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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  driving my Saturn - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Donna M Poulin - August 29 - 2:00 am

  The problems with my saturn are the steering pulls to one side or the other.It is to sensitive to the crown in the road,if the road is alittle lower on the left it pulls to the left. (to sensitive)Its a fight to drive the car. The transmission shifts late or at to high an RPM. Dirt, and road sand,and salt get between the rear door and the rear quarter pannels almost inside the car. I see a rust problem ahead.

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  Stalling Problems - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By Jodi - August 16 - 5:40 am

  When we first bought our VUE I thought it was a really nice vehicle for a great price. However, I would never buy another one. Shortly after we bought it, it started having acceleration problem. There were times I was pulling from a residential street onto the highway and it sputtered and stopped--as another person said--very dangerous!!! I took it to the Saturn shop 5 times for this same problem and they said each time they could not find anything wrong! When I said "there has to be" the mgr was rude and said "we cant have someone drive your car around all day to find out"! Also, hazard light fell into dash. VUE is good in many ways, but not the important ones!

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  Multiple problems, GM Doesnt Care - 2007 Saturn Outlook
  By mherold - August 11 - 7:50 pm

  Love the seating for 8, overall driving performance, handling, and fuel economy. Dislike that by 45,000 miles the struts were bad, the steering column was bad, brakes, and several other electical issues. At 78,000 miles the transmission went out and the timing chains where stretched. The 5yr/100,000mile powertrain warranty was up by 3 weeks and GM said they would "goodwill" it. Then made me pay for have of it. I understand no car is perfect. Due to the way GM handled this, I will stick to Toyota and Honda products.

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  Not 100% - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By Not 100% the best - August 11 - 10:40 am

  The exterior is awesome! The interior looks fantastic and is very functional. However, I am on my second one....I used Saturns 30 day return policy. The first one had huge transmission issues and shipping damage I found after delivery. THe dealership stepped right up and provided an exchange, no questions asked. My second one seems fine, just dont expect to step on the gas and go anywhere quick. The transmission is also extremely sluggish. If you can afford the v6, this would be a fantastic SUV. But if youre like me, you have to live with the 4cyl.

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  Not so happy - 2006 Saturn Relay
  By rob - August 10 - 12:23 pm

  I have owned my Relay for two years now, and it has seen its fair share of shop time. The steering pump has been replaced once and they have put tow steering columns and a new set of tie rods. The gas mileage isnt near what I expected either, it is worse. The kids do love the dvd player though and it looks sharp for a mini van.

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  Test drive of the Saturn Ion - 2003 Saturn ION
  By Mike25 - August 8 - 2:00 am

  To make a long story short, the ride was nice. The car handled very smoothly with adequate power for its class, without being too noisy. But the car fails miserably on comfort. The cockpit of this "roomier" Saturn can best be described as claustrophobic. The center console felt like it was digging into my right leg the whole time. It actually felt painful after my 3 minute test drive. I am 6 feet tall, but even the salesperson, who looked to be about 58" said he had a problem with it. How could Saturn produce a new model with such an obious shortcoming? Did anyone look at this thing before it was put on the market?

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  Get a real car - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By mmurphy - July 29 - 10:00 am

  Only after settling for the one manual- equipped model on the lot did I realize that, despite being loaded with a sunroof and alloy wheels and the power equipment package, I dont even have the safety of anti-lock brakes or side head curtain airbags. I might terminate the lease early. The white paint always looks dirty, and the tan cloth is pilling and fading and collecting dirt. Rattles and squeaks abound. Power is decent. Body roll in turns annoys. Plenty of cargo space. Shifting is rather vague; the clutch is abrupt.

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  Lots of Problems - 2005 Saturn VUE
  By kjm0181 - July 23 - 10:50 am

  I have owned this vehicle for almost 5 years and have had multiple problems. While under warranty, the windshield washer pumps on the front and back went out. Had them replaced only to go out again within 2 months. Dealer wouldnt replace that time due to the warranty expiring between the two occurrences. Strut assembly has been replaced twice and still makes lots of "crunching" noises. Also had gas cap seating problems and multiple oil leaks. Will be "divorcing" my Vue very shortly.

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  No more American Mades - 2007 Saturn Outlook
  By trh1013 - July 9 - 1:20 pm

  I took a leap of faith and decided to purchase an Outlook in Jul 07. Definitely a transmission problem with this vehicle. After I had the update transmission got worst. In Jan 08, I was driving along one day and I started to hear this loud noise coming from the back that sounded like an airplane. Took in for service they said that the wheel bearings had gone bad. On the day I had the wheel bearings replaced, while I was driving home my steering wheel became really tight like it had no power steering took it back the pump in the steering wheel needed to be replaced. I have been in for service way too much. I havent even had my first oil change. Heading to import dealer real soon.

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  Not a problem - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By My VUE - June 30 - 6:40 am

  I bought my Saturn VUE used in 2005. It had 42,000 miles on it. I love it. The only problem I had with my is that the battery died last year. That was the first time Id changed it since I got the car. The only complaints I have about the Vue is that you can hear outside noise, it rides a little rough and the interior is cheat. Other than that I love it and have had no problems and I would recommend the VUE.