Sayonara, Saturn
Roger Penske's deal to buy the Saturn brand from General Motors has fallen through, and General Motors now plans to phase out the brand entirely.
GM opened the Saturn division in 1990 with the motto "A different kind of company, a different kind of car." Saturn was established with a new factory, new dealerships, and an all-new car, the Saturn S-series, which was not shared with any other GM division -- a minor miracle in the heyday of GM's badge-engineering program.
The Saturn SC coupe, SL sedan and SW wagon featured space-frame construction with plastic body panels that resisted dents and rust and supposedly would allow inexpensive styling changes. But what really set the Saturn cars apart was the buying experience. Sales reps were paid a salary, not commission, and the dealerships had a (supposedly) strict no-haggle policy.
Saturn's huge start-up costs (reportedly $5 billion dollars) meant updates to the cars were few and far between. Meanwhile, competitors both foreign and domestic continued to introduce new and improved models, and it wasn't long before the S felt seriously dated in comparison. In more recent years, Saturn became "Opel West" -- models like the Sky, Vue, Aura and Astra were based closely (or, in the case of the Astra, exactly) on vehicles sold by Opel, GM's European division.
A colleague suggested I write a list of the best Saturn cars, and I responded that the list would be blank. Though the cars were unremarkable, Saturn's no-haggle dealers were an oasis for people that tend to fare worse at traditional dealerships, notably minorities and women. No other manufacturer has adopted the no-haggle policy, and I've read articles suggesting that Americans simply like to haggle.
Thoughts on the demise of Saturn? Did you have a good (or bad) experience with Saturn cars? Was the no-haggle policy a success or a failure? Click the "comments" link below and tell us what you think. -- Aaron Gold
A look at the most recent Saturn models:
Photo © Aaron Gold
Comments
My only experiences with Saturn were with some of the older cars, and they’re mixed. I drove one, an SL sedan that was really crappy. I have a friend who owns a similar vehicle and loves it. The few others in the older models that I looked at or sat in seemed very cheap. I never would have considered one.
The newer models, however, seem to be very tight and good quality vehicles, enough that I might have considered one for my next car.
Too bad they never got the press that Malibu and a few other GM models did. Just as it seemed that GM was finally getting Saturn right, and pretty much all across the board, Saturn’s now going away.
I bought 4 Saturns new: a ‘98 SW1, a 2000 SW2 (after the 1 was totaled in a crash that I walked away from with a couple of scrapes from the airbag), an ‘03 LW200, and an ‘05 Ion. The first three were great. I never had to do anything but change the oil. And the no haggle policy was fantastic. I genuinely liked the salespeople. One of the guys made a compilation CD of road music that he gave to me and my wife when we bought the LW200. The Ion, however, was a total piece of garbage. In the 40,000 miles I had it, it was in the shop for warranty repairs 5x. Not small things, either. The front end had serious, dangerous problems. Until the Ion, I used to call them my “poor man’s Japanese car.” Sadly, once burned there’s no going back. It’s too much money to gamble. Now I get real Japanese cars (a Subaru Forester), and I honestly can’t believe how superior the car is in every way to what I used to think were very adequate cars. Shockingly, I get the same mileage w/ AWD on the Forester that I got on the underpowered, FWD LW200 (24/29). I hope the dealership employees do alright. It wasn’t their fault Saturns were junk.
My brother asked me to drive his 200k Saturn from Boston to Buffalo two years ago in January. It was the 2 dr sport coupe. I was nervous, with thoughts of me standing in the snow on the side of the NY State Thruway (I-90) waiting for a tow truck. He laughed and told me that the car was bullet-proof and would make the trip without a hitch. He of course was right and I drove the car, without incident to its new owner who probably did the same for some time longer.
As for the car, it was cheap looking, just OK to drive and only decent as far as gas mileage.
Will I miss Saturn, based on that one 8hr driving experience? No.
Even though it was underpowered and had a general feeling of cheapness about it, I loved my Saturn. Great gas mileage, the plastic body panels. Great little car.
