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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  Dont Pass it up - 2007 Saturn VUE
  By magick man - May 27 - 1:13 pm

  My wife and I had a 02 Blazer and 06 Escape and traded them both in for the 07 Vue V6. We were torn on whether to get the Hybrid or the V6. We chose the v6 because we do a lot of traveling, ant the extra horse power is needed for passing. We just made a 6 hour trip with 3 adults 1 child and a car seat in the back, and it was a comfortable ride. I will definetely by another Saturn. Hopefully next time we could afford the roomier outlook. My wife throws a fit if she doesnt get to drive it to work.

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  great choice for a first time buyer - 2005 Saturn ION
  By Elizabeth Stuckey - May 27 - 5:00 am

  This a great car.The dealership was great to work with,the cost is reasonable,and the style of the car is sporty.Its is very realable and fuel effecient.The first new car I have ever bought and I will definilty get another one in 4 years.

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  Love it! - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By Jason - May 26 - 11:00 am

  I bought my VUE after owning 2 body on frame SUVs and wasnt sure if I would like it. Turns out, I love it! Love the smooth ride, smooth powertrain, and performance. Its so quick, I take people by suprise at stop lights all the time. Love the manumatic transmission. Piled 4 family members and all their luggage for a week and went on a trip. Never noticed a change in performance. Love the exterior styling, stands out on the road. OnStar is awesome. I wish the front seats were wider and provided more lateral support. Heated seats are great. Love Auto Start. Foul weather stability is great. Stabilitrak and AWD are seamless. Handles Pacific Northwest winters with no problems. I feel safe in it.

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  Red Line Vue - 2005 Saturn VUE
  By djw479 - May 25 - 11:20 pm

  I have really enjoyed this vehicle @10500 miles. My last vehicle was a 2001 Toyota Highlander LTD AWD so I can compare easily to this Toyotas quality. 1) Fun to drive = Vue; horsepower makes all the difference. Also the VUE suspension is much more tuned to the city/highway driving we all do with very little additional harshness. The Vue carves thru corners. If you go off- road and climb boulders look elsewhere. 2)Interior style and execution. The style/design of the VUE interior is on par with the HLs layout, but the Vues hard plastic interior does not have the tactile feel of the Hls fake leather surfaces. 3) Build quality - surprising the VUE is almost as quiet as the HL.

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  Wind Noise - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By ozman - May 25 - 2:00 am

  I traded in my Suburban for a Vue hoping to find better fuel economy and reliability. So far the vehicle has performed well. However, the wind noise from the roof rack is unbearable.I took it back to the dealer and they were unable to fix the problem. Allegedly, Saturn is aware of this problem. Having known this prior to my purchase, I would have passed on the Vue.

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  Unhappy customer - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By acerjac - May 23 - 1:16 am

  Purchase our vue in Nov. The first week we had it the check engine light came on and the panel went out. The dealer reset the code and told us it was the gas cap. After another week or two the check engine light came on again. To make a long story short. We have had our vue in 8 or 9 times to the dealer. Parts have been replaced and wire harnesess spliced. We requested a buy back from GM. My wifes father worked for GM for 35 years. The bottom line is they told us too bad. Offered extended warrenty only. The dealer would not even work with us on a trade in. Offered 21000 for trade on a 30000 vue with 3000 miles. I will NEVER buy GM again. Avoid the problems stay away from this and saturn.

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  Unhappy - 2005 Saturn ION
  By unhappy - May 22 - 2:00 am

  Loved the look of the car when I bought it however once it started getting cold the car wouldnt start, had to try it then wait ten min. Then it would start. Recently the clutch went out after only 65,000. Unbelievable

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  Unbelievable car - 2005 Saturn VUE
  By TazMan1942 - May 20 - 1:53 pm

  I purchased my first Saturn, a VUE, and my wife and are extremely happy with the car. I am very impressed with the smooth acceleration and shifting tranny. I know the engine is a Honda, but I was curious about the transmission as we tow it behind our RV. I spoke with a Saturn technician and he gave me great detail about the tranny being a oil bath system built by Honda as well. In fact it apprears the front drive train including the axle is all Honda. GM definitely did the right thing here. I would give the car a 10 but the only negitive is the steering when accelerating in a short turn. It sometime acts a little loose feeling. But on a whole we love this car.

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  Best SUV I have ever owned - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By pstrkrk - May 18 - 9:50 pm

  Only thing I dont like is I can only drive it when my wife is asleep or out of town! Plenty of power, Striking color (Laser Blue), comfortable even for large adults, Great sound out of top end stereo. Getting 30+mpg on straight highway driving but only 19-22 around town. Get lots of looks and comments.

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  VUE FWD V6 - 2002 Saturn VUE
  By paleomike - May 18 - 2:00 am

  Having had several saturn vehicles, along with other makes. We still enjoyed the dealership experience. The VUE has been good, fun to drive, easy entry, lots of space, good performance and reasonsable gas milage. Except for one annoying rattle, overall a good value for the price.