Why GM Deliberately Destroyed Its Best Car Company
5K views · Aug 11, 2026 · Education
Comments · 38
@A_Man_Named_Mark · 1 month ago
I sold Saturns in 00 and 01. It was a great company to work for, and GM absolutely did not learn a thing from the way we sold cars.
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@Rob-mk2sw · 1 month ago
GM is synonymous with ignorance. The government shouldn't have bailed them out.
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@tophermartinthecomic · 1 month ago
I owned three Saturn's, a 1996 SL sedan, a 2007 Ion, and a 2007 Outlook. They all had their quirks. The first and the last I bought used, the Ion I bought new. The SL burned oil and was a ticking time bomb - traded in for the Ion. The Ion was a good car, good mileage, but a growing family needed a larger vehicle. The Outlook was my favorite. Had major engine issue at 110,000 miles. GM paid for it through a Chevy dealer! Drove it another 50k miles before I got rid of it. The Outlook had a few quirks, like going through the wheel wells to change the headlights - that was a trip - both sides. My grandfather worked for GM for 34 years at the Milford Proving Ground before he retired in 1986. When he did, he told me they were still doing things wrong/badly since the day he started. Ironically, he move to Tennessee in 1993 and was later recruited to come "fix" the plant at Spring Hill, TN. He spent a couple of months there. The problem is the car model is wrong and I get it - "most GM cars run "badly" longer than other American cars run at all". They have no incentive to change and fix what's wrong, it's sad, really sad. 😮💨
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@iee4g6 · 1 month ago
Currently own a Saturn Outlook XR AWD. 2010, last of the “Saturns”. It’s basically a predecessor to the GMC Acadia Gen 1.5…..
1
@4h204x4 · 1 month ago
Still driving my sisters old 98 Saturn sl. Its got like 140k on it gonna drive it today shooting around getting 35 mpg.
5
@philldog71 · 1 month ago
Still have an 00' and 01' s series that never let me down. My Cranberry 01' just drove threw 2 feet of water for the third time and hasn't stopped giving her all. I miss saturn so much. Her rust is what hurts the most. Thank you everyone for building the used car I bought at 58k and she's at 220ish now. I'm getting ready to design and build the trailing arm mount replacement so I can keep her on the road. My dad welded the front subframe for me only for his 25+ years of being a milwright which is still rusting yet in good condition. I don't want to let them rot. Great cars if you keep oil in them. I work on many brands and just know that they all will eat oil to sell you another so be mindful and check before your vehicle is dead. Just my opinion.
@jarrodnewman0514 · 1 month ago
I had a 2004 Saturn Ion from August 2022 to August 2025. I took it to get new brakes installed and the cost was more than I expected it would be. So I took it back to where I got it and traded it for a 2013 Mazda3 and even got $2k off the price of the Mazda. That 04 Ion had 140k miles on it at the time. Not bad for a 21 year old car. Good running engine and transmission. But the underside had too much winter salt rust damage
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@Smokegrenade11 · 1 month ago
Had a 01 sc1 3door manual for my first car. Loved that car
@Boldly_Going · 1 month ago (edited)
I had a '94 wagon tier 1 trim, with which I drove a little more than 300k miles. I has. '95 coup tier 2 trim, that ended with a sale at 425k miles. I owned a 96 sedan (purchased used) that I turned into a racer and then sold for four times what I paid originally. I then owned an Ion, which was perhaps the crummiest vehicle I ever purchased new in my lifetime. It was sluggish, difficult to be comfortable in, both too low in the cabin and too high in the rear quarters, and it was a 1:1 copy of the slightly more expensive Chevrolet offering. I hated the car, and I dumped it as soon as I could after suffering with it for two years. The last Saturn I purchased was a Vue Redline edition in 2007. It was the polar opposite of the Ion, with creature comforts, plenty of power, lots of room and almost no blind spots (unlike the ion which was a deathtrap of blind spots). The problem was, that the engine was an Opel make, and exclusive to two vehicles, and only for that year. This was a problem because GM used a proven untrustworthy engine for which no recalls were ever issued, despite just as mine did- frequent, widespread catastrophic failures. I ordered a replacement engine in 2008 from the company directly which was supposed to be built entirely better, but I was given a refund about five months later because GM decided that the brand, the car, and its customers weren't worth it. Seriously.<br>Edit: I should mention that the first three Saturns in my list were always dependable, comfortable, never consumed oil, had plenty of power, and drove flawlessly. Even regular maintenance was inexpensive and simple. They were absolutely built to last, as long as the owner maintained them.
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@GORT70 · 1 month ago
I have a friend that had an SC1, stick shift. It was cool. Did the job just fine.
@danlilly1790 · 1 month ago
I loved my 95 SL2 . My roommate's dad was so impressed with mine he bought one. Then, he bought a second sedan. As did my best work friend who bought an L series.<br>The no-dicker sticker cannot be overstated as a benefit/draw. The maintenance dept. at my local dealer was spotless. As in, their floor, with a dozen cars being serviced, was WHITE. And they left their individual card, w/their name, and mints on the dashboard after running it through the on-site car wash after every interaction. Just a truly great experience that ONLY General Motors could find a way to fuck up.
@TheDisgruntledMechanic · 1 month ago
Thanks for the video. Still have my 1993 Saturn SC2 I bought new in 1993. It needs lots of work but I don't have the heart to scrap it. Not sure what I will eventually do with it. Parts are hard to impossible to find. Also visited the plant in late 1990's.
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