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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  Worst vehicle we have ever owned - 2008 Saturn Outlook
  By sbzg - January 18 - 5:02 pm

  This has been by far the worst car we have ever owned. The transmission was completely replaced under 50k miles (shuttered all the time). The lift gate struts broke. It over heated with thermostat problems at 25k miles. The AC randomly speeds up and slows down. The front headlamp assembly melted causing the headlights to go out ($700 if not under warranty). The dash computer went out causing the dash to go out. The remote start has never worked... dealer has never been able to figure that one out. And the kicker... the sunroof drains into the floor on the passenger side. Sometimes when its raining and I hit the breaks, water flies from the headliner onto the dash. I will never buy a GM.

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  Piece of Crap - 2003 Saturn ION
  By NotVeryHappyJulie - January 13 - 10:00 am

  ItÂ’s been in the shop more times than months I have owned it. The cigarette plug has come out of the console, the back one window works sporadically and one of our heated leather seats has quit working for the 7th time!!! We had a complete electrical circuit meltdown which involved the cruise control malfunctioning and our brake light not shutting off. The car ended up locking us out and we were unable to drive it. Had to be towed and was in service for over a week. Other problems include the transmission, interior parts just falling off including the dashboard (the first week). This is literally a piece of crap!

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  Not worth the trouble - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By mdgirlcheryl - January 13 - 10:00 am

  I bought my 2003 Automatic V6 after test driving and going on Saturns reputation. Big Mistake. After the sensor being replaced in the gas tank, the side mirror cracking for no reason, the faulty console latch and transmission leak, now Im dealing with the noise that sounds like the frame is falling off of the axle. I would not recommend the VUE to anyone, unless you like spending alot of time at the dealership. Just hope all of this stops before the warranty is up!

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  No wonder GM dumped Saturn - 2003 Saturn ION
  By coloman - January 10 - 8:50 pm

  From the start it was good, but man with in a few months took a dump! Starts sometimes and others times nothing, but we have had it check and no mechanic can find anything. Coolant light on, cant get it off no one knows why no leaks, holds pressure. Blinkers keep burning out and blinker burning out recall has been done by dealer. Please dont buy one these cars!

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  LEMON - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By Blessedmann - January 8 - 10:00 am

  I had my Saturn Vue V6 for about 1 month it has been in the shop 8 different times sense I am now going to use the LEMON Law on this vehicle.

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  I would think twice - 2003 Saturn ION
  By I would think twice - December 24 - 8:03 pm

  I can feel every bump in the road, CD player skips while driving/ The seats stains very very easily/ bad on gas mileage, occasionally seems to have tranny issues/ plastic panels falls off very easily. Material on interior is not the best quality. Horn is very hard to use, seats are not comfortable

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  Avoid 2003 model of Saturn VUE - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Paul - December 3 - 10:13 am

  I have a 2003 Saturn VUE with 87,000 miles on it. Below are parts that had to be replaced: * water pump at 42,000 miles * rear differential at 48,000 and 84,000 miles * heater motor * rear wiper motor *steering pinions Additionally, the leather seats have cracked on a side despite bi-weekly conditioning. I do not plan to purchase another GM product.

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  a kit car in disguise - 2004 Saturn ION
  By kurt w - October 25 - 2:00 am

  Despite the courtesy of Saturns sale staff and large rebates, the ION 3 sedan has proved the worst car Ive ever owned. Full of rattles and squeaks, poor fitting trim, a jerky transmission, and harsh ride over small bumps, the final insult are service departments that, while polite, damage the car while fixing it (wrecking trim or leaving grease and oil behind) or leave parts off. My last two Toyotas together had a third of the problems this car has. Bob Lutz, stop talking about sport cars and get GM build quality past Yugo class!

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  Worst car ever - 2005 Saturn Relay
  By gallagher - October 5 - 7:56 pm

  It is very sad that I report on this. At first we thought it was a good and boy were we wrong. It was given to us by a friend that need us to take over payments and our credit was to bad to get one on our own. Now we are stuck with a lemon nothing but problems - bad brakes, door, tires, trim, abs brakes and the dealers has bad service and now that it is out of warranty.

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  DO NOT BUY A SATURN 2007 OUTLOOK - 2007 Saturn Outlook
  By gftodd - September 18 - 6:48 pm

  I have had problems with this car since I bought it used in 2009. This car is a disgrace and I fear driving every time I get in the car. My husband was just driving it recently on a major highway and the car just stalled out and he couldnt steer. Now how about if that was me and my 6 yr old son and we would have gotten into a major accident. I had to buy a new transmission, struts, now its in the shop again for another problem. Do research on any car before you buy. I will never buy another GM again. I always told people to buy AMERICAN but apparently they dont care about screwing us over!!