and I am in the process of buying a Dodge Nitro. I cant wait to be out of it. Nothing but problems. Airbag, stereo, hood, wipers, windows, heater fan...should I go on? Oh and it has had to be towed 4 times for a dead battery! Gas mileage is no where near what it is advertised at.

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  GM Rip Off, the worst Suv Ever!!! - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Romans - July 7 - 9:40 am

  Bought it used with a rebuilt transmission and 50,105 which went at 55,020. GM had done anything to fix this issues of thousands of bad VTIs transmissions for 2002-2004 4wd Vues. First and last time I buy American cars. What a shame that we cant rely and support our own products no wonder why people prefer Japanese Engineering those are for sure reliable vehicles.

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  O.K. thus far - 2002 Saturn VUE
  By jeep55 - July 3 - 10:00 am

  have had minivans prior, so comfort is lacking for my 64 frame. Dealership is still in question. Hope all is well for the long term.

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  Uncomfortable - 2007 Saturn VUE
  By MAJ - June 23 - 6:26 pm

  Purchased my Vue 2.2Liter L4, in April 2007. Though the Vue lives up to its fuel economy, the comfort of this auto is poor. The seats are like sitting on rocks. Saturns fix for this issue is to buy a pillow. If you are a person with long legs or a person of size please take this into consideration when you make your purchase. There is no leg support.

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  Rear suspension problems like crazy! - 2002 Saturn VUE
  By Nancy - June 21 - 4:00 am

  Thats it! Going back to a minivan! I rely on my AWD because of where I live and my VUE reliably fails when winter hits. Had it in for service last February (2004) and they replaced the parts that work the rear wheel AWD. Guess what? We have two feet of snow and I have a front-wheel drive car again! Thats right, its out again. Not only that, but cant get the VUE in for a whole week for service. We were told last time it wasnt too "safe" to drive if the rear suspension was working right. Also, theres been some sort of recall that we were never notified by mail (or otherwise) about that they are fixing next week in the shop. Very disappointed in my VUE. Will be selling soon.

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  5th and last Saturn at our house - 2006 Saturn ION
  By Terie - May 31 - 8:10 am

  My beloved 1997 SC2 got wrecked, but we still had the yellow 2001 SC2.There were 2 before those. We liked Saturns. This one is cheaply made. Things are breaking! Window switches, back seat releases, etc. This dealership is nothing like the ones wed used in other states. The car isnt as well built or as easy to drive as a SL2, gas mileage is horrible. Seats arent comfortable after about 30 min of driving. I doubt that a 6th Saturn will be in our future. Customer service at corp level is gone down also. Too bad, they cared at one time about their customers, not now.

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  Do Not Buy - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Robin - April 29 - 2:16 pm

  I bought my car a year and half ago and thought it was good. Boy was I wrong. Everything was good until 80,000 miles then my engine literally blew up. Cost me $1000 to buy a used engine. Now 2 weeks later, my car is back in the garage with a transmission that blew up. It costs $4500 just for the transmission! Saturn has a lawsuit due to faulty transmissions so now I have to see if I can get them to pay for some of it. If they wont, I dont know what Im going to do. I cant afford to pay all that money in one month. I am looking to trade mine in. I will NEVER buy a Saturn again!

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  Nice car to drive - 2008 Saturn Astra
  By kuda1 - April 26 - 10:36 pm

  Love the drive. It hugs the corners. I traded in my 2005 Vue for the Astra to save on gas mileage. I miss the Vue. The Astra averages 9.0 L/100kms with most of my driving on the highway. I have 3000 miles on it now and each tankful has been identical. I would love to get other peoples impressions. Especially tell me how many miles or kilometers you are able to get to a tankful of gas.

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  Not a bad car - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By nancy - April 15 - 12:56 am

  Bought new in 2004. Hazard button fell into dash. Not crazy about winter driving performace. Manual transmission is ok. Just replaced front brakes, not bad for 60k. Dash light cluster went, the dealer wants 600. to fix. No way. Hood cable streached out 90. to repair. Had the rear wiper motor replaced under warranty. Weird flapping noise when I come to a stop, dealer said they all do it. This is my second Saturn, probably my last. I will keep it until it dies, then move on. Not totally againt the car, but would like something heavier for winter driving.

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  frustrated 2 - 2007 Saturn ION
  By junk07 - April 11 - 6:56 pm

  My fiance got the car in April of 07. Bought it off the showroom floor with 43 miles on it. Started off getting 24 mpg, and slowly dropped off to about 16-18 mpg. The car has 23k on it now, and we have replaced both headlight assemblys twice due to moisture. The rotors got warped for no apparent reason last month, with hardly any wear at all on the pads. Everything inside the car started vibrating at around 5k miles, and at the same time around 5k miles, the transmission was acting up. Theres a constant knocking noise coming from the fuel pump, like we have a person locked in the trunk. And the cheap hankook tires were dry rotted before 12k hit. To be a brand new car, it sure has had a lot of issues!