General Motors continues to falter; may discontinue Saturn
Saturn’s slogan is now “Rethink”, but it’s beginning to look like the GM-owned automaker is taking that sentiment in a completely different direction. After making an effort to rebrand the Saturn line and produce a variety of attractive vehicles, General Motors might pull the plug on the 23-year-old auto line. With rumors of bankruptcies and dealers going out of business (none of which were true), Saturn’s reputation has been taking some serious hits lately. It’s also no help that the US automotive industry is suffering and relying on the government for a bailout, so GM is going to strongly consider shutting down Saturn while it forms plans this week in terms of an impending reorg. We imagine it’s not going to be a tough decision since Saturn hasn’t been profitable for GM at all. Along with axing the celestial brand, the automotive giant is considering selling off the Saab line and turning Pontiac into a “niche” brand, much like Saturn is now. So, after several years of producing what seems to be like one or two models, Saturn now offers several decent vehicles: Astra, Outlook, Sky, Vue and Aura. Still, it has failed to gain any real popularity and is likely going to disappear forever. Is anyone actually going to miss it?
Thanks, Alex R!
Does anyone know where i can find out who made the Saturn Motors. Originally GM developed a new casting technique for the blocks of the Saturn motors. I’ve heard that they may not have been Saturn in some lines
You’re wrong. I’m on my fourth Saturn and have been impressed with how far they’ve come. If there’s a brand GM should discontinue it’s probably Pontiac. There isn’t an uglier brand on the road today.
My Saturns have been reliable, enduring and have given me better gas mileage than what was posted. GM screwed this brand into the ground. Nice job, guys.
I disagree. I have a 2007 Vu and I love it. I am very disappointed that it could be discontinued.. I was looking forward to purchasing another next year. I truly hope they reconsider. It has been reliable. It’s reasonably priced for my fixed income and has been a real joy to drive. I will miss it.
I LOVE my Saturn Sky Turbo. I have owned many cars in my life and this car is the absolute best – it is reasonably priced, the best service department I have ever worked with – oil changes, etc – very low maintenance vehicle – the dealership in Pensacola makes sure it’s customers are treated VERY good – love them. Keep Saturn!!!!!
I’m on my 3rd Saturn and have had very, very little problems with any of the cars. The one big problem I had, SATURN PAID FOR IT! No questions asked. The customer service has always been great, the car(s) have been reliable, service has been very reasonably priced, and they treat their customers like real people, not just someone who has walked in off the street. How many people can say they walk in to their dealer for service and the service reps know you by name?! Very, very sad! Guess my next car will be a foreign brand since none of the other American dealers have ever treated their customers as good as Saturn has.
Hummm… Let me see if I understand this Mike. You loved your Saturn but when it was totalled by a Semi Truck you bought a Volkwagen? So why did you buy a friggin foreign car to relace a Saturn you were happy with? It is people like you that have destroyed the American Auto Industry!
I am so happy to see these ugly cars go away. I have read the stories about how reliable they are, Saturn continues to make them reliably ugly. The cars look cheap and annoying. They always look like they don’t belong.
I’ll be happy to see them fade away as they ugly ones on the road get older, uglier and die!
My girl has been (wanting) and saving for a Saturn Sky since they came out! She is gonna be bummed, hope they save the company!
There you go again! The GM board of Trustees seem to be a bunch of people who care only about short-term profit and never about true innovation and long-term reputation. They never seem to consult their wonderful engineers and employees. They killed some years ago their great electric car: the Saturn EV1 (watch the movie “Who killed the Electric Car”). Then, Toyota took advantage and developed the hybrid Prius. Now, they are going to kill a wonderful brand (Saturn) that has innovative products. Just walk into a Saturn dealer and you will be surprised. In one of last year’s issues of Popular Mechanics, I read about the superiority of the new Saturn transmission versus the Toyota Corolla … which the public does not know at all. Rather than just having beautiful girls in their comercials, they should show to the public some of their technical advances in the engine and transmission. With the huge amount of money given by the government, the Board of Trustees should instead allow the Saturn division to be controlled by their engineers and employees … and it will be surprised by the quality of the products.