JRC: Agreed. For a cheap, no-frills, reliable point-A-to-B car, the S-series is hard to beat. Low-mileage used S-series cars can be had for half of what a comparably used Civic/Corolla go for, and as long you understand the Saturn’s foibles and differences, you can get a seriously long life out of them. Some have turned 500K on their S-series Saturns.
It’s sad that Saturn will disappear as a brand, but some believe Saturn died the day the last S-series car rolled off the line at Spring Hill. Too bad….GM had the right idea, but like so many times in the past, they failed to take advantage of it.
And as for no-haggle pricing, Scion does that too.
Didn’t buy because of a shady markup on the Saturn Sky and Aura. Loved both. The quality was very nice the suspension was taut. The only drawback of us getting the Aura, other than the markup that didn’t make sense, was that the Malibu was coming out .. bigger car and better execution of the platform. On the Sky and the Vibe.. Where are you suppose to put that drink from the drive-thru?? You had to be Chinese performer to reach your drink. Sad to see the whole brand going.
My entire family drives saturns and except for the S series single cam, all of the cars have been good with few problems. I drive a L200 wagon and also race an SC twin cam which takes an awful beating and still comes up grinning. Sorry to see them go but turning into a corporate car was not to their advantage, Magna should have bought them as they were OPEL west now for the most part.
How can you say that Saturn made no good cars. Didn’t you journalists pick the Aura as car of the year when it first came out? Or are you like politicians, can’t believe a word you say, lol.
Aaron Gold….you are an idiot and Japanese car biased. Saturn has been an awesome car. Stop writing car articles and stick to something you can do better…maybe flipping burgers at the local burger joint.
Dear “Someone:”
Save your insulting remarks for a forum where this sort of behavior is warranted. You don’t agree with Aaron? Try backing it up with something like …uh what’s the word I’m trying to think of… oh, yeah – facts and data!
Take a look at the other posts. Their authors may or may not agree with Aaron, but these people have taken the time to relate actual experiences about the brand to support their positions.
Brian — I’m not on the North American Car of the Year jury, so you can’t blame me for that one.
Although it was a runner-up on my Best New Cars of 2007 list.
Someone Smarter, you’re right, I’m totally biased against American cars (as my recent tests of the CTS-V, Corvette and Corvette ZR1, and Mustang show) and in favor of Japanese cars (as my tests of the Legacy, Acura TL and TSX V6, and Cube clearly show).
Mark — thanks.
— Aaron
Dear Someone,
I read reviews from other car sites and found Aaron Gold’s reviews to be the most revealing and honest out of them all. Several cars over the years I’ve driven and thought about buying were based on the reviews from other sites and when I would get to the dealership and drive the car I would walk away saying to myself, “What was that reviewer thinking.”
I will stick with Aaron’s advice because he doesn’t cater to wether or not he’ll get invited to the next test drive based on what he wrote yesterday. Case in point is the recent Nisan GT-R review. What I don’t do anymore is read other website car reviews.
I guess ‘Someone,’ what I’m trying to say is if you don’t like what’s written here, argue the facts or go away.
Oh, and I really loved my recent look at a Saturn Vue Redline. The quality of the interior really surprised me, but I didn’t get to drive it so I can’t give any real facts about the way it drives, but that’s what I have About.com:cars with Aaron and Jason.
Thanks, Jay — my ego overfloweth! — Aaron
I had a 1994 SL2. The buying experience was pleasant enough, but that was about the only good thing I can say about the car. A quart of oil every 1500 miles was described as “normal” to me by both the dealer and by factory customer service. three power window regulators replaced, engine mounts replaced and a fan belt pulley all replaced in the first 30K miles. One more regulator in the next 20K miles and oil consumption continued unabated and unrepaired by Saturn. Thankfully, the car was totalled (with no injuries) when I was rear-ended in 1999. I doubt I could have sold this piece of junk for anywhere near what the insurance company paid me. The Honda Civic Si that I replaced it with was flawless for 160K miles until I sold it a couple of years ago for an Acura TL.
