Saturn: One Car at a Time

[@Democracy10]

Lady's and Gentleman, it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my lifetime. It was truly a pleasure and honor to be given a opportunity to work at Spring Hill. A former employee of GM by Saturn in Spring Hill Tennessee USA 🇺🇸. Thank you

[@rogueelement1176]

@Bruce Griffin don't waste your time. your saturn vue like my 08 saturn vue is someone elses rebranded opel garbage. built in a non saturn plant.

[@waltchan]

@Bruce Griffin Other than SL, SC, and SW, all of the newer Saturn models were not original designs, and no longer a different kind of company. Saturn reliability scores by Consumer Reports also fall down sharply starting in year 2000 with L sedans, and then all Saturn models had below-average to poor reliability scores by 2003 to the end. By mid-2000s, no one was buying Saturn anymore.

[@buckwylde7965]

Still driving my 2001 SL2 that my wife found at an estate sale with 40,000 miles on it 12 years ago. Easy to fix and parts are dirty cheap.

[@brianwilson6403]

Started 01, November 1990. Spent most of my time on the 600 line. Finished in material 01 August 2012. Yes it was a good place to work.

[@carwrtr1]

Saturn was a subsidiary division of General Motors that work up GM as a whole. It was sad to see Saturn go…

[@homestar92]

Rest in peace, Saturn. You truly were a different kind of car :'(

[@culturaaventurera2621]

Yo tengo un Saturn SC1, mod 95. Vino desde la fábrica en EU y cruzó por toda la República Mexicana hasta llegar a Yucatán, en dónde sigue con migo en perfectas condiciones.

[@Cokie907]

I wish GM would have an S-series gathering. Some of these cars are approaching 30 years old with well over 350,000 miles and they look shiny new. The only rust on my 28 year old Saturn is a small hole in the hood just above the latch mechanism. She still drives great and gets 35-40 mpg depending on how much I coast. 😂 A great car to own with gas at $3 a gallon and rising. Insurance on newer vehicles has skyrocketed but I only pay $350 a year on my trusty little SL2. 😊

[@MissAmazanda]

I have a 1996 saturn wagon and it is closing in on 300K so I watched this video to see why my little car won't seem to quit lol. Guess they put a lot of quality in these cars

[@jasonvogue4487]

I still have my 94 SC2, 200k my 95SW2 has over 300 thousand

[@flori5548]

I want a SATURN now. Work in the german Auto industry which is fantastic but watching this it really seems like SATURN also had been very special and inspirational ...too bad they never made it to Europe; they would’ve sold like hot cakes!

[@SaturnIonQCVTi]

Saturn was the best car company parents had 2 brand new saturns and now I want to buy at least 2

[@Alkebulani_Shujaa]

I just bought my First Saturn! I wish I had grown up and done it sooner. Saturn is something special. Ase'

[@scoobycrush9231]

I have a 97 Saturn SC2 and just recently hit 100,000 miles. I love my car! I fixed it up with new wheels, tires, paint job, tint. Looks great!

[@TheAmusingNerd]

I have this VHS. I Love Saturn.

[@1966Bclass]

I'm a former Saturn Tech and I still own the same vehicle from 2001. It's SC2 manual transmission and it has 345,246 miles on it. It still has the original valve cover gasket on it from day 1. I't not costing me any money it uses some oil now. I have been told it's time to put a LS3 engine in it. I said I will the day it needs one. It just wont stop running.

[@waltchan]

Is the SOHC or DOHC 1.9L more-reliable?

[@earlscheib7754]

@@waltchan dohc is more reliable the sohc had cylinder head cracking issues

[@ARAR148]

I have 3 saturn coupe sc1's in black, a 1994 with 105,000 mi, a 1995 with 264,000 mi, a 1996 with 340,000 miles. there all in great shape, but the 1995 is in like new condition overall. saturn first gen coupes are my favorite cars made.

[@patricebradley9547]

Still driving my 95’ SL1. Love it, the stick shift and how reliable and my mechanic that knows it well.

