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:

• 

  Great Car.....So Far - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By ronbo202 - June 8 - 1:26 pm

  Really a nice car. Roomy, comfortable and powerful. I like the side panels a lot.

• 

  Great SUV - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By donsand1 - June 7 - 10:00 am

  This is the best Saturn yet. 250 hp is great!

• 

  Vue - A great car! - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By kylecody - June 7 - 10:00 am

  Its a fun car to drive. Ride is smooth and the Honda V6 engine performs well in the GM body. Good gas mileage for a V6.

• 

  Compares to the Best - 2006 Saturn ION
  By Bubba - May 29 - 10:20 am

  My original choice was not the Saturn but after an intensive month of shopping and visiting the dealers I was disgusted with other dealers sales tactics, and decided to give the Ion a look. The Ion 3 with the 170hp, 2.4L engine in my opinion compares to the Mazda6. There are no dealer games and they got me awesome GMAC financing. This is the first time I feel like I got an absolute steal on a car purchase. The only thing that needed getting used to was the console that is in the center of the dashboard. But if you shop Saturn you get a big bang for the buck and no sleazy dealer tricks.

• 

  Love my Vue! - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By susieq - May 29 - 10:00 am

  I have had my Vue for almost 4 months now, and I love it! I have been driving a 95 Pontiac Transport minivan and was ready to get into something more sporty and a little smaller, but I still needed more room than a typical car would have. The Vue is ME! I have had so many people say that it "fits" me and it does. I no longer needed all that minivan space because my kids are out of the playpen, stroller stage, but we do go on car vacations and it has performed beautifully. Were taking it camping next weekend. I really love having a 5- speed, too, it has great pick-up and gets decent gas mileage (better than my minivan).

• 

  Consumer Review - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By Emera - May 27 - 7:03 pm

  This is my 3rd new vehicle with Saturn. The first two cars I liked okay however, I just love the new 2006 Vue. For a non luxury SUV the 2006 Vue has a new sleek design the looks and feels and drives like a luxury SUV.

• 

  Best vehicle Ive ever had - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By dpique - May 24 - 10:00 am

  What a great SUV! This thing is a blast and does everything I want it to do. I dont have to worry about screwing it up because you cant!

• 

  VUE RED LINE - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By fred - May 23 - 6:43 am

  Terrific car with loads of power. Build quality is top-notch. Has not been back to dealer except for scheduled oil change. AWD works flawlessly and is terrific in rain. I have the Red Line model and it gets quite a lot of looks! I intend to replace it with the 2008 Red Line VUE early next year. The new VUE is amazing.

• 

  Great value, fun to drive - 2008 Saturn Astra
  By Laurie - May 20 - 8:36 pm

  I have had a lot of fun driving this car on the freeway and on back roads. It looks great, inside and out, and the manual transmission is peppy and responsive.

• 

  Great car - 2008 Saturn Sky
  By Lou - May 18 - 2:20 am

  The Red Line is a blast to drive. The styling is great and it handles like a dream. I am not looking forward to the day I have to put in the garage for the winter! I had a choice to invest some more money in stocks or to buy some fun. Given what is happening on Wall Street, looks like I made the right choice.