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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  Great buy! Fun to drive, and looks nice - 2007 Saturn VUE
  By BP - June 7 - 11:53 pm

  Just got the VUE and it is great! The comfort could be improved, but the handling is great. The acceleration is better than expected, the room is wonderful, and it is fun to drive. The radio is nice, and the satellite radio is great. Nice features.

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  Great SUV, Mileage OK - 2007 Saturn Outlook
  By Brian K - June 5 - 9:00 pm

  Great vehicle for traveling and hauling large groups. Plenty of middle seat leg room. Fit and finish is very good. Folding rear seats are a quick, one hand accomplishment making it easy when your hands are full. With all the seats down there is plenty of room to haul most anything you can imagine from a dresser to a large roll-around tool box. AWD seems to work great and keeps car under control. Very quiet ride and for a large SUV the handling is awesome. No body roll. Vehicle feels safe and very controllable. The larger wheels make for a smoother ride as well, especially off road which has occurred while in the mountains on a couple of occasions. Get the service update for the transmission.

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  Fun for the Money - 2007 Saturn Sky
  By NM FUN - June 5 - 6:23 pm

  We bought the car this weekend in PHX/AZ and drove it 450-miles to ABQ/NM in the most beautiful and awful weather you could have in April. We had the top down and flew thru the AZ mountains, passing 2 Mustangs and 1 Vette that wanted to know more about the Sky. It hung curves and took off into the straights. V6/8s kill you in long straits, but who cares. This car is fun, head turning, and stacked in the handling dept. We had hard/high winds, rain and sleet that the interior handled well. Top is easy to put down for the money. Buy for a 2nd car or if you do not need a trunk. Love the car, but know your space needs. Highs outweigh lows, so far.

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  Great SUV - 2009 Saturn VUE
  By Ryan Z. - June 5 - 8:33 am

  Waited for over a year before making my purchase. The 2009 VUE XR has everything I could ever want in a car. Great smooth ride, excellent interior features. I enjoy having everything at my finger tips. I love the exterior look of the 2009. All my neighbors do a double take b/c they cant believe its a Saturn. 99% of my miles are highway, so the MPG isnt that big od deal to me. The XR V-6 engine is powerful and smooth. The shifting is so smooth you cant tell how fast your going until you look at the speedometer. Ride in this car is like a luxury car. I highly recommend this car to anyone looking for a new SUV.

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  Red Line Great Car So Far - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By Red Line V6 - June 4 - 11:26 pm

  Bought it with 26000 miles on it as a 2 year lease return. I was reluctant to get a V6, but when I found out that Honda made the engine that was put into the Red Line, I made the leap and bought it. Mileage is not bad, but could be better- but not as bad as I thought it might have been. I average about 23-26. Great looking leather, and lots of power and torque. Glad I got it, now I can tow!

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  Great Family SUV - 2005 Saturn VUE
  By applspar - June 4 - 2:43 pm

  I looked at about every small and midsized SUV before buying the VUE. The combination of standard features, gas mileage, style and low cost sold me. We have had it for 8 months and are considering trading in our other car on a second VUE.

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  Style, Comfort, and Fun to Drive. - 2007 Saturn Aura
  By Glen - June 4 - 2:23 am

  This is not the typical Saturn. The handling is superb, the ride is a little bumpy with the sports package suspension. Wind and road noise is at a minimum. The four way stability track with four wheel anti-lock disc brakes makes a difference on slippery roads. With the adjustable pedals and 8-way adjustable power seats makes for finding the comfortable position easy. Just wish it had a memory setting on the drivers seat for multiple drivers. For fun you can put the car into manual and shift thru the six gears via the paddle shifters mounted on the steering wheel. If you are looking for a midsized 4-door sedan, do yourself a favor and test drive this car. Good to have choices!

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  GM in control again. - 2007 Saturn Aura
  By usvet - June 1 - 6:53 pm

  Thus far I have owned a total of 17 new vehicles in my 56 year lifetime, 12 of which were foreign including VW, Subaru, Honda, Mazda(1 ford engine), and Isuzu. I have owned 2 Saturns. The first one a VUE V6 SUV which I purchased because of the Honda engine. The second is my Aura which I just purchased. Unlike the VUE it is all American which makes me very happy knowing that I finally found a domestic vehicle that is up to par with the foreign competion.

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  Surprised by this car - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By jrm - May 31 - 11:36 am

  This is my wifes car and I was skeptical when we bought it but it has been the most trouble-free vehicle I have ever owned (better than Civic and F-150). Ours has the Opel/Saab 3.0 V6 and 5-speed slushbox. Havent driven the newer Honda-powered models but I doubt they have the flat torque curve of this German engine (Honda engines in my experince are gutless down low but have lots of power up high). The engine is silky smooth has a wide torque band from idle to redline so it feels stronger than its advertised 171hp. Shifts are crisp and suspension is taut for an SUV. We were hit hard in this car and it protected us well (should have totaled it based on what it ended up costing to fix

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  Drives as good as it looks - 2008 Saturn Sky
  By exstreamliners - May 29 - 12:56 pm

  I owned my Carbon Flash SE for about 2 weeks now. It drives remarkable well. Fast when you want fast. Sound system is spectacular. Everyone stops me wherever I go. I even took it to another Saturn dealership and everyone at the dealership stopped what they were doing to come and take a look. The only downfall to the car is there is no trunk space, I take s suite case now and then. The other downfall is if you have long legs you cant adjust the seats much. I do wish the steering column was extendable and not just a verticle adjustment. Otherwise, it is fantastic!