[@aricsnyder5882]

I was trained certified tech at Spring Hill. Our class were the first to see the new 97 SC before anyone except the workers. The lost foam method for the "Power Module" block was really cool. The space frame was solid as a rock and kept the weigh inside the wheels. Too bad the interior panels dash etc.. Were GM parts bin quality, they rattled like a Trans Am. We turned our 91 SC2 cutaway car into a SCCA Race Car.

[@christopherknowsbest9666]

I own a saturn sky as my work car. And I love it. These cars are absolutely fantastic

[@brandonhebert5485]

Sorry the sky was junk. Only the 01 and earlier Saturns are really worth anything. Reliability fell off sharply past 01. They were just rebadged cars from other brands and no longer unique.

[@cybair9341]

I still drive my 1995 SW1 and 1998 SW2. And I intend to drive them to the junkyard. A special Thanks for the people who designed and built them !

[@auxmike]

I had a 1993 SL1 and a 1997 SL2 , both 5 speeds! The engines were unique to Saturn too. Once the pulled the polymer paneled SL series after 2002, the magic died with it:(

[@DJAmtrak2]

My father was a robot tender in the paint dept at the plant in Spring Hill from its beginning until 2017 when it was a General Motors plant. I bought my SL2 in 2000 and kept it until 2019. I loved it, but it was time to move on to something more modern. I sold it to a teen knowing it would be the perfect car for someone to drive on their own for the first time. Such a sad story the company has. I personally think they'd still be around if they could have found a way to not let GM buy them out again.

[@seamus2015]

We were never bought out by GM. We were GM from day one, it was just that we had independence from GM that the rest of the company did not have. Once those at the top who helped create Saturn were gone the rest looked at us as something to tear apart. We held out as long as we could until GM pretty much told us it was over and we had no choice. I know that all of us who came down here to create Saturn do not regret our decision. We just wish it could have continued on. Saturn was the best years of my 31 years working for GM.

[@moxiegaming8726]

After watching this video, before I was a fan of Pontiac.. now I like Saturn and Pontiac. This makes me wonder though, I want a cool Saturn hat!! 4:38

[@geneo317]

I have own several Saturns. They are great running cars. GM really should have not shut this division down. I just purchased a 2004 ION with 57000 miles. It runs great.

[@Y3ARxOFx53RP3NT]

Still have my sc1 439k later 👍🥰

[@Ebbsilen]

I owned more than 30 cars in my life and my Saturn, an automatic 95 SL2 that i swapped to manual, was simply the more reliable and well built car i ever had. If you who reads this ever worked at that factory, i want to thank you personally. Sadly mine has a little down time at the moment, but as always, i know it will be a small part, easy to change and ridiculously cheap. The car may be 26 years old right now and having 320 000kms, she still looks like new and i can't wait to ride it again when my mysterious issue is fixed.

[@ARAR148]

I have a black 1995 sc1 Saturn coupe, with 261500 miles, I love these cars

[@aaronamarok]

Imagine if General Motors kept Saturn as a company- Imagine how different today's cars would've turned out if they kept the "one car at a time" method and put money into this theory to make it more efficient to work for all companies. Maybe most of today's cars wouldn't be, for lack of better terms, junk. Who knows?

[@smallstudiodesign]

Funny story ... I’ve got my 2002 SATURN SC-1 (manual/standard transmission with 200,000 kms) downstairs in the garage ... still runs beautifully, has so much pep, and great condition.. Mind you, she’s only been driven by my friend and I, and we’re great drivers & always kept up the maintenance.. I’m only going to sell her because I bought a new 2021 MAZDA CX-30 GT + I won’t be able to sustain two insurances while pay extra parking storage etc. So she’s up for grabs in Vancouver, BC 🇨🇦

[@443drag]

My first new car was a 95 SL. Over 10 years I put better than 180000 miles on it. Sure there were some issues(like the manual trans shifter). But it was still a fun little car. And the engine and trans were still going strong.

[@Davids-fb9ub]

Lol I'm in freshman college...now I know how my car was made

[@fleuger99]

GM killed it because the Saturn cars were eating into other GM brands, not just the Japanese competition. I loved my SL2.