Hey there “Someone Smarter”, why don’t you go back and hang the tea bags back up on your hat and return to the intellectual protesting out there with the other tea party intelligentsia. We simpleminded car buffs don’t deserve your well thought out pearls of logically, succinct thought.
my Saturn have been very good a 1995 sl1 a 1997 sc2 and a 2007 ION. I will miss the Brand the only GM car I will ever had ever owned I have since owned a Cadillac. but now doubt I will buy another GM product.
I find it sad to see it go, given the original purpose of the brand. I have seen articles written blaming Roger Smith for creating Saturn, and the later lack of product updates. I however believe that Saturns downfall did not begin until well after Smith’s departure. The lack of support from GM during the mid to late 90’s was the biggest contributor to where we are today.
I have owned two Saturns, and they each top one list. The ‘96 SL2 tops the best car I have ever owned, and the 2000 LW2 (or 3, whichever was the top) is the worst car. And the same goes for service, based on where I lived during the ownership of each. I still miss my ‘96. I looked at the Neon, Escort, Civic and Cavalier. The Escort did nothing well, the Civic rode well, but no low end power, the Neon had decent power, but rode like a cheap piece of …, the only Cavalier I wanted was a Z24, and the only 5-speed I could find was used, and I got my Saturn for the same price (technically it was used too, but only had 1106 miles on it as it had been returned under Saturn’s buy back program). I thought the Saturn rode as well as the Civic and had the low end power of the Neon. Plus the mileage was great at 27/37 according to the EPA, although I only got under 30 a couple times and on the road could get really close to 40. In 95K miles I replaces the tires, spark plugs, wires, battery and wiper blades, Air filter, oil and oil filter. Didn’t touch the brakes, clutch, alternator, or anything else.
The LW was a different story. In the shop twice for leaking coolant, bad strut mount, wiper arm broke, tire problems, HVAC problems, etc. And the mileage was terrible compared to what I was used to, coupled with a small tank gave way too short a range. And the dealer gave us a hassle in the service dept. At that point I vowed to not buy another while still living here.
After someone else bought the local dealers, I thought I might consider owning another, and was truly interested in the Astra, but my wife like the Mazda3 better, and the intent was for it to be her car. We also love the Outlook, and that was on our list of potential replacements for our van, except that when our van was totaled, we had just bought the Mazda less than 6 months earlier and didn’t want two new car payments.
I would love to be able to have a Sky (esp Red Line), but I can’t justify a car without four doors, let alone no back seat. I do agree that Saturn now has its strongest lineup ever, and I would actually consider any of them if I were in the market.
As far as marketing goes, I can’t even remember the name of the minivan, which is sad because I was looking for them (since we loved our Montana, and they were pretty much the same) when our old van was totaled. How many people even knew they ever sold a minivan? Just another example of GM not giving Saturn the support they needed (and recently really deserved).
P.S. Someone needs to actually read more of these articles before making statements that are totally inaccurate. Aaron, you are one of (if not the) most honest and straightforward reviewers I have ever read. Keep up the great work! Although Oldsmobile did try the no haggle price thing shortly before their demise (not that that’s a selling point), and GM has used it about every year (sort of) as part of the Red Tag Clearance events.
R.I.P. Saturn. And Pontiac.
The Saturn concept was wonderful. The buying experience is what made it great. My only real remark is that I take exception with the comment that Americans love to negotiate. I do not believe that to be true. What Americans really want is a deal and to make sure that somebody else did not pay less than they did for a car. Americans bought in flocks the first time GM offered employee pricing.
GM and other OEM’s will eventually all move to a “one price” environment. They need to figure out how to make the buying experience easy and enjoyable as it should be. Buying a new car should be fun! Once you start the haggling process, it is no longer fun.
