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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  3rd Saturn in a Row - 2005 Saturn ION
  By Lou Troga - January 12 - 6:46 am

  When I saw the 4-door sedan Ion in blue I told the salesman that I was interested in the SC2 as I have had both the SC2 (the sporty coupe) and the SL2 (the four-door sedan). So he brought out the top of the line Ion3 coupe and I feel in love. Surely a pleasure to drive and I love OnStar. The safety doors in the rear are great for certain reasons. I had to drive long distances to work in the first Saturn--the SL2 and it performed beautifully and took the hills in Vallejo a lot better than most cars. Then I drove a somewhat less with the SC2 but still a lot. But this ION will be used a lot more for pleasure and with great performance. I love my car and it has all the wonderful safety.

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  A good buy - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By acx44 - January 11 - 2:00 am

  After driving this for a couple weeks I must admit that this is a very fun SUV to drive and you cant go wrong with the 250 horses and the CD/MP3 player. Plus you get alot of options that no other SUV in the VUEs class would get

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  Extremely unlucky buyer - 2007 Saturn Aura
  By B Archibald - January 8 - 6:26 pm

  I had my Aura XR for 2 weeks when some engine noise came up. The dealership could not figure out what it was for 2 weeks. It had 2k miles on it so exchanging it wasnt an option. Seeing as how I had it half the time and dealership couldnt fix it, I expected they would replace it for me. They chose to claim the rules were inflexible and offered instead to replace my engine. Im not sure how I feel about this but I have no choice because if I wait for them to figure out how to fix this engine I may not get it back for weeks. In any case I really do love the car, they tell me no one else has had this problem and the car is so new they dont have any practical experience on this engine.

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  Impressed by the ION - 2005 Saturn ION
  By Ralph - January 8 - 8:26 am

  My third Saturn turns out to be every bit as reliable as the other ones. No problems at over 10,000 km right now, everything works as intended. Fuel economy is excellent after break in, 33- 35 mpg, highway/city mixed cycle.

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  Couple Issues but its still lovable - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By VueLuv - January 6 - 9:30 pm

  My Vue was purchased mid June and since then Ive had to take it back to the shop for a couple issues. The Vue sign on front of hood was damaged somehow, looked as if it was bleeding on the inside. The passenger door handle sticks. Although I took it in and everyone at Saturn was very polite they still have yet to fix my door handle properly. It still sticks really badly. The Saturn sign was fixed. Now I have to go back because the wipers have chipped and have small rust spot. Other than that it drives beautifully very hot look and gas mileage is adequate for car of that size.

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  My favorite - 2007 Saturn Aura
  By JIMMY P - January 6 - 11:20 am

  This by far has been my most enjoyable car i have owned in a while. The style performane and overall value for the money is second to none.This Aura xr was intended to be my wifes car now I drive it and she drives my Cadillac SRX. We got ours loaded with all the options and we couldnt be happier. I recomend this car to everyone

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  Saturn Aura - 2007 Saturn Aura
  By Elijah - January 5 - 10:06 am

  After researching and researching on which car I wanted, I chose the AURA. I was going to wait and get the Astra but it was just too good of a deal to pass up on the AURA. I have over 2000 miles so far and no problems. I drive mostly highway but I can average 26-29 mpg!

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  VUE VUE VUE - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By John - January 3 - 10:00 am

  I was excited to have this beauty for a while and since I have had it, it still is exciting. The drive is smooth and and has more than enough power, the seats are very comfortable, it seats five great and the cargo area is huge.

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  My VUE - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Heather Ebare - December 31 - 10:00 am

  The overall design makes it convenient for the driver to be able to turn to see nearby traffic while at the same time theres plenty of space "leg room" in the vehicle for passengers. In other words, you get a ton of space in a not so bulky car.

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  Domestics are still great - 2006 Saturn Relay
  By BP - December 30 - 5:06 pm

  This was a much better deal than Toyota or Honda and looks far better than either. We will likely buy Saturn again if they keep making this van.