I drive a 1994 saturn sc-2 and it never fails to amaze me. With 235,000 miles on it,thought it would have died a long time ago. The engine still performs and looks like new as well as the body. I even took this car on an off-road trip in upper michigan just last summer. Drove it over 50 miles through dirt, sand, and gravel. Handled like any new sports car would. After making the 300 mile trip back home, all it needed was a new weel bearing and right control arm. I don’t care what anyone thinks, I can always rely on my saturn to get me where I’m going and I will be upset if they discontinue the line. They are real tough, low-maintenance cars for a straight price. My friend owned a sunfire and it didn’t last half as long as my sc-2. The sunfire had a different problem every other week. I would rather see pontiac discontinued instead.
I’m glad that GM is thinking of getting rid of there repeat vehicles because we don’t neSTed need GM and Chevy trucks that are the same dam truck keep it simple and if they are the same get rid of one of the same line but a slight bit different it is just a excuse to hire a lot of over paid engineers to slightly notify a car to look a little different. We need to keep the same production like before but like 1 name so all those high up’s don’t need so much support staff. We have to many high up’s in this world any more that do nothing that is what is screwing up this industry but the big wigs will not fire them selves so we will be screwed till some one realizes it so if they go under that is the presidents of the company fault!!!E your text here…
I am on my second Vue (the first in a nasty accident…totalled the “other” car and made a deal with insurance to pro-rate a new Vue). It’s a 6 cylinder with some guts, lots of room and pretty decent gas milage. I will be sad to seee them go…the most modern looking and driving of the GM cars!!
I own a Saturn Sky everyone asks me “What kind of car is that?” Now I am so afraid of not being able to get a new one 4 years from now. I love this car and so do a lot of people. Hopefully GM will offer they SKY under the Ponitac Brand (Soltice), with the same sharp body style instead of the round style that the Soltice has.
I am very dissapointed in hearing that Saturn may be going out of business. I have been a customer of Saturn for 15 years. I’ve loved every vehicle that I have owned by them. They all have been VERY reliable. My most recent vehicle, Saturn Ion, saved my life in what was a horrible accident which totally demolished my vehicle. I was able to walk away from the accident with nothing more than a few scratches and bruises. I plan on buying a VUE very soon. I pray that GM will find other alternatives instead of discontinuing Saturn.
Im on my second Saturn, The first one I had was a 1998 SL1, I loved that car.NEVER had any problems with it at all, Till someone hit me head on at 3am in a bad area in New Orleans.the whole front was mashed, windsheild was broken, and roof had small dents on top. If I was in any other car!! I world have been killed. It saved my life, but I got out with just a bump on my head where I hit the seat belt holder on the side.My second one was in the shop for minor things but nothing ever major. I ran into the back of a Camery and cracked the bumper in half, My car bounced off of it. I kick the doors and fenders and people are amazed with it.I now have 100,000 miles on my ION3 and still like new.I know someone that had a Saturn and had 800,000 miles on it, YES 800 thousand miles, still was like new, but thats when Saturn was still the best back in the early 90’s-mid 90’s. GM should have never taken completly over and make the Aura now look like Pontiac.They should have KEPT the original SC, SL series cars, thats what started Saturn off and was the best. People have been run over by 18 wheelers in Saturns and walked out the car with mabe a scatch on them.I got a letter from Saturn the other day that stated 2011 be the last year. Hey you got rid of the best car. now look whats going to happen. Get rid of Hummer, noone wants that junk, books say they are the worst vehical right now!!! Now drop that and Sabb. noone buys that eather. Ilove my saturn and will drive it till all the numbers go back to 000,000
I love my 2009 Saturn sky!
My Saturn is 6 years old, has 180,000 miles on it and runs like new. I will miss this dependable car company.
I own a 1999 SC1 160,000 miles it has never stalled. I gave it to my son. I put a down payment on a Sky they promised for $27,000.00 before it was released. I waited 9 months for the car. When it finally arrived it was $35,000.00. I could not afford it. I was hoping to trade in my Toyota, if I could a good price to buy a Sky. I really would not like to see Saturn go under, even though the sales department really was not fair to me. The service is great. I owned a Saturn previous to my 1999 Saturn, it never broke down either. They are great cars. Anyone who really thinks the Saturn line or American cars are not good really is living in the 70’s. Overall Saturn has been a good car company.