Rich from PA…one price environment is exactly what every dealer wants, just like a grocer, a tailor or a home improvement store. Just pay the list and your done. But then there’s always those dealers that figure they’ll sell “volume” at lower than list and thus the games begin. Since cars are a “big ticket” item, buyers want to get the cheapest price…unless they’ve just got to get the latest model. Oh oh…look out it’s payback time for the dealer who’s been cutting mini deals and barely paying the electric bill. And what ever made you think that the pricing on a Saturn was anything but full list price??? They just packaged a super cheap car and put it out there with a fixed no haggle price and everyone thought it was a good deal. Truth is, you bought a cheap car for a cheap price, BUT THE MARGIN OF PROFIT WAS UNCHANGED!!!
If you hate haggling, just get the best price from the Internet department or get a COSTCO deal and you can say it’s fun buying a car again!
Well I do think Saturn had some good cars. I had some friends that just loved their SL’s to death.
Saturn failed when they killed Saturn. GM just made it just another badge and the Unions killed the special deal they worked out. I blame both GM and the Unions.
The Astra looks like a good car with a less than stellar power train. It gets the same mileage as my Mazda 3 but the Mazda 3 has a 2.3 liter motor with a lot of punch. As to the people bashing Aron and those that are kissing up to him bleckkk.
I actually tend to disagree with Aaron on a lot of things. I think his taste in car interiors tends to be too flashy. Guess what? It is okay to have different taste. I still read and enjoy his stuff. I think he is does a good job so lay off.
As many have pointed out, it was GM’s lack of support for Saturn that put it on its death march over 10 years ago. The government should have let GM enter bankruptcy without our “help” and let a new company rise from the ashes. Clearly, GM hasn’t learned any lessons from the experiment as they quickly tried to rebadge the Vue as a Buick! Duh!
If GM had expanded the offerings in the mid-90s and continued to build good, cheap competitive vehicles to the mainstream models, they might have survived. But then they waited until 2000 to introduce the L-series, which was just not competitive with the Accords and Camrys of the day. We had a 2000 SL2, a 2003 L200 and a 2007 Vue, and all were good cars. Never a single problem, great mileage, nice equipment levels (you could get sunroof, leather, upgraded audio and still get a manual transmission!) and the unparalleled sales experience make it sad to see them go. They didn’t deserve this fate. They should have kept the Opels coming with Euro diesels to set them apart as the efficient, sporty GM brand.
Oh well, thank goodness Buick is still around! Wait. I’m under 70. Scratch that.
I thought GM’s original idea was a good one. After visiting the factory near Nashville, I purchased a SL2 for my daughter as her first car. It was tough, reliable, safe and easily fixed. Back then, the dealerships treated you like Lexus does now. So I bought a second SL2 in 1996 when my son turned 16. Then I convinced my brother to trade his Escort for one. After 200,000 miles he still has his SL2.
The closing of this line after a $5 Billion investment will get some moronic GM top exec a multi-million bonus.
And so it goes.
I bought a new 2001 SC2 Saturn Coupe and I now have 84,000 miles on it. It has been a good car. It has plenty of pep when I need it. I had trouble with the sun roof, but Saturn fixed it. I have a friend with an even older Saturn that has 200k on it and it is still running great.
GM should have used the Saturn as a Hybrid. However, their management force can’t seem to see logic when it is right in front of them. Maybe the problem is like their consultants told them, they are top heavy. (too much management)
My Saturn experience was a good one. I bought a new 1995 SL2 and drove it continually for 13 years putting 186,000 miles on it with only a water pump replaced, and of course, no rust. Six months in I was rear-ended at a yeild sign and everything from the rear window back was replaced. Never any aleignment problems afterward other than routine service.
P.S. Also, I liked the no-haggle price policy. After my first visit, I took home an options checklist with prices and calculated the exact price of the car before returning to purchase. That made it a seamless process with no surprises.
I once owned a Saturn with auto transmission. It tended to freewheel when my foot’s off the throttle. I had a scary experience, going downgrade on a winding mountain road. I shifted tranny down to second gear to try to slow my car down on it’s downward descent and it would not “brake” the car and I had to stay on the brakes to keep speed under control and almost lost lmy brakes due to overheating!!!!!
