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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  Saturn blow-on - 2003 Saturn ION
  By aidamahn - April 3 - 2:00 am

  Have had all kinds of problems with this car, from day 1. The 5-speed transmission shifts sloppy, the gears tend to be hard to shift into sometimes, or theyll pop out. The construction seams to be cheaper than usual. The internals of my driver side door literally fell apart, window popped off track and the lock/hondle stopped working. Traction Control and ABS conflict with shifting (IE: you cant put it in gear while the abs is going off, or breifly after). Traction Control makes car shake violently at lower speeds.

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  Disappointing Clutch - 2006 Saturn ION
  By Disappointed - February 21 - 5:06 pm

  This is my fourth Saturn, and I do not know if there will be a fifth. I have had the car in to fix both of the windows. I had to get the seat cover replaced, and I am having constant issues with the clutch. The car stutters and shakes. It stalls more times than I can count. I have had the car in the shop twice now, and the problem still persists. The guys in service are great ,and have told me that the mechanics of the clutch have changed. I just have to change the way I have been driving it.

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  Caution in buying this car - 2003 Saturn ION
  By Toots - January 31 - 2:00 am

  I owned this car for 2 weeks, and returned it. Beware, the dashboard is designed as a multi-piece, multi- colored, multi-textured dash, which reflects up into the front window, right into the drivers primary view of the road. Every other car I have ever seen has a one piece, one texture dash, that does not reflect like this. The side mirrors reflect the interior side dash peices, such as the vents. It was too hazardous to keep this car, despite other positive features. Also, the vents do not close off, so all passengers must agree on the vent setting. If you try to close one off, it whistles horribly. There is too much play in the steering wheel.

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  Big Mistake!!! (Shouldve kept my CR-V) - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By bigmistake - January 18 - 9:50 am

  The design pulled me in at first. Nice test drive. Then things started to go wrong. Cruise control is terrible, it revs really high when going up the slightest incline. Brushed metal trim on steering wheel started peeling off and cut my wifes finger twice. Had it replaced, only to find out the audio controls on the new wheel didnt work. Had a 3rd wheel put on. A few weeks later, the chrome passenger door handle started peeling as well. Had to have that replaced. Gear shifter rattles when temp is cole or hot. Dealer cant find anything wrong.Very limited storage in the back (holds 1 stroller). Should not have even offered a 4 cylinder option. Wish I still had my 05 Honda CR-V.

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  Unsatisfied first time Saturn buyer - 2005 Saturn Relay
  By D. Rob - January 8 - 8:23 pm

  I purchased my Saturn Relay in May of 2005 and have had nothing but problems. The roof racked leaked, door trim fell off, its missing a seat belt buckle, the inside trim has started to fall off, and the fuse panel will not stay closed. I bought this Relay right off of the showroom floor. I would not recommend a Saturn Relay to anybody.

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  Avoid at all cost! - 2006 Saturn ION
  By Morgan Reid - January 8 - 2:47 am

  When it works, its an easy ride. It only works about 10% of the time. Its in and out of the shop for various reasons. The car is aging of course, but the miles are still low in comparison to the year it was built. The recalls have fixed some of the issues, but new ones seem to arise out of the blue. At one point, my gas tank began pouring gas all over the roadway. When I realized, I had it towed to the mechanic who found that nothing had penetrated the tank, but the seal had worn. Its truly a lemon.

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  vue - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By mike f. - January 7 - 2:00 am

  Had brand new vue for one week in shop for four problems .I Had up to 1500 miles to trade out for another brand new vue. Dealer was very nice about this problem. Secound brand new vue I had for three days and its been in shop already for empty clutch fluid. Poor craftsmanship would not recommend this vehicle.

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  Worst Car I Have Ever Owned - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By gr82balive - December 28 - 11:14 am

  I purchased the 2003 model in 2009 without doing my homework. 13 months later (after the one year warranty expired) the tranny went out.Cost me 5200 to fix 3wks later the front differential is starting to go out, quoted price:5600 to fix. After new tranny was put in my mpg dropped from approx 13 to approx 6mpg. If I wasnt locked into payments I would have scrap heaped this piece of junk when the tranny went out. Most regretted purchase of my adult life. Saturn/GM dealerships have been useless. Once one problem is expensively fixed another one rears its pricey head.DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY!

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  Small annoying problems - 2005 Saturn ION
  By Mislead - December 19 - 8:36 pm

  Bought this car in 2006 as my first car. Was very reliable for the first few years, then stopped. Key cylinder has had to replaced once and soon will have to be replaced again. Car has leaked in the rain which destroyed my phone. Other than that, it has not been too bad. But it is really annoying having to spend fifteen minutes to remove your car key. Once it would not even turn off.

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  Transmission problems - 2009 Saturn Aura
  By Karen Hickman - December 3 - 7:03 am

  Buyer Beware of transmission problems. The transmission "slipped" on my brand new 2009 Saturn Aura at 347 miles. I had to have it towed twice. The dealership returned it to me and assured me there was nothing wrong, despite the fact that I pulled out in front of traffic and could not accelerate. I was told to "...pull off to the side of the road, shut off the engine, then restart the car to reset it." After this occurred the third time, I did as instructed, then drove it to the dealership, and left it there. I insisted it was dangerous, and I was now following the GA Lemon Law. They replaced the transmission at approximately 700 miles. I would rate my experience with Saturn a big 0.