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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  Love the Vue - 2007 Saturn VUE
  By Lynn - June 2 - 10:50 am

  Ive had my Vue for over a year and am still totally in love with it, and I drive a lot! Ive taken it on many road trips from Florida to Canada and lots of places in between. I travel from VA to TN quite a bit and love the power that I have climbing through the mountains and it seemingly doesnt sacrifice much on gas mileage to do so. My most recent trip took me from central Va, to Central Tn to August, Ga and then back to VA again. Lots of mountanous terrain and I got about 25 miles to the gallon on the whole trip. There is plenty of space and its a comfortable ride. Love the back as well and the handy compartments for storing things. Would absolutely buy it again.

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  2006 Saturn VUE - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By vaelen - May 28 - 5:50 pm

  I recently purchased a Saturn VUE. I find that it performs very well. I think that the electric power steering is fairly responsive. In truth, there are only a few things that I dont like about the VUE. It doesnt provide a very quiet ride. The door locks are in a position to where they hurt my elbows if I lay my arm out the window. The window switches are somewhat awkward to get used to. Everything else I pretty much love.

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  Red line fever - 2007 Saturn Sky
  By Larry Porter - May 28 - 2:50 pm

  We picked up our sunburst yellow Sky the last day of April. All I can say is wow. I love this car. Everyone notices it, and wants to ask questions. Everyone stares at it. I get about 40 MPG ( Canadian ) on the highway and mabey 30 city with just over 5000 km on the odometer. There are a few things that need to be changed in my mind. The switchs for the power windows are difficult to reach as is the hand brake. The ride is comfortable, having drove for 3 and a half hours strait was no problem. Lots of power and enough trunk space ( if you can travel light and dont mind washing your clothes to go away for a week ) we did.

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  Love My 2005 Saturn ION 2 - 2005 Saturn ION
  By Nashville - May 27 - 11:53 am

  Saturn ION 2 sedan is a "tight" driving vehicle. Handles very well at all speeds. I like the placement of the instrument panel, although it did take getting used to looking in the center of the dashboard. Plenty of front passenger leg room, rear passengers suffer lack of leg room. Excellent trunk space.

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  Best vehicle I have ever owned - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By Sparky20 - May 24 - 2:53 pm

  Buy the V6. I get 24 mpg overall and 28mpg on the highway. This is one of the fastest SUVs I have ever driven. The 250hp is incredible.

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  Never Again! - 2002 Saturn VUE
  By CronkM - May 24 - 10:00 am

  My problems started about two months after my purchase with a minor problem. From there, I had a problem about every one or two months. I have had it in the shop nine times in the past year and a half for warranty work. I have had the same problem four different times in two different instances--the SES light and the front suspension system. Just this past weekend, both went bad again. I have notified Saturn customer service and the only thing I received for the bad quality of my car was a free monthly payment.

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  Our Dogs Love our Vue! - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By RedKat - May 24 - 10:00 am

  We purchased our Vue a little over a week ago and we just love driving it. Our three fairly large dogs are in awe of the windows and they are so happy because they can all stand side by side in the cargo area. The vehicle has lots of pep and it offers a very smooth ride. This is our fourth Saturn and we hope to keep buying them.

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  Loving It! - 2004 Saturn ION
  By LisaG - May 24 - 10:00 am

  I bought my new saturn quad coupe and I am loving it! It handles really well around curves and on the road it has a great pick up..this car is just fun to drive and has wonderful features as well.

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  I wanted to like it, really I did. - 2003 Saturn ION
  By may-queen - May 23 - 12:26 pm

  Ive had my ION3 for a little over 3 years, after owning an SL2 for 4 years. Honestly, I am not very happy with the car. The SL2 was a much better car. Most notably, the ION gets terrible gas mileage. I get about 16 city and 22 highway. My father has the same model ION3 that I do and his mileage is even worse than mine: 12 city, 19 highway. This is unacceptable. Also, there is nearly no leg room in the back seat. Its extremely uncomfortable back there. The novelty of having the instrument panel in the middle of the dash, rather than behind the steering wheel wears off rather quickly. I find myself wishing it were behind the wheel. And as with most Saturns, the car is too loud.

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  My blue baby - 2003 Saturn ION
  By thielgrad04 - May 20 - 10:05 pm

  I love my car. I have had it 8.5 years. I had 0% for 60 months. I paid it off. I did have to put a new tranny in for like 3k in 09 at around 80k miles and a new (used) ac compressor for about 420$ in 2010 as well as a new tail pipe/catalyc converter due to a tiny hole in the muffler that midas said wouldnt pass inspection, but other than that I havent had any major repairs. I never broke down because of a car problem. In summer 2011, I was rear ended because the girl behind me didnt stop when I stopped behind a school bus and she cracked and messed up my back bumper on the drivers side. Bent the tailpipe (another replacement) but HER cars front end smashed up like an accordion!