[@giberish9]

My '95 sw2 currently has 325,000 miles on it. Still runs, drives, and looks great, but has alot of rattles and body is rotting out structurally so it's days are numbered.

[@RedneckTipsByScott]

I just bought a junkyard hood to make a 2" cowl hood over the winter for my custom supercharged 01 wagon and in doing research, it's one of 3416 wagons produced in 2001

[@russellbluewolf6427]

as the owner of a 2002 S-Series, its a pretty neat car..Sure it has its quirks, but i like it over all

[@SaturnIonQCVTi]

I❤️Saturn

[@dzvxo]

Same

[@thegoprogroup3420]

+WindowsLover6767 same

[@modelmode8]

Saturn cars are actually quite reliable. I've been rallying mine for five years now on A/T's and so far only broke common cheap parts.

[@DjICEbrooklynNYC]

My Saturn 350k miles still running new amazing American cars ..

[@BlurryLens3105]

I loved Saturn. It was the only car company I liked that GM owned. My dad had a 2001 Red Saturn L200 it lasted almost 17 years. Saturn was truly a good company, it was sad to see it go.

[@pvnbnu]

Very good, excellent film!

[@Kieva_Storm]

I love my 95 Saturn SC2. I want Saturn back.

[@samuelchristensen322]

Daniel Conner I want that for my first car

[@Wannabecowboy004]

I have 2 1996 Saturns right now one is a SW2 automatic and the other is a SL2 5spd I wouldn’t trade or sell either one of them for anything they have a personality all of their own both have 200k and still going strong RIP Saturn

[@jasonvogue4487]

I was a center mechanic and I can drop that cradle in no time there was so many people that run them in the curbs and I had to drop the Cradle so many times

[@Murjam100]

Wish I bought a Saturn. They made a difference.

[@rockvilleraven]

GM sabotaged Saturn, had they kept it independent from the rest of GM, they would have competed with the Hondas and Toyotas of today. I read that Honda got a hold of one of them and took it apart and it did not meet their quality standards. The only way that you can build a high quality car in the US is to have someone like Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda open a plant in the US, hire non union labor and train them in the Japanese way of auto building. I got the last of the 1996 SL 2s, lasted me 18 years before trading it in on a Toyota Corolla LE which I've had two weeks and not had to take it back to the dealer for service, like my first Saturn.

[@SaturnIonQCVTi]

Sabotage is a understatement

[@markusrussell1889]

Yeah more like cold blooded murder. Ah man I miss my Saturn.

[@aricsnyder5882]

rockvilleraven started with the LS 300 basically a Malibu build in Wilmington Delaware. Then the Ion aka Cobolt they weren't Saturn anymore, although the Ion Redline was stout.. The VUE aka Equinox

[@rogueelement1176]

@@SaturnIonQCVTi sabotage?!? more like thrown under a bus.

[@liam-man7265]

How it’s Made: Saturn edition.

[@jezeski2011]

I felt a bit sad when I heard that some of those worker relocated there to make that place their life/career and ended up losing so much because Saturn was killed off way too soon

[@seamus2015]

CJ most of us did not lose. We came down here because we did believe in what Saturn was, but thanks to our age then and now most of us were able to retire and now enjoy our time with our families and friends here in Tennessee. There were some that did take a hit because of GM, but the majority of us have ended up ok.

[@bellathebestautisticgirl247]

Rest in peace saturn car I always remember YOU 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭⚰⚰⚰⚰⚰⚰

[@SaturnIonQCVTi]

I now have a 2003 Ion 2 Quad Coupe (edit: now I have another quad coupe a 2003 ion 3 currently we have 3 saturns in the driveway) and my sister has a 1998 SL2 we love our saturns

[@brandonhebert5485]

Unfortunately the Ion was junk. Anything past 01 the reliability ratings fell off sharply.

[@ahill7866]

I just bought my 3rd "Used" Satun, this one a 2002 Saturn SL2. It has 207,000 miles on it whn I bouoght it. I have never seen a car that is sooo easy to work on, as well built and get the mileage I was looking for. Why GM would choose to drop this brand to his day makes me sick. While gas prices were going up, GM gets the one brand that well worked. I know we may never see another NEW Saturn, but it would be nice if GM would wake up and bring the brand back!

