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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  Dont buy - 2006 Saturn ION
  By Piece of Junk - April 3 - 10:13 pm

  Bought this car in Oct. 2005 brand new. After first year, it all went downhill. Had to replace the Powertrain Module twice already, and now, my dashboard lights go on and off, the speedometer doesnt move, dont know how much gas I have and etc with whatever is on the dashboard. The car been nothing but hell to me and my wife. Truly wish I could get rid of it, but have to wait another year. Do not buy this car used if you ever are thinking about it. Completely garbage !!!

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  My Last Saturn - 2003 Saturn ION
  By EW - March 8 - 4:03 pm

  At the time I got this car - the "college grad" deal made it the most affordable car around. Now all I want to do is get rid of it. It is not a sporty car. It is an economy coupe, and that is it.

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  do not buy this car - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By tm51 - March 8 - 2:00 am

  under powered plastic piece of junk poor gas milage 12mpg at best vti auto very noisy with tons of hesitation. interior noise every item squeaks from dash to doors. Unfortunatly i love exterior of car!!!!!! do not buy. also i own this car 5mons and msrp 23,400 car now worth 14,000 trade in wow never buy this car stay away

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  uncomfortable - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By George - February 27 - 7:53 am

  The drivers cockit is tight and the seats are extremely uncomfortable. The gas milage is far less than advertised. The car pulls hard to the right on fast acceleration due to front wheel drive system not being able to manage horsepower of the Honda engine.

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  Why did I buy a Saturn? - 2007 Saturn ION
  By C_Houten - February 15 - 7:20 am

  I bought this car brand new in Toronto, and drove it from Toronto to California, up the coast to Oregon, and all the way to Phoenix. I have put 39,000km on it in just over a year. In the first 6 months of owning it I had to have the entire electrical system replaced. 2 months later I had to have to accelerator and brake system replaced. The starter had problems after one year, and once it wouldnÂ’t start at all for quite a few hours. AAA will not unlock this car if your keys are locked inside. They told me that this models electrical system is too delicate. The fuel economy is below average and far below the EPA estimate. Overall I am sure you can tell that I am very disappointed in this car.

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  No more Saturns for this family - 2005 Saturn VUE
  By Done with Saturns - February 7 - 3:13 pm

  At 45K miles we have a Vue which is unsafe to drive. We spent over 26K and expected a worthwhile, safe, economical vehicle. After taking the car into the 2 separate Saturn dealerships for engine noise, hesitation, poor mpg, etc.. while under warranty nothing could be found. Now, we are told the brake caliper is shot as well as the torque converter- over $2000 in repairs and Saturn wants us to foot the bill for at least parts. We are battling it out with the Saturn Corporate- they are not so customer friendly when you have problems with your vehicle. Right now, we are just glad the brakes did not complelety fail with our 2 year old in the car! We should have spent a few more dollars on an X5.

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  LEMON! - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By Aimee Steven Perry - February 5 - 10:00 am

  We purchased our Vue in March of 2008, the first weekend driving it the axle broke going up the steepest hill in our city. We were rolling backwards and could not stop, cost of repair 800. The next thing to go was in October of 2008, the BCM blew, the car would not start. Saturn told us it was not under warranty and not sure why it broke the repair would be $2000 Then the exhaust manifold cracked not only once but twice, cost of that $1000, when we replaced that we found that the bearings all needed to be replaced Dec 09.Most recent, our car stopped dead in traffic, we had to push if off the road, the car is not getting gas so it stalls unless you keep your foot on the gas.

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  My Saturn / My piece of junk - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By Lou - January 27 - 8:06 pm

  Ive had problems from day one with my Saturn Vue. Im still trying to get out of my lease. There are parts of the interior that are broken (air vent). I cut myself on the back door edge. It handles very poorly in the rain. The puddles pull it all over the road as if the car is too light. The tires will not keep the correct amount of air pressure on the passenger side.Why!? My model is a 5 speed manual. Its difficult to put into first and second gear. Ive owned three Saturns since 2000. I currently own a Saturn Ion and Saturn Vue.I think the quality and customer service satisfaction has really gone down hill. I will no longer recommend buying Saturns to anyone.

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  Plenty of little problems. - 2005 Saturn ION
  By Jim - January 12 - 8:36 pm

  Bought car with 30,000 miles. Soon realized that it had a temperature sensitive drive ability problem, bucks violently at low speeds cool temps. Caused premature wear on clutch with first owner, I have babied it for 36,000 miles, needs new clutch. Dealer could not figure out problem, says its the clutch. Said maybe they could figure it out when it got bad enough. Its time to find out, and bet them a clutch that its the engine. Suspension is very noisy and sloppy when cold, you can feel the engine shifting back and forth on corners when cold, the clutch pedal creaks and feels rough at the release point. Mirror cant be adjusted to match seat position when adjusted to my 59" frame.

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  Abysmal 07 Saturn Hybrid Vue - 2007 Saturn VUE
  By Zory - January 5 - 6:03 pm

  My 9 month Old Sat Hybrid Vue is abysmal, I have a number of repair order for Electrical Problems, Battery Harness Problems, Paint defects. It has been in all the service dept of the Bayarea, Pleasanton, Livermore and Stockton California. I commute a lot and break down in all those cities. Good Luck if you decide to purchase a vehicle that is unreliable. My Vue has a number of repairs not consider to be recalls and the consumer will never know the truth about the Saturn new line of Hybrids are abysmal. Good luck to you and if you buy it, then buy patience, and a lot of coffee so, you can drink it while you wait for a smelly rental which will be your permanent vehicle insted of your car.