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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  just love it! - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By happypappy - June 30 - 2:00 am

  actually its an 03, but the same vehicle as the 04. have 18,000 miles on it and just love it. there was a clunking noise at 8,000 miles that turned out to be untorqed axle bolts from the factory( was dissapoined in that) also a fogged up headlight unit which saturn replaced...other than that just love it...looks much more expensive than it really is...

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  Eight years too late. - 2004 Saturn ION
  By Boysan - June 30 - 2:00 am

  My wife and I bought the Ion as our first new car. At first, we were much pleased with our purchase. But as time wore on, I noticed that the interior quality, ride, and engine were jokes.

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  safe experience - 2005 Saturn VUE
  By psbybg - June 27 - 6:03 am

  I finally have a vehicle that I feel safe in.Not worried about people banging into my doors. Steel cage around me,steel bars in doors. First-time owner of an SUV and feel confident driving in the rain and hitting bumps,looking forward to driving in the Snow

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  Redline - 2004 Saturn ION
  By mestal - June 23 - 12:40 am

  Car is a fun car. I have the 1st year edition of the vehicle and they have worked a lot of the problems out. I am sure that the 05 and 06 are awesome. The 04 is awesome too. There are just a lot of issues with the vehicle.

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  My saturn - 2004 Saturn ION
  By saturnlover - June 19 - 10:00 am

  I love my saturn, dent resistent materaial and all.

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  Worth the price - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By NJ - June 16 - 11:20 pm

  Waited 3 months to write review. So far I like the VUE a lot. Only problem is heated washer fluid doesnt work. Lots of features more expensive suvs have. Read the manual - found out "wow" stuff. Ride is nice. Seats are way too short though - Im tall. And lack support - feel like I get tossed around in turns. Cant get as much in back as my last wagon. Bikes and recycle cans dont fit. Old wagon they did as did a washing machine and snow blower. Dont care about XM or OnStar - wont renew. Wish trailer hitch was 2" not 1 1/4" - had to buy adapter for bike rack - not it sticks out. But overall its a great small suv for the price. I hope it holds up over time. Had more but limited space here.

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  Happy VUE Owner - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By JEK - June 14 - 10:00 pm

  Finally I have a car that is like an SUV but doesnt drink gas like an SUV. Handles is all weather (I travel for work and drive in bad weather summer and winter.)I feel safe in my VUE no matter what. I never had a problem except for the one recall item which was taken care of by the dealership with no problem. In fact I just bought another VUE, a 2006, and Im sure this one will perform just as well.

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  Minus the Rattles...a Good Vehicle - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By Vue Driver - May 31 - 10:00 am

  Bought this car late in 2003 and have 31k miles on it. I love the powerful engine. It was a real selling point for me. I also love all the options the car has for the price. The AWD is AWESOME in snowy weather. If it didnt make so many weird noises, I wouldnt have anything to complain about.

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  gotta give it credit - 2005 Saturn ION
  By nathan - May 31 - 7:56 am

  iv gotta give this car good props i picked it up for $5,500 and didnt like it one bit after driving it for awhile it grew on me i,v never had any problems with any saturn i,v ever owned (3) and my ion is no exception the dealer told me about common problems with ions and i have not had one off them happen to me i,v grown to really like my ion and have put 18 inch wheels on it and it does look good i,m happy i bought this car its no jewl but for the money my saturn ion was a great deal and a great car

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  Wind Noise - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By ozman - May 25 - 2:00 am

  I traded in my Suburban for a Vue hoping to find better fuel economy and reliability. So far the vehicle has performed well. However, the wind noise from the roof rack is unbearable.I took it back to the dealer and they were unable to fix the problem. Allegedly, Saturn is aware of this problem. Having known this prior to my purchase, I would have passed on the Vue.