[@maxharmon1173]

How many miles do you get on a gallon usually?

[@ahill7866]

I'm getting over 32mpg in the city, almost 40mpg on highway. LUV this little car.

[@mcleanblades9234]

I have a 2000 SL2. After purchasing the car - at 183,000 miles 3 years ago - I've spent 3000$ on it since then. So now it has a black leather interior, leather steering wheel, refurbished alloy wheels and lots of new parts... exhaust, emissions, struts. Now it has 225,000. It's sporty and reliable. It's small compared to most cars - which I don't like - but I do like the 30MPG it gets.

[@ahill7866]

That's awesome, sounds like you really did a nice job and hopefully last a long time.

[@TheCabinfever1977]

I get 40mpg city with my saturn

[@Nautajoey]

I love my Saturn ion and always will 🥺

[@viktordoom9250]

FASCINANTE EL SATURN

[@velezdragon3574]

I love my sl1❤

[@nicolelawton7205]

Saturn Corporation is a division that woke up GM, and they also helped to improve GM overall. Chevrolet HATED Saturn, and it was out of jealousy. It's funny, but Saturn helped improve GM quality in Chevrolet and Pontiac, and Buick and Oldsmobile made improvements as well. From the looks of the product, Saturn's designers probably came from Oldsmobile, and that's a good thing. I miss Saturn, for they had a quality product that made its place in the American car industry. Saturn was also the top rated GM division in "overall quality and customer satisfaction," with Oldsmobile being number 2. GM is still paying for discontinuing Saturn and Oldsmobile....

[@waltchan]

Was Buick number 3?

[@chrisbrown3925]

My 2001 sl2 is still on the original clutch at 136,000 miles

[@Skittleman2341]

It is funny how GM poured so much money into the Saturn brand and making state of the art production facility and then discontinues the brand in 2009. What a waste of money for GM. I am sure that this facility is stilling empty right now. GM should utilize what it has in TN. I guess that is what happens when a multi million dollar car company throws money around like that. I hope that GM realizes that Saturn was a decent company and puts it back into production. The one company, at the time, that had decent looking cars and at least two of the vehicles were hybrids. Plus, it was the one GM brand that the cars got decent fuel economy as well. All I have to say is, Why GM? Why?

[@SaturnIonQCVTi]

I hope they do put Saturn back into production someday.

[@Skittleman2341]

Oh, I see. Well, I am glad that GM is doing something with the facility and not letting go to waste.

[@ericgandy3839]

They now make Chevy Equinox and GMC Acadia over three shifts now at the Saturn plant. They’re going bring a new vehicle this Spring also.

[@93sundance]

Cadillac XT5

[@brianwilson6403]

Currently Spring Hill Mfg is making the Cadillac XT5, XT6, GMC Acadia, (which will be going back to Lansing Delta Township plant), and the Cadillac Lyriq. The new Ulitum Battery plant is supposed to be running later this year. Not sure what engines are still here.

[@DanielPerez-zk6ut]

What kind of material were used to make the doors?

[@jdtractorman7445]

Polymer, basically plastic. It was a good selling point for the vehicles though because they were dent resistant.

[@brianwilson6403]

​@@jdtractorman7445 And they don't rust.

[@electronicasolorio2988]

I wish they could make those cars again or that saturn brand again!A tip if you have cars of that brand take care of them restore them they are jewels There will be no more cars of that brand, it hurts that I do not have But my best experience was learning to drive in a Saturn ion and I was Delighted with the car ...

[@brandonhebert5485]

My dad went to buy a new Saturn. He went into the salesmans office to dicker about the sticker price. The salesman said "Oh no, no wiggle room. Sticker price is sales price." My father walked out and went and bought a Chevy. Ironically enough 10 years later he bought a used Saturn. Still has it, but things are breaking on it and parts are getting hard to find. The AC fan motor now only has 3 speeds, high no longer works. But you try to find a new switch for the dash panel and it's no longer available. The passenger side auto lock switch went out. You can find the driver side, but the passenger side is no longer available. He ended up finding one in a junkyard somewhere. The demise of these cars will be lack of available parts.

