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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  Bad Experience - 2003 Saturn ION
  By memcv - November 11 - 10:00 am

  2 repairs for "factory errors" in 28 days! Glad for the 30 day money back guarantee-but took 12 days before they processed my refund. Saturn?s fabled "customer service" gets pretty spotty when there are this many problems! An apology ?on behalf of the Saturn corporation? doesn?t help when I have to get towed and have now spent nearly 2 weeks with neither a car nor my refund. My first new car ? and a total disappointment.

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  Fair at Best - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Mark - October 29 - 6:23 pm

  My 2003 VUE has 70k miles now. I have used it mainly for long distance highway travel. It is a great car for short around town hops but the seats are awful for long drives. The cushions are too short and the armrests are way too short as well. The interior is roomy albiet noisy. The engine is becoming increasingly noisy and the build quality is only fair.

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  Had I known - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By MM in atl - October 29 - 10:00 am

  I wish I had done better research. It fit the bill of decent mileage for a small SUV, BUT its been trouble every few months since I purchased it with 80,000 miles. Im dumping it as soon as I get a chance! The transmission would be covered by my extended warranty, but its never that - its the wires, the modules and connections that lead the transmission that I keep having to pay for. Im so thankful for the extended warranty, because that has helped out with other issues like leaky valves, wheel bearing which was replaced and other misfires. Do NOT buy one of these lemons, theyre SO cheaply made! The whole exterior is plastic and the mechanics are of equal quality.

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  Pathetic Car - 2005 Saturn ION
  By SamT - October 26 - 12:53 pm

  I had to get rid of my ION at 48,000 miles due to it needing more in repairs than the car was worth. At 48,000 miles, my transmission died due to a factory defect. SInce my car was out of warranty, Saturn wouldnt fix it for free. In addition to my blown transmission, I also needed a whole new valve body. The cost of the transmission and valve body was more than the car was worth. Im not a car expert but I know enough to know that cars shouldnt be done for before they reach 50,000 miles. My ION had other problems too, such as a faulty ignition starter that wouldnt always let me remove the key. Saturn wouldnt fix the problem or admit there was one. Terrible car, terrible company. Beware!

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  Poor Mileage, Awful Seats, but its FAST - 2005 Saturn VUE
  By redcheese - October 25 - 11:46 am

  I was looking for something that could tow a 3500 lb. trailer, get decent gas mileage and could be parallel parked in downtown San Francisco. I chose between the Saturn Vue & Honda Pilot. The Honda was much more comfortable, had better steering, but was 1000 lbs. heavier, had special requirements for towing and was noticeably slower. In the end, I settled on a used 2005 AWD V6 Saturn Vue. Hate the seats & get poor mileage. 13 MPG city and 19 hwy. Towing, I get 17. Mileage-wise, I cant really complain though...it has the same engine/ tranny as the Honda. Did I mention how much I hate the seats??!

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  Saturn VUE - Not a Good Investment - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Andie007 - October 23 - 12:30 pm

  At 3 months a number of on-board computers were replaced. The drivers mirror cover hinges broke off at 20,000 km and replaced for $120.00 CDN. It broke off again at 66,000 km. Had a number of other recalls, which seems typical today for most new N. Am. vehicles. I kept telling my dealership about the "buzzing sound" coming from my VUEs front end. I said it was the tranny. My dealership is great, but I am still baffled by no one telling me the 2002 and 2003 Saturn automatic transmissions (the VTi) were big problems - and were discontinued after the 2003 model. Tranny blew at 77,000 km. VUE is worth $2,500 less now than what buy-out at lease-end in 9 months will be. Loud road noise too!

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  Its OK I guess - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By Melinda - October 10 - 10:30 pm

  We purchased this car new because of the Honda engine and decent gas mileage for an suv. My biggest complaint in the vue is the brakes. I have 100k miles and have replaced the rear (i believe) brakes 5 times! Pads and rotors! Yet NEVER the front ones (the pads once). The wind noise from the windows drives me crazy. The sun visor is way too small for the size of the windshield. I agree with other owners the engine noise is loud. I have major rust on the hatch/trunk door and the rear driver side door never closes unless you slam it. My kids always complain they cant hear the radio and after sitting back there, theyre right, why are the speakers on the floor? No more saturns for me!

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  Disappointments Keep Coming - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By naneely - August 29 - 11:23 am

  The problems started from the day I got it home just 1 week ago. The roof racks make a terrible noise above 50 MPH (verified and acknowledged by service at Saturn Dealer) and no one makes an aftermarket rack for the VUE. I thought I was buying a trailer hitch for a 2006 but found they dont have one and the 2005 hitch requires the dealer to cut out the lower panel on the bumper. There are styrofoam structure SUPPORT(?) components throught the vehicle, even in the bumper. The vehicle makes a weird vibration when you cross over a speed bump. The first fill up resulted in a gas-guzzling 15.9 MPG (rated at 19/25). The storage area behind the drivers side front seat lined with foam rubber.

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  Irritating Problems - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By Lodamar - August 20 - 6:23 am

  I bought my 2006 Vue Redline new and thought is was a solid vehicle. Now with nearly 30k miles, Ive had a new transmission, fuel pump, various gaskets, left front strut mount replaced. Now the right front strut mount is making a rattle. It got terrible gas mileage since day one. (16 city, 18-20 hwy). On the bright side, when they replaced all the above parts, my gas mileage has improved. Im now getting 20.6 city and 26+ on the highway. Thats fine, however, I seem to spend a lot of commuting time back and forth to the dealership. Thanks goodness its still under the B to B 3/36 warranty.

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  Do not buy a Saturn - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Diego - August 13 - 7:10 pm

  It is 2009 and I have 870000 kilometers and had transmission problems since last year but now the transmission has quit completely. We called Saturn Canada and they have towed our VUE at their expense to North Bay Saturn for inspection. If the vehicle in their opinion "has not been abused" they will absorb most of the cost of replacing the tranny. We bought the VUE new and drive it from April to Jan. as we go south for the winter- the reason for the low milage. Im afraid they will tell us that the fault is our s even though we have reported the problem to them twice in the last year with "no problem found". If it gets fixed I am trading it in for another brand. I wont buy another Saturn.