The problem is now that the banks have been “taken over”. Credit has been reduced for those of us who are not out of work or over mortgaged. I never lived above my means and have been very financially conservative. I have a secure, tenured position (25 years),but they reduced my credit (Bank of America)from $22,000.00 to $7,000.00 and attempted to raise my interest rate from 7% to 14%, for no reason. They said it was due to my credit report. When I checked with all 3 companies a 7 1/2 year, one month behind mistake was caused this, which was an error, but Bank of America reported it in 12/08. I have $564.00 on the account. I am not the only one. When I tell people they have similar stories. I bailed out the banks to call me 2 days before the first of the month (Citifinancial)for my mortgage. Which I never have been late. I bailed out Bank of America to hurt my credit. The federal government gave my school district stimulus money for Special Education and they cut our days. We haven’t had a raise in 3 years. Yet, I am lucky I have a job. If I am having credit difficulties, then there is something seriously wrong. I buy on clearance and I don’t go out for dinner. I never buy new, if I can get it used. I drive far, so I need a new car every 4-5 years.
If I can’t stimulate the economy, who will?
I know…the Octomom.
What was the point of saving so much? Now the Florida Congress wants to “borrow” my son’s pre-paid college fund. I did everything right. I took the low salaried career and saved, only to have others, who are out of work now, after they had the six figure positions tell me that I really don’t deserve my pension. Where were they when I made $14,000.00 (making $50,000.00)? I am a liberal, democrat who knows this is NOT the answer. The banks should not have been given money.
I own a saturn and it has been very reliable. I’ve owned ‘fancy’ cars that needed so much work, it seemed I bought the thing twice. With my saturn the worst I’ve had was a fan belt problem after 4 years. I haven’t had a tune up so there is a minor issue with loose brakes. But again, that is my issue not a Saturn one. However, GM would not be the first giant to fall. I don’t see it as a sign of the times as many do. Montgomery Wards fell and they were a staple of America, as were other things.
Saturn now trying to be fancy is going to hurt them. While they are reliable, if someone is going to pay over 20 K for a car, they want a name with it and Toyota still has more prestige with the public than does saturn. That is just reality.
Heard this morning that an investment company is the first to make a move towards purchasing Saturn from General Motors.
I hope they do. And turn it into a more profitable company than General Motors is, just because GM is pissing me off.
I own a Saturn and I would buy another. I have a 2005 and all I’ve had to do was change the oil. I just recently changed the plugs at 75K and will probably redo the breaks in a couple of months just because of the mileage. It’s a great car. What a real shame if they give it the ax.
I’ve owned a Vue since 2006 and love it. It is a terrific little SUV–reliable, fun to drive, handles well and gets good gas mileage. I’m really sorry to hear that when I need a new car I won’t be able to replace it with a new Vue. I don’t know why this SUV or brand never caught on but figure it is just one more victim of poor PR, overinflated payrolls, overextended corporate credit and American corporate greed.
I have owned Saturn’s along with my family for years and years. I love them and they have never given me any problems. Actually I have never had to take any of them to the shop except for regular maint. Why don’t they get rid of something like the Chevy shit holes that I had nothing but problems with.
With rumors of bankruptcies and dealers going out of business (none of which were true),
Uhhm the post saying that it isn’t true that dealers are going out of business?
Sorry but two Saturn dealerships in Connecticut are now gone. I received a letter today from the dealership were I bought mine last year saying they sold the remaining of their inventory back to GM and are shutting the doors April 27. They will not even be doing warranty work. So now i have to drive 75 miles to get warranty work done, if my car is drivable.
I don’t get why there is this misconception of american cars being unreliable. I have a 82 gmc seirra classic with a 1970 camaro z28 motor and it has about 270,000mi on it and has yet to give me a problem, a friend of mine has a 1995 caddy fleetwood with 410,000 mi and the only thing he had to do was rebiuld the trans. I had a 98 camaro V6 and it had 180,000 mi on it, and all of you who want buick to go away maybe you should know if you have a V6 GM vechile you have a buick motor be it 3.4l, 3.6l, 3.8l, it’s a buick. Also I owned a 1992 190E it had 140,000 mi on it and the heads blew about 10,000 mi later and since it was a benz it was going to cost me about 9 grand to fix. So again I ask how are american cars unreliable and how are imports more reliable?