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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  Tankfully this one is gone - 2009 Saturn VUE
  By Scahill - August 17 - 11:56 pm

  I cannot stand this vehicle. Build quality is substandard, even for GM. Engineering leaves much to be desired. Car shakes, rattles, and rolls, not in a good sense. Much cheap interior plastic. GM could not even make the spare tire placement effective. GMs fabulous engineers placed the spare is a position to remove much of the storage in the rear. Compare to the more well- engineered vehicles in this class and see what real engineers can accomplish. I will have a hard time disposing of this mess since GM cannot even give this brand away.

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  Best car I ever owned - 2008 Saturn Astra
  By frank - August 16 - 2:23 pm

  I have had my car for over three months now. I live in NJ and drive to upstate NY alot so I drive a lot. This car handles like a dream. It looks amazing inside and out. It is great on gas. I have people every day asking me about my car. I havent seen anyone else driving this car so I feel like a king who has something no one else has.

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  Very good fit for us - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By Kanolt - August 14 - 10:00 am

  This is the perfect vehicle for my wife, having come from a mini-van but with the family downsized to just 2. The performance capabilities are great, the mileage is good, not outstanding but good, and the utilitarianship is excellent. It hauls and hauls, if you get my drift. No major unfixable problems yet and we just logged over 11K miles.

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  A nice SUV with - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By Jenny5 - August 14 - 10:00 am

  The incentives and rebates were just too juicy to pass up..Thank You GM! I had been hearing about the "cheap interior"...maybe for the 02 and 03 models. I think the 04 design (especially with leather) has a nice, simple but elegant feel to it. The retro chrome speedometer trim is very nice. The interior color scheme (black & tan) is nice to look at too. We signed the papers on the V6 after driving the inline4 (the fuel economy is the same!). Over all, an awesome value for your American buck!!

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  Fun Fun Fun - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By timo12 - August 14 - 10:00 am

  The Vue is fun to dive. Power off the line and when you need it. Its been great on gas and I love how it looks. No scheduled maintance for 100,000 miles..what could be better. Just cahge the oil & filter every 3500, air filter evrey 10,000, and your ready to go.

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  Watch for rocks! - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Bloomsday - August 14 - 10:00 am

  In general, I have few complaints, but the ones I have are bothersome; specifically, Ive been through 4 windshields in 1-1/2 years (full disclosure: I have 100 mile round-trip commute daily, on heavily travelled interstates). According to the Safelite windshield repairman, with whom Im on a first-name basis, this is a frequent problem due to the windshield design. If you can get it with a wind/bug guard that redirects the airflow, the problem will be lessened. I also have some strange squeaks and rattles, and a lot of wind noise in the cabin. In general, though, a good car that reliably gets me to and fro in all weather conditions.

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  An Abysmal Car Nothing But Problems - 2004 Saturn ION
  By johnnysmith1 - August 14 - 10:00 am

  At 530 miles, my right window malfunctioned, at 580 miles, a sound started coming from the dashboard. The locks would suddenly open and then lock, all by themselves. At 1305 miles, more rattles from the rear left window and door panel. As soon as the lease is over, this car is fired.

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  Sneaky Speed - 2004 Saturn ION
  By Gomer1775 - August 14 - 10:00 am

  People who dont know, dont realize what it is until they are way back in the rearview mirror. The Ion redline is a mighty might that has what I like to refer to as sneaky speed. It is somewhat unassuming if you dont know what is under the hood, but then when the skinny pedal on the right hits the floor, people try to catch up just to find out what it is that hit them.

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  Do not buy this car - 2007 Saturn Outlook
  By apow - August 13 - 3:48 pm

  I bought this car used and liked the styling, etc. But, my transmission failed, brake fluid is leaking into the master cylinder, the air bag sensors are shot, and theres some noise coming from my front end. The car only has 80,000 miles on it! Ive heard so many others are having the same problems with this car. I wish I had read reviews of it before I bought it!! As a comparison, my Dodge Caravan had almost 300,000 miles on it when it died and my husbands Ford F150 has 315,000 miles on it. This car is such a nightmare. I dont know if I should bother to fix it because it sounds like others have had it fixed only to have MORE issues come up. GM should be ashamed. Ill never buy a GM again.

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  ION - 2003 Saturn ION
  By Gentrie - August 12 - 10:00 am

  Lets make this simple, heres what i like about the car:-Quiet-Tight turning radius-5 speed automatic provides for nice auto. trans. acceleration-nice suspention (smooth ride)-very decent torque-Automatic lighting system turns on headlights and dash lights-16 inch tires w/ alloy wheels standard-awesome travel package:auto dimming rear view mirror w/ compass & outside temp-7 microprocessors and a LAN for electrical system which provides for increased electrical reliability and -A digital readout on the dash that gives worded messages such as:LOW FEUL,TRAC OFF, OIL LIFE,CHANGE OIL (knows when the oil needs to be changed based on RPMs and engine temp)