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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  Transmission number TWO! - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By darkjade1978 - June 24 - 9:40 am

  I would like to say please rethink buying a Saturn Vue, the VTi transmission in this car is prone to premature failure. Something I wished I had known prior to making my purchase in 2003. The transmission on my 2003 Vue had to be replaced at only 43,434 mile, which was replaced in April 2008. I had not only bought the 4year/48,000 mile Service maintenance package I also purchased an extra warranty for the Mechanical Failure Service Contract for 6 year/72,000 miles. Wish this did save me, because the first one was covered under the warranty. However! Now almost 2 years and only 72,818 miles later, the transmission is failing again after Saturn repaired/replaced it. Per Saturn, they only

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  Not A Satisfied Vue Owner - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By Tawanda - May 8 - 10:00 am

  Interior quality stinks. Rattles all over the place,most of which cant be fixed according to the shop. Drivers seat (leather, heated) is the most uncomfortable thing I have ever sat on. My back hurts all the time. This will definitely be my first and only Saturn product. Once I left the showroom with my car the only thing the salesman worried about was that I give him a good rating. Havent heard from him since and he knows I am having major problems.

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  A Different Kind of Car Company???? - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By MAK - April 18 - 10:00 am

  I am a 10 yr customer of the saturn company. Then came the VUE. I was leery about buying a new vehicle with it being its 2nd year of production, but with Saturns customer policy,I took that chance.I had to bring it in for hesistation problems. After the 3rd time I started to activate the lemon law. The dealership/service people were wonderful in the whole experience. But the Corporate Level people are rude and wont or cant answer any direct question put to them. I guess customer loyality means less than nothing to them. I would never ever deal with the Saturn Corp again. A different kind of car company put me through a whole different kind of hell!!!

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  I regret buying this car. - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By mf47960 - April 16 - 1:40 am

  Since day 1 I have had nothing but problems. The car squeaks more and more every day but upon taking it to the dealer have been told all the 2008 squeak and that is how they were designed. Well I am no looking into a lawsuit against them. Anyone else having this problem? I am beginning to think mine was a 30 day return as it had 300 miles on it and I was denied the 30 exchange policy because they gave me extra inncentives which was not disclosed to me, as at purchase they kept reminding me I had 30 days, well not when trying to exchange! Will never buy Saturn again!

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  Run away and dont look back - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Run Awat Quick - April 12 - 8:00 pm

  Bought this used over a year ago and it has had numerous issues. Shifter assembly, bad struts, leaky seals, motor on rear wiper went out and now clutch is out. Tires also highest price ones on market to replace. Was conned into extended warranty but nothing yet has been covered by it, and now it has expired. The window buttons are in an awkward spot in the middle and collect dust really bad with deep finger wells. It now has 91,000 miles and Im not sure it will make it to 100K. Researched numerous issues about transmissions and bad timing chains which cause motor failure. This vehicle is not well built and I will never buy Saturn again. I have spent more on repairs than payments.

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  They missed it on this one... - 2005 Saturn Relay
  By unhappysaturn - April 2 - 7:53 pm

  Ive had a several different brake problems (some very serious), non-stop problems with my sliding doors, Ive had a seatbelt that was bad and when they serviced it they told me there was nothing wrong with it but when I get the service record a year later I find out that they replaced the seatbelt, my driver side air bag was faulty, my radio has been replaced 3 times, my dvd player has been replaced once, the trim on my car has been replaced more times then I can count because it peels off, theres a piece of trim now that has completely deteriorated after being replace about a year ago, I had to have my brakes rewired, Ive had my windshield reset many times and the noise issue stil

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  terrible - 2008 Saturn Aura
  By sbrke13 - March 30 - 7:45 pm

  Nothing bur problem after problem with this Car. Doors wont always open. Locks on rear doors dont work. Nothing but electrical problems. On top of tht ems computer needs to be taken apart every cpl months and add dielectric grease. Car will randomly wont start due to vacuum leak caused by ems computer.it will pulsate and stahl out. Temper gauge freaks out to. and thts just the start of the problems. All in all worst car out there. Extremely cheaply made

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  No No No - Youll be sorry if you do - 2008 Saturn Outlook
  By Never again - March 4 - 3:10 pm

  I have been told by the GM that there is a "ghost" in my car - he even went to bat for me with Saturn and they will do nothing - the control panel has constantly got a warning: air bags, tire pressure , ice on the road: none of which are true! The transmission bogs and surges uncontrollably, stereo, dvs, navigation work randomly - wanted to get out of the mini-van phase - BAD IDEA to do this with a Saturn! Onstar has told me to take my car in for service immediately - my air bag could or could not go off anytime. My families safety is far more important - Toyota Ill be back.And to top it off no light in the glove box. DONT WALK RUN FROM THIS NIGHTMARE - LOOKS ARENT EVERYTHING!

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  starts great then peters out - 2004 Saturn ION
  By bbilly - January 24 - 11:36 pm

  bought this car brand new back in 04 and ran without any problems till 2009 right when the viecle was paid off. it only has 55000 miles and had to replace ecm computer module and cat conververter but the car just feels like its going to fall apart and the engine sound like a engine that has 150,000 miles on it. because of this quality issues I will not buy another domestic vehicle again. i just hope it runs for another 3 to 5 years.

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  BAD PLASTIC CAR! - 2005 Saturn ION
  By cs15 - January 5 - 10:20 am

  I bought my Saturn ION Level 2 a little over a year ago, and about 6 months after owning it, every time I turned around, something else was going wrong with it. The engine bucking, clicking noises when driving, road noise, crappy cd/radio, doors unable to shut after being opened, broken hood latch...did I mention EVERYTHING in this car seems to be made of plastic except for the engine? I will NEVER buy another Saturn again.