Yeah, I sometimes have to chuckle about the transmission and EGR problems many owners report on the Odyssey forums I visit. Some threads brought up striking similarities to those about Saturns some years ago on this newsgroup. I'm sure the Toyota sludge problems generated the same types of complaints for the many years Toyota denied these problems and refused to cover them, before consumer advocates began to apply pressure and generate bad publicity.
I also agree with what fish said in their posts. Back in the 90s, the Saturn small cars were pretty consistently rated above average in CR's reliability ratings. They were also at or among the top of the class in the crash tests and safety ratings available at the time. CR still didn't recommend them because of their internal test scores. While all the published, objective measurements and ratings from CR were usually very similar to the competition, the subjective comments and considerations resulted in overall scores that were just a hair short of the rating needed on the bar chart to be "Recommended." Whether this was fair or not was in the eye of the beholder. A search of the Google archives will turn up many threads and insightful comments on these same topics.
Today, most Saturns would be excluded from a recommended pick if only due to their below average reliability (according to CR). The Ion is projected as average, but its low crash test results and overall evaluation keep it from being recommended. I'd have given Saturn strong consideration when purchasing my last two minivans, based on my good experiences with the SL2 in the 90s. Unfortunately, the safety, convenience, performance and features just didn't match Honda and Toyota, let alone the very reasonable models from Nissan, Ford and Chrysler.
As a side note, the Ion crash test results are indeed very disappointing. At a time when most newer models have been designed to do well in the NHTSA and IIHS crash tests, models like the Ion are not keeping up with the rest. Saturn didn't even bother to submit a side curtain airbag equipped Vue for additional IIHS testing. Only the Nissan Sentra and Kia Spectra rival it for worse-than-average performance in both the IIHS and NHTSA crash tests. For anyone interested in overall safety, don't simply trust one or two results or anecdotes for a vehicle. The website
Seems like being absorbed by GM corporate has really taken the "different" concept to the wrong extreme, lately.
Caviller