I have a 1994 SL1 that I have put over 300k on. This car has been in 6 wrecks and the only thing ive had to replace on it was the battery and an alternator (besides routine maintenance). It doesn’t look very good but the 90’s line of SL’s were tough, I see them everywhere! I’m very sad that they are closing but I still plan on getting a newer Saturn when I can afford it. They have gained my respect.
sorry to see them go. Always wanted to try one.
Got the chance on a used 2000 SW2.
Usual used car problems. Love the way it drives.
I’m the unhappy owner of two L series Saturn vehicles. Both were purchased new in October 2001, both maintained by my local Saturn dealership, both less than 45k miles each almost 8 years to the day of purchase. These cars have been nothing but a headache since we brought them home. If something falls apart on the sedan, we are certain that the wagon will suffer the same fate within weeks. Fuel pumps have been the latest fad, to the tune of a couple grand in the past month. I can only speculate on the repair bills if we really used these cars. Fortunately we also have a 22 year old Toyota Landcruiser to pick up the slack whenever one of these “good” cars falls apart. My wife and I are so amazed that the company lasted this long given the quality of product they produce.
Even if GM never made a dime on Saturn their dealers made alot of goodwill my son has a SW2 that just keeps going and the dealer has always gone above and beyond for him. YES ,Saturn You will be missed!
My brother owns a older Saturn and the dealer in town still had the key combo. even though its from ‘93
I purchased a new 1995 Saturn SW1 in May of 1995. I was told that it was the last station wagon of that year.
I was very pleased with the car and the dealership. The Saturn dealers treated me like a human.
Yes, probably could had purchased a comparable car from the competition at a cheaper price. It was a different car company and I liked it.
I kept the car until 2007, even taking it to Germany. I had little problems with it. I purchased a used 1997 Saturn SW2 in 2006 and I nothing but problems with the car. Since it was used, the problems could have been attributed to the first owner.
I liked the plastic bodies, especially after a commerical van backed into the left side of it at high speed. Damage? One side tail light lens costing $22 to replace.
By the year 2002, I noticed that GM was taking Saturn in another direction. The cars and the dealership were in line with GM. The small car company of GM was no longer a small car company.
In 2008 I was looking for another new car. I was looking for another small wagon. I was told that we have the Vue. The Vue was too large for my use. The Astra did not have the storage room of the station wagons. I check with Honda and saw FIT that I liked. It almost had the room of the old Saturns Station wagons.
I really wanted to buy a new Saturn again. They just did not have a station wagon, like the old SWs with the storage room for a bicycle and my two Doxies.
My wife and I bought an SL1 sedan back in 1993. At the time is was all the rage. The buying experience was excellent and a model for future car dealerships to note. You just selected the options from a list, knew of the added costs with each “check mark”, ordered the car and drove it off the lot.
At the time I drove a Honda Accord EX and often compared it to the Saturn. No comparison, but the Saturn offered reasonable gas mileage and didn’t need any repairs. Uncommon for an American car. Side note – I had a Chevy Lumina company car and that was the biggest piece of junk ever to be parked in my garage. It soured me to ever buy a Chevrolet product again… The alternator failed at 30K miles and the interior plastic would fall apart whenever hitting a speed bump…
We ended up giving the Saturn to our friends and I believe it had over 190K miles on it when they sold it. Still running great with no major repairs.
The rear doors were a bit “tinny” sounding when you’d close them and the trunk lid sounded “cheap” when you would close it, but these are minor incidentals.
The plastic body panels were excellent as there were several times when they were put to the test of errant shopping carts hitting the sides of the car. Oh, I also had a ladder bounce off the hood when I was hanging Christmas lights on the second story of the house. Again, no dents. Try that with a Honda…!
Sorry to see the brand go. I just wish it was GM (generally monotonous) who was saying goodbye. Top brass who have no idea of what their customers want and just crank out boring cars year after year…
Oh wait! I see a new yellow Chevy Camaro…Guess someone listened to the customer base after all…
Sorry to see Saturn go the way of Pontiac…