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 my Hybrid - 2007 Saturn VUE
  By Albert - October 17 - 9:43 pm

  Looking for an SUV Hybrid? This is the one. I have been very happy with my hybrid since I bought it 2 months ago. Just wish it was capable with the OnStar onscreen navigation, only complaint. But drives great and has saved me on gas! Fill up once a week instead of 2x a week

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  Saturn ION - A Better Small Car - 2005 Saturn ION
  By James C. - October 17 - 12:40 pm

  Recent purchase of the 2005 ION 2 has been most satifying. The last Saturn SL2 1997 model has proved to be trouble-free in over 175,000 miles, and I hope for the same with the ION. Fit and finish are several levels higher than the venerable SL2. it has avery quiet engine, and road and other exterior noise at highway speed is minimal. Like the SL2 this car is well-designed and very roomy, and very easy to maintain for the shade tree mechanic. Interior material looks Japanese/European in character. I really like the on-center instrument cluster and the white background guages. No need to expand the trade deficit, this is one domestic runner that will go the distance.

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  VTi Transmission BAD NEWS - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By bab702 - October 17 - 10:00 am

  Dont buy this car!!! We ended up PAYING $5,500 dollars to get OUT of the car! It was in the shop reguarly and the service at Saturn of Metairie was the pits! NEVER got any call backs on trying to get out of the VUE; until we traded it in of course! The transmission gave us problems almost immediately...and service dept. could never pin point the problem...it was on going until we got rid of it! Dont make the same mistake! You wont save money in the long run! If you must make sure you like the service department....you will see them A LOT!!!

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  What Else Can Go Wrong?? - 2003 Saturn ION
  By gretchen1982 - October 15 - 5:16 pm

  Absolutely hate this car. During the warranty years I had most of the undercarriage replaced. Rear suspension was originally put in wrong. Then in the winter it started "not turning over." But yesterday when it had been parked in a garage (and it was a good 50 degrees out) it did it again. The seats stain easily from even water.

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  Love my VUE - 2005 Saturn VUE
  By Clara - October 14 - 7:13 pm

  I am very happy with my 2nd Saturn purchase. I can see myself always owning a Saturn. I still believe its the best kept secret around.

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  Terrible car - 2007 Saturn ION
  By spiderrig - October 14 - 7:23 am

  Nothing but bad things with this car. I have 39,000 miles and already have had to replace the power steering, the fuel pump, the sensor on the accelerator (TWICE!), the wiring in the driver door, the back glass (defroster wasnt working). Some wiring in the console was found corroded due to poor connection. The gas mileage has been OK at around 28-29 MPG, but I expected better for such a little car. Also, the rubber seals around the windows are buckled and look terrible. I also had to replace the tires at 27,000 miles for dry rot. The worst car I have ever owned and Im 40 and have had a more than a few old beat up cars. They all ran better than this one did. I like GM, but hate Saturn.

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  Saturn VUE - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By carman - October 12 - 10:43 pm

  The Saturn VUE is an affordable compact SUV. Its compact size allows for easy road management and drivability,in addition to the ease of transporting large items. The drivers seat I find to be quite comfortable with good back support. I would buy the VUE again, especially the green line with better gas mileage.

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  Styling is all this has to offer - 2007 Saturn Sky
  By Insane Driver - October 12 - 10:00 am

  I must say im dissapointed in this vehicle. Leave it to GM to again take a good idea and mess it up. The interior layout is terrible,and the cheap plastics dont help it any. The way the top works is a terrible design.Their are stories going around GM dealers about how the rear ends go out in the vehicles,which mine is already making noise,and how the tops begin to leak terribly. These cars look nice and thats about it. My CX7 gets almost the same MPG, and its a SUV, what gives? The power window buttons are in a place so you have to bend your elbow to find them and it seems that GM tried to hide the seat recliner. Cupholders are also in terrible places.2 years in development,and GM builds this?

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  Awesome - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By Tom - October 12 - 6:46 am

  Just picked up our VUE last week and so this review is based on only 7 days of driving, but so far, this is an awesome purchase! Dealer was great to work with and we have no complaints about the vehicle so far. A 6 cylinder would have been in the running when we bought if the mileage had been a bit better. However, so far, the 4 Cyl has done well in both city driving and on the highway. This is not the engine if you want to run at 200km/hr, however, if you drive properly and are not trying to win any land-speed records, this is the vehicle/engine for you! We looked at the CRV, RAV4 and CX-7 and this was definitely the best-buy of them all! What are you waiting for, go test drive one!

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  Oh, The noises! - 2007 Saturn VUE
  By nancy - October 11 - 2:50 pm

  We traded our Chevy Blazer for a new Vue. The Blazer had more room upfront and all over. The Vue had a nice price for what we could afford in an SUV but please - After 15,000 miles - the road noise was enough to make you lose your mind!! We have so many rattling windows and the wind blowing makes them vibrate. Need to wear your ear plugs and plug in an ipod for playing music real loud so you dont hear all the noises this thing makes. Dont take to a dearlership - they pretend to work on all of it and just say that it is the same noise in a Lexus. What a joke. They will never fix the problem as it is nothing but a cheap piece of metal