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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  2005 Saturn Relay Review - 2005 Saturn Relay
  By Mr MR - January 21 - 7:00 pm

  Appearance and performance wise I like it. However, I must of bought the one built on a Monday or Friday. It has several minor but annoying problems. The annoying part about all these things is that they do not happen consistent enough for the dealer to note the problems to fix. 1. Wind noise from front window at highway speed and windy days. 2. Four times in two months the Radio & CD did not function in the morning. The radio shows a signal being received but no sound. 3. The back side window on the driver side rattles when you close the door. Not always. These things are weird and again just plain annoying. Should not have these problems with a new vehicle.

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  Saturn Aura - You will love it! - 2007 Saturn Aura
  By EIA - January 19 - 9:26 am

  Ive had my Aura for one week and I love it. I purchased the XR model fully loaded in Bronzed Pewter. It looks very classy, and the Moroccon brown leather is very sharp looking. You have to see it for yourself. The stereo is nice, and I like the controls on the steering wheel. The rear seat audio controls w/2 wireless head phones are nice too. No more fighting for a radio station w/the kids. The adjustable pedals are a must for short people like me, and I love the auto climate control and remote start. Just go and test drive one! Youll see how quiet it runs, yet how powerful the engine is. People are talking to me at red lights asking me about it! They cant believe it is a Saturn. Love, love, love it!

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  A real LEMON! - 2003 Saturn ION
  By Very Uncomfortable - January 17 - 10:00 am

  Poor acceleration, terrible shifting, very uncomfortable seating, drinks gas like water.

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  Hate it! Never again, Saturn! - 2003 Saturn ION
  By Laura - January 15 - 11:46 am

  My 03 Ion2 is the 7th Saturn I have owned and will never purchase another because of it. I had the tires and brake rotors replaced at less than 25K miles, and again now, at 56K miles. I had the running lamps fixed (recall) more than once. There is a thumping noise when I turn left at slow speeds, the road noise is loud, shifting hesitates at 3rd-4th (w/ auto trans) and it sucks down oil. 18 months ago the radio stopped working; Saturn said it was defective and for $300 theyd replace it. I took it back, thinking it was a short because when you hit a bump it came back on/off, they said it wasnt and wont fix it, and rolled their eyes at me! Im trading it in ASAP!

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  Absolutely wonderful - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By Delphine Herman - January 13 - 4:23 am

  This is the 2nd VUE that I have owned. The 2006 VUE runs smoothly, is very quiet, and gets up to speed quickly. This vehicle also has OnStar which gives me an added sense of security.

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  3rd Saturn in a Row - 2005 Saturn ION
  By Lou Troga - January 12 - 6:46 am

  When I saw the 4-door sedan Ion in blue I told the salesman that I was interested in the SC2 as I have had both the SC2 (the sporty coupe) and the SL2 (the four-door sedan). So he brought out the top of the line Ion3 coupe and I feel in love. Surely a pleasure to drive and I love OnStar. The safety doors in the rear are great for certain reasons. I had to drive long distances to work in the first Saturn--the SL2 and it performed beautifully and took the hills in Vallejo a lot better than most cars. Then I drove a somewhat less with the SC2 but still a lot. But this ION will be used a lot more for pleasure and with great performance. I love my car and it has all the wonderful safety.

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  A good buy - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By acx44 - January 11 - 2:00 am

  After driving this for a couple weeks I must admit that this is a very fun SUV to drive and you cant go wrong with the 250 horses and the CD/MP3 player. Plus you get alot of options that no other SUV in the VUEs class would get

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  1st new car - 2004 Saturn ION
  By Electroplater - January 11 - 2:00 am

  Bought it for my wife to drive. Wanted to get a new car with low monthly payments. Im 60" and I consider the car too small for me and the kids. I cant put the seat as far back as Id like. She is getting about 20 mpg with a 4 mile drive to work. Electric power steering seems a bit annoying at 30mph range, feels like car is out of alignment, but fine at 50+ mph. We purchased the Rain Forest Green. The Electric Blue is a nice color but there was a difference in tone on the different body part, spoiler, nose, engine hood, doors it didnt quite match up.

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  Extremely unlucky buyer - 2007 Saturn Aura
  By B Archibald - January 8 - 6:26 pm

  I had my Aura XR for 2 weeks when some engine noise came up. The dealership could not figure out what it was for 2 weeks. It had 2k miles on it so exchanging it wasnt an option. Seeing as how I had it half the time and dealership couldnt fix it, I expected they would replace it for me. They chose to claim the rules were inflexible and offered instead to replace my engine. Im not sure how I feel about this but I have no choice because if I wait for them to figure out how to fix this engine I may not get it back for weeks. In any case I really do love the car, they tell me no one else has had this problem and the car is so new they dont have any practical experience on this engine.

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  Impressed by the ION - 2005 Saturn ION
  By Ralph - January 8 - 8:26 am

  My third Saturn turns out to be every bit as reliable as the other ones. No problems at over 10,000 km right now, everything works as intended. Fuel economy is excellent after break in, 33- 35 mpg, highway/city mixed cycle.