All makes / Saturn

Saturn problems by model

Owners have filed 18,802 complaints with NHTSA about the 11 Saturn models with enough data to profile here, covering 39 model years from 1992 through 2009. The ION draws the most at 5,467, 29.1% of the make's total.

Models11

Model years39

Complaints18,802

Crashes1,163

Deaths30

Read this first

Complaint volume tracks how many cars a make sold as much as how they held up, and NHTSA complaints are unverified owner reports rather than confirmed defects. Nothing on this page compares Saturn against another manufacturer. Use it to find the model, then the model year, then read what owners of that year actually filed.

Every Saturn model

Model	Model years	Complaints	Most-reported year	Top system that year
ION	5 2003–2007	5,467	2006 1,537	Steering (35.8%)
VUE	8 2002–2009	3,265	2003 873	Power train (36.8%)
SL	11 1992–2002	2,860	1995 481	Engine and engine cooling (15.6%)
Aura	3 2007–2009	2,215	2007 950	Power train (20.0%)
Outlook	3 2007–2009	1,916	2008 926	Exterior lighting (27.0%)
LS	3 2000–2002	1,883	2001 708	Engine and engine cooling (43.1%)
SKY	2 2007–2008	558	2007 342	Air bags (69.0%)
L200	1 2003–2003	207	2003 207	Electrical system (26.6%)
Astra	1 2008–2008	192	2008 192	Air bags (50.0%)
Relay	1 2005–2005	137	2005 137	Service brakes, hydraulic (19.7%)
SC1	1 1994–1994	102	1994 102	Seats (33.3%)

Model years shown are those with at least 100 complaints on file, the gate every page on this site has to clear.

Reading the numbers

Across every Saturn model year on the site, electrical system is the system named most often: 3,611 complaints, 23.5% of those filed under a named system. Individual model years diverge from that sharply, which is the reason to read the year rather than the badge.

The three most-reported Saturn models (ION, VUE and SL) account for 61.7% of the make's complaint volume. That is a concentrated picture: most of what gets reported about Saturn here comes from three nameplates. Bear in mind that a nameplate selling in the millions will out-file a niche one whatever its record.

Of the 18,802 complaints, 1,163 describe a crash, 293 describe a fire and 30 report a death.

Most-reported Saturn model years

2006 Saturn ION 1,537 complaints · 35.8% steering 2003 Saturn VUE 873 complaints · 36.8% power train 1995 Saturn SL 481 complaints · 15.6% engine and engine cooling 2007 Saturn Aura 950 complaints · 20.0% power train 2008 Saturn Outlook 926 complaints · 27.0% exterior lighting 2001 Saturn LS 708 complaints · 43.1% engine and engine cooling 2007 Saturn SKY 342 complaints · 69.0% air bags 2003 Saturn L200 207 complaints · 26.6% electrical system 2008 Saturn Astra 192 complaints · 50.0% air bags

The single heaviest model year of each Saturn nameplate, 1992–2009. Heaviest is not worst. Read it alongside the model page.