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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  I Love my Saturn - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By Mary Beth - September 22 - 9:50 pm

  I love my new Saturn VUE, its sporty but yet big enough to carry people or things around in, I went from my 2000 Mustang to my Saturn VUE and right now Im loving all the space. Before buying my VUE I also looked at the Honda CR-V which is suppose to be like the same but its not its smaller and lower to the ground than the VUE. To be a little 4-Cylinder it has good pick up and is extremely smooth and bumpy free. I will contiue to deal with Saturn in the future.

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  powerful - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By darryl campbell - September 22 - 10:00 am

  I have a vue red line v-6 250 horse i love the power of this SUV I real was going to buy a car monta carlo supercharge the vue redline has more horse power and cheaper so far good suv but i dont like the full time day time lights. u should be able to turn them off also both seats should be power

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  2004 VUE AWD V6 - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By Bucko - September 22 - 10:00 am

  We do a lot of serious off-roading. We took our new VUE out to some dry washes and on some mild loose dirt roads in the mountains where we drive our Jeep Wrangler and atvs. The VUE performed well. While no serious four- wheeler, the AWD performed flawlessly and as long as you watch the ground clearance, this vehecle will take you to some places you wouldnt think possible. I wouldnt take it into running water or mud, but for hard packed sand, and dirt roads, steep or not, the VUE really surprized us.

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  ION 3 - 2004 Saturn ION
  By FONTENOT - September 22 - 10:00 am

  I am hoping to get as good of reliability with this Saturn as the previous ones. My last Saturn had 260,000 miles before I sold it. The automatic transmission takes getting used to. The RPMs decline when the speedometer is increasing. I think this means I am utilizing the best gas mileage possible.There is no lack of zoom with this phenomemon.

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  Second VUE in 3 months - 2007 Saturn VUE
  By Vermont - September 22 - 9:23 am

  Over-all we love the Vue, but have just had a wheel bearing failure on the newest Vue after only 12K miles. A coworker has a 2006 Vue and has had to replace the left front wheel bearing twice. Symptoms appear as road noise that you think is tire noise on pavement as they wear. I knew I had a problem when I went form pavement to a dirt road the pitch of the noise never changed. Dealer has confirmed its a bad bearing. A dissapointing run of bearing failures that appears to be ongoing into the 2007 model year.

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  Saturn Vue XR built in Mexico - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By saturncrap - September 21 - 5:54 pm

  I own a 2008 saturn vue xr...with 70000 km on it.. what i have replaced. Battery on the first week I had it..and it goes on. Brake Booster/ total braking system with pedals Igniton switch/wiper motors /sway bar links. Now leaking transmission/and moisture inside the windows in the winter This was an expensive purchase ..hoping to keep this vehicle for a few more years.. $ 35,000.00 purchase.

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  Couldnt be happier! - 2007 Saturn Outlook
  By Jodi Shover - September 21 - 2:43 am

  I personally looked at and test drove it 5x before I purchased it. Each time I fell in love more. This vehicle has style and class, at a very reasonable price! In addition to the 8 seating capacity, there is ample storage space in the back. Saturn has combined safety, luxury, and roominess all in one. I am more than satisfied with my decision. It is beautiful to look at and equally great to drive. Without hesitation, I would recommend buying the Saturn Outlook.

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  DO NOT PURCHASE THIS VEHICLE !!! - 2008 Saturn Outlook
  By 2008outlookx2 - September 20 - 3:55 pm

  I have now had 2 of these vehicle(not by choose on the 2nd go round) I purchased my first vehicle had it for 3 days and the Transmission blowup, long story short after another 8 times in the shop for major issues in 2 months of owning the vehicle the car dealer seeing the issue advised it just this vehicle must have something wrong with it so they traded me into another 08 saturn outlook advising this one shouldnt have any problems the other vehicle was a fluke(yeah ok).So i had this one for 2 weeks and the fun began, i had to take it back for the windshield washer in the back wiper not working, then had a crunching in the front when going over bumps in the road and going slowly over speed

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  Nice car - 2009 Saturn Aura
  By straydogger - September 20 - 8:46 am

  I bought my 2009 in 2010 with 33000 miles. The only problems Ive had are the trunk light has never worked for me. Ive checked the bulb and fuses and no go. Ive replaced the windshield wiper linkage twice. Not the motor..just the linkage. Its not a very good design I think. A metal ball in a plastic socket that is packed with grease. A rubber boot keeps the grease in but when it wears out it dries out and then the linkage falls off. Need to buy motor and linkage to really fix the problem. Drivers door speaker doesnt always work. Left rear door lock wont lock/unlock with the key fob. Small problems. All in all the car starts everyday and gets me where I want to go. Thats what counts.

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  Bummer - 2008 Saturn VUE
  By JR - September 18 - 8:36 am

  Weve had many Saturns in our family, including another VUE, so we were disappointed when our 2008 started to show its cheapness. The lumbar control, visor, mirror have all fallen off. The seal for the windshield keeps coming out. If this is whats happening now at 19,000 miles, I;m nervous what will happen soon. We are looking for else. Its been a big bummer after having so many good Saturns.