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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  Sorry to see it go - 2008 Saturn Outlook
  By Sbullard - October 17 - 9:16 pm

  Basically wife gave me a list of what she wanted (Navagation and DVD) we found this one at the local dealer has all the bells and whistles and overall has been excellent Vehicle. we have had for 2 years and have 62,000 miles had to replace the rocker arms, DVD had quit working had extended warrenty replaced unit. didnt check the onstar when we picked it up and week are so later when we checked it found out the quote the onstar computer has quit working and even though it goes thru the radio they are sure that changing had nothing to do with it, not a problem new onstar module only 850 dollars. The DVD/Stero was over 1200. I like saturn but cant trust the GM dealers service so Addios!

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  Owner review of 2008 Sky Redline - 2008 Saturn Sky
  By Longmont-sky - October 17 - 12:00 pm

  This car is very fun to drive! Has great acceleration and reminds of "space mountain" at Disney world. Handling and cornering are incredible. Who says you need to slow down when going around a 90 degree corner! Pretty good gas mileage as well. I can get 33mpg on the highway and in the city I would say 24-25mpg if youre not too much of a lead foot.

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  Yep its a Saturn - 2007 Saturn Aura
  By Dafer - October 14 - 10:13 am

  Ive had this car for 2 months. I have the XR with just the standard features. (came with a lot of standard features) Absolutely love the way it looks. The way the 18 inch wheels fill the wheelwells. Its been compared to an Audi A4 or a BMW. The 3.6 V6 has plenty of get up and go. No need to worry about getting onto a highway and the gas mileage is great for the horsepower. I was looking for a quiet highway car, the Aura is very quiet on the highway. The only complaint I have is the Midnight Blue is hard to keep clean, should have gone with the White or Silver.

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  Lousey SUV - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By Jim - October 13 - 4:06 pm

  I thought Saturn was the car it was meant to be when it first appeared on the market but was sadly mistaken when I bought a 2008 Vue which has given me nothing but problems since I bought it and I am writing this review while it is at the dealers for major problems for the fourth time in a year. Always loved GM products but this one is a joke. DO not buy one.

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  Still - 2008 Saturn Aura
  By Edwin Cousins - October 12 - 2:40 pm

  Got this car early in the market, and still get compliments and heads double looking. I often dont know what to say in response to the compliments since I wasnt the one to design it. The combination of power, fuel economy, styling is perfect. Plenty of room(Im 62"). The dashboard info and interior accent lighting one would expect on a $10 - $15,000 higher priced car. I love this car so much that this will be the first time I repeat-buy on a vehicle, and Im a former Honda owner. Move out the way Im coming to get a 2009 Aura!

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  Safe, fun, practical, and hot! - 2006 Saturn ION
  By SnowI3unny - October 9 - 12:23 pm

  I LOVE my ION! I had an 04 ION until October 25th of this year when I was involved in a wreck and the entire front end of my car just kinda went...POOF! BUT, I walked away without a scratch..perfectly fine. We were told that they hadnt seen that much damage and the person standing there telling them what happened. These cars are absolutely wonderful. After everything with the wreck was resolved and the other persons insurance got us our check for the 04..we went straight to our dealer and got another ION but an 06. The two do handle much differently took a little bit to get used to, but I love it. And the dent resistant paneling is great for new drivers. Because we all know accidents happen

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  Can make it through a good test drive - 2007 Saturn VUE
  By nikkihamburger - October 7 - 12:06 am

  So my husband and I bought this car a couple of weeks ago. We took it through the mountians up to Edmonton Alberta from Everett, Wa. Wow...could this car drive through ice, snow and mountians. The traction control works wonderfully. Except for the other drivers freaking me out the car was smooth and the gas mileage was fantastic we were getting at least 30mpg through the mountians and snow. We filled up twice on our way home and we were driving for 15 hours. That is so amazing to me. I would recommend this car to anyone.

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  My 2nd VUE - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By Mike - October 6 - 11:56 am

  I had a 02 VUE that was in the shop on once a month on average for the 2 yrs I owned it. I traded it for the 04 thinking I would get the best break on a trade and hoping Saturn had improved the build quality. I was mistaken. I have had the 4 cyl. ecotec engines with the 5 speed manual tranny. It is one of the easiest manuals I have driven in 25 yrs. The engine has plenty of pep if youre not afraid to rev it up. But at 70mph it revs around 3200 which is not optimal for mileage. Problems: window leaks, sunroof broke, engine leaks, Air conditioning replaced (3X), Cruise kept sticking in ON position (4X) Front suspension arms replaced (2X) Other misc. problems Cant wait til I can trade in on an import

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  Thank You Saturn - 2008 Saturn Sky
  By Stephen - October 5 - 2:26 pm

  I was at a car show while on business in Birmingham, Al. I called my wife and insisted that she go online to check out this car. The next day she was at a dealership in Fort Lauderdale and by the time I got home she owned this car. I cant stop driving it because its just so much fun. Forget about the negative reviews, you must drive for yourself. The trunk space is not bad. We used a soft luggage and was able to pack enought stuff for two days. The 3 hour trip to Keywest was just awesome, fun, exciting, and we had to flip a coin on who was going to be the driver. The OnStar (turn-by- turn), XM radio, and telephone (great reception) is just great. Saturn you did great on this one. A+ baby.

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  Quad 4 - 2003 Saturn ION
  By Neil D - October 5 - 10:00 am

  We had not originally considered the Ion in our search for a new car, but after we test drove the Quad 4, it was far superior to the Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen in looks, power, roominess and handling. The unique features on the Ion including the center dash gages, the electric assist power steering and the battery in the trunk all made sense. The final decision on our purchase was the zero % financing and the much lower cost for insurance.