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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  Another Vue Lemon - 2002 Saturn VUE
  By LemonVue2002 - September 4 - 10:00 am

  This Vue("LEMON")has been problems since the 1st day. Fuel gauge not reading correctly, struts replace 2xs, rotors replaced to "TRY" to correct thumping and stearing wheel shaking 3xs, Seat cover strings pop off foam showing 3xs,water leak on floor 5xs, loud engine vibration 4xs. Saturn dearler still did not fix any of the problems. After many attempts to fix problems their answer: ITS THE CHARACTERISTIC of the Vue. I DONT THINK SO.I will never by a GM product agian!!!!! Ive learned my lesson once again!!!!!bye bye SATURN. Never Again.

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  Worst Car Ive Ever Owned - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By Johnny - August 28 - 10:06 pm

  This car has been a nightmare. No less than 5 recalls since purchased; the transmission needed to be replaced (not one of the recalls), and the seat fabric stains if you drip clean water on it! Also, for a relatively weak four cylinder engine, the gas mileage is just not good. I will never, ever purchase another GM product.

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  Bad Design, Poor Quality - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By demein - August 22 - 1:36 pm

  This was the first gm/Saturn I have owned new off the lot. I must say it looks great and the wife wanted it just for its looks. Beyond that, it was a terrible displeasure owning it and dealing with all the problems the came with dealing with Saturn corporate customer service. List of problems: keys being locked in car automatically (like while pumping gas). Car does not shift properly. Aggressive acceleration with out driver input... Just takes off. Parts breaking: door handles, windshield wiper tank tubes failure of airbag system sensors. Transmission problems with downshifting when accelerating. Instrument cluster / panel failing. 48 days in the shop in less than 6 months.

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  Dont buy this vehicle - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By I drive a lemon - August 10 - 8:03 am

  I owned mine about 5 months when the engine needed to be replaced, 3 months later the transmission went. Only the Saturn dealer has access to Saturn parts so you pay dealer rates for repairs. Saturn has reviewed my case and promised to send reimbursement for transmission repair. Check is over 3 weeks late and all I hear are excuses about a new system...blah blah blah... other department...blah blah...working on it..blah blah blah. Before purchasing look into the class action law suit against Saturn for putting out this piece of junk.

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  Lemon - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By Saturn Vue Owner - August 6 - 10:00 am

  My husband and I bought our 2004 Saturn VUE in November of 2003.Our dealership was pleasant and we felt we had a great deal. Soon we made great friends with the service department as well! So far we have had a noise in the dash that cant be duplicated,so we bring it in and they shoot foam into the dash to cushion the sound. Noise is still there. We have had the rotors machined, rotars replaced, bad wheel bearing replaced,ac adapter fuses replaced,transmission cover replaced, transmission reprogrammed and fluids replaced,and still waiting on our recall to be addressed.Saturn Corporation offered extended warranty, but nothing else.Safety and reliablity are huge concerns at 22,000 mi.

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  Stay Away! - 2007 Saturn ION
  By sandmanz66 - July 3 - 10:30 am

  I bought this car because, at the time I thought my 2003 had been ruined by a quick oil change company. The engine died at 150k. The dealership offered me 1k for the dead car to buy a 2007. I did and regretted it from day one. The engine on the 07 died at 52k miles. I had 2 steering replacements the first costing over 800 dollars. The trunk bar broke almost after a month. The car sounds like its ready to break in half when you hit an average sized bump. The transmission was really quirky when accelerating. The interior stained way to easily and was cheap. There was a constant chirping sound from the front wheel area that would get fixed and happen again not long after. Im out of space now.

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  Absolutely Horrible - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Jeb - June 14 - 10:00 am

  We bought ours used at 80,000 miles. The transmission blew at 88,000 miles. After a long fight with Saturn I got them to cover half of the $5000.00 repair. The transmission just blew again....lasted 100,000 miles this time. We did not get any benefit from the class action lawsuit that Saturn settled because our mileage exceeded the settlement, but basically the settlement claims Saturn knew that they were producing bad transmissions that blow around 80000 miles. They of course deny it. I also replaced multiple ball bearings. Horrible. Cheap. Worthless.

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  Never Again! - 2002 Saturn VUE
  By CronkM - May 24 - 10:00 am

  My problems started about two months after my purchase with a minor problem. From there, I had a problem about every one or two months. I have had it in the shop nine times in the past year and a half for warranty work. I have had the same problem four different times in two different instances--the SES light and the front suspension system. Just this past weekend, both went bad again. I have notified Saturn customer service and the only thing I received for the bad quality of my car was a free monthly payment.

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  I wanted to like it, really I did. - 2003 Saturn ION
  By may-queen - May 23 - 12:26 pm

  Ive had my ION3 for a little over 3 years, after owning an SL2 for 4 years. Honestly, I am not very happy with the car. The SL2 was a much better car. Most notably, the ION gets terrible gas mileage. I get about 16 city and 22 highway. My father has the same model ION3 that I do and his mileage is even worse than mine: 12 city, 19 highway. This is unacceptable. Also, there is nearly no leg room in the back seat. Its extremely uncomfortable back there. The novelty of having the instrument panel in the middle of the dash, rather than behind the steering wheel wears off rather quickly. I find myself wishing it were behind the wheel. And as with most Saturns, the car is too loud.

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  Bought a better car! - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Edward George - May 15 - 2:00 am

  My wife liked the Saturn better and I liked the Toyota RAV4 L. Next thing I knew, I got the VUE as a birthday gift. The Acceleration Sucks, 4 cylinder is loud, and the Seats are uncomfortable compared to my 1st pick, a RAV4. 5 months to the day, I traded at a loss for the better car, a RAV4 L and have been much happier since! Nothing holds up in value or comfort like a Toyota!