[@pacemoccasin439]

one of the best stock bucket seats of all time 13:35

[@andrewpizzino2514]

95 sl2 270K still going strong

[@johnasbury7511]

I never looked at a Saturn new . I was to large for the SL... But I have an Outlook . I always loved the concept. The last true American GM

[@Mr._Zachtastic]

Why'd they get rid of Saturn? It was so good. It's 2024, and I still see Saturns driving around!

[@brandonhebert5485]

Because at the end it had lost its place. It was no longer unique, the cars it made were no longer reliable. GM didn't kill Saturn when it making good cars, it killed it when it was making crap nobody wanted.

[@shannonpaplow7754]

GM NEEDS to start building these vehicles again. Forget the Electric Bullshit unless its integrated into new Saturn vehicles and Keep it American Built.

[@BRIDON777]

I have driven a Saturn (1991-2002) for the last 20 years. Currently a 2002 SL1 with 50k original miles. I can afford to drive a more expensive car, I have no desire to. A Saturn car always finds me when its time to get another car. This may be my last experience with Saturn. But my 2002 may last until who knows. My Saturns have always been great for me......and my family. They are SO reliable.....and last SO long. And are cheap to fix, No wonder GM ruined Saturn. So sad!

[@brandonhebert5485]

If you can find parts. They're getting very hard to come by with some impossible to find.

[@BRIDON777]

​@@brandonhebert5485I haven't had any problems finding parts for my vehicles. Luckily. But they don't require them too often.

[@Samsonite4188]

ah the place where the intake gasket wrinkle started

[@Flashahol]

LOL! 2001 SC1 and my P0301 code has been quiet for 5 days in a row after spraying throttle body cleaner in the intake with the engine running and cleaning all the other sensors and emissions control valves. Crossing my fingers really tight! Took well over 14 years before the code first appeared and currently running butter smooth, aside for a 35$ top engine mount that is due. I love this car; it's by far the best I've owned so far (including 1 Toyota, 1 Nissan and 2 Civics), so long as I keep my local mechanic from buying cheap after-market parts (Chinese bearings and brake discs won't last a year). My father even offered to buy me a much, much newer car and I refused... at least till I take this one to the grave for the right reason. I even looked up how to change the intake gasket myself just in case. You're taking this car away from me over my dead body and broken fingers!!! GM killed the wrong line IMO. They still offer quite a bit of money to take it back if I shop at their dealership, and I presume it is because it makes all their other lines look bad. Just bring it back GM, just bring it back!

[@risingembersgaming7740]

So sad gm turned Saturn from a new type of car company to a dumping ground for rebadged vehicles. They really had something there. The beginning of the end for Saturn was the relay, IE the chevy uplander, Or Pontiac Montana. It lost dent proof panels, and was ugly, bland, and horribly unreliable. Every car they came out with after that was another rebadge. The first generation saturns were cool in my opinion (don’t tell anybody)

[@chriswright8464]

GMs last good auto company.

[@jasonvogue4487]

Couldn’t be because The SW2 didn’t come out until 93

[@jasonb2702]

Shopping cart

[@jelanimclean6326]

Saturn. 🇺🇸

[@vassa1972]

I wonder what happened to these people that lost their jobs

[@18WheelinEagle]

One of the ugliest cars ever. They look like little mini VCR's on wheels

[@brandonhebert5485]

I've never seen a VCR that looked like that. Perhaps you commented on the wrong video.....

[@hansz54]

another joke from gm

[@samuelchristensen322]

Joke that it ended? Or joke about the car?

[@prestoncheapbtheadphoneste3010]

An cheap Oldsmobile. 🫤😐

[@brandonhebert5485]

And much more reliable. And peppy. My parents own the 01 wagon and that is the zippiest little car you'd ever drive. It's the one station wagon I don't mind being seen in because while driving it I'm all smiles.