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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  Saturn has a winner - 2007 Saturn Aura
  By Ken - February 4 - 5:20 pm

  I drove a 2000 LS2 for 120,000 miles and was pleasantly surprised that Saturn was introducing a new model for 2007. The Aura is very quite and has a nice comfortable ride. The quaility is very good. First car that I have truely fallen in love with.

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  My Astra-A Great Decision - 2008 Saturn Astra
  By jaxjack92 - February 4 - 12:23 am

  Easiest handling,most comfortable, best fuel economy of the 5 Saturns I have bought or leased.

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  Way better than expected - 2007 Saturn Outlook
  By Nan - January 29 - 2:20 pm

  After 4 years of driving a minivan we still needed to haul kids/dog/stuff but were tired of the mushy ride and uncomfortable seats of our otherwise well functioning minivan. Our Outlook has a responsive car-like feel, very comfortable seats, excellent seating configuration for third row passengers, very nice AWD without the high step-in of a similar sized SUV. The electronics are awesome. The third row head curtain airbags were a key safety feature that we wanted, and this car was one of the few that had that option. Its a very thoughtfully designed car with lots of bang for the buck. We contiunue to be very happily surprised by this vehicle.

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  Best of all worlds - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By entendrentendre - January 29 - 10:00 am

  Ive only had this car for about 7 weeks, but so far so good. This car hit the mark on size,comfort, features, performance,safety and price. Plus you cannot beat the Saturn sales experience! This is a station wagon with out the frump factor! The 5 spd is a blast to drive and is very smooth. Ive owned mostly manuals in my nearly 25 years of driving. The four is very strong and smooth and loves to rev! I have not noticed any performance degrade when loaded with passengers and cargo. The mileage is good as well upper 20s in mixed driving. Idles so smooth and quite I have to check the tach at stop signs and lights to be certain I have not stalled.

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  Good Stuff very few problems - 2006 Saturn ION
  By Sean - January 28 - 8:03 am

  Its very reliable I feel really safe in my car even though its got plastic side panels. I dont know about the autos trans. but the manual is a blast! very comfortable gets advertised MPG even at almost 100,000 miles! Saturn has done good with the ion! Handles great! Its quiet inside the car. Very few problems Excellent buy!

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  Best medium SUV made...period... - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Flazund - January 24 - 10:00 am

  Everything abot this vehicle has been stellar. Best of all, with V6 and AWD I still get 25 mpg hwy! Reliability, comfort, handling, economy, everything excellent. Also, one of the roomiest of its class. Dealing with the dealership and service department is not the normal take a number and wait process. will probably never go back to the tradition way of buying cars and service. Other manufacturers need to take a lesson from Saturn!!!

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  1st SUV - Glad I Bought It. - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By Den G from NJ - January 22 - 5:00 am

  A used 2008 with 15,000 miles - it was beyond a bargain. Traded my 05 Acura TL for this, my first SUV so I was used to good handling and performance. I have to say that its much more quiet and comfortable than my old TL. Ride is very smooth, handles much better than other SUVs Ive driven, and Im not disappointed with the power. Styling is better than soccer-mom type SUVs and honestly reminds me of a Lexus RX, and not a GM product. Interior instruments are simple and uncomplicated, but not cheap looking. The car had some issues when I bought it and theyve all been repaired by my local Saturn dealer. The dealership was awesome and the service experience compares to that of Acura.

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  Very satisfied with our choice - 2007 Saturn Outlook
  By MM in Coral Springs - January 22 - 12:46 am

  Were very happy with our choice, the Outlook XR. Spacious, solidly built, attractive, this crossover has it all. Our XR has all the options we were looking for about $35K, except for the DVD and Nav. The only disappointment has been the gas mileage. Living in South Florida we continuosly have the A/C on and have averaged around 15 miles per gal.

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  Saturn Aura - You will love it! - 2007 Saturn Aura
  By EIA - January 19 - 9:26 am

  Ive had my Aura for one week and I love it. I purchased the XR model fully loaded in Bronzed Pewter. It looks very classy, and the Moroccon brown leather is very sharp looking. You have to see it for yourself. The stereo is nice, and I like the controls on the steering wheel. The rear seat audio controls w/2 wireless head phones are nice too. No more fighting for a radio station w/the kids. The adjustable pedals are a must for short people like me, and I love the auto climate control and remote start. Just go and test drive one! Youll see how quiet it runs, yet how powerful the engine is. People are talking to me at red lights asking me about it! They cant believe it is a Saturn. Love, love, love it!

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  Absolutely wonderful - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By Delphine Herman - January 13 - 4:23 am

  This is the 2nd VUE that I have owned. The 2006 VUE runs smoothly, is very quiet, and gets up to speed quickly. This vehicle also has OnStar which gives me an added sense of security.