2008 Saturn Astra

Typical pattern

2.6% of complaints about the 2008 Saturn Astra came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2008 vehicle — around the middle of the 262 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 8.5 yr in service. The most-reported system is air bags (96 complaints), typically at 8.5 yr or about 63,773 miles.

Complaints: 192
Median age at failure: 8.5 yr
Median mileage: 52,000 n=98
Crash / fire / tow: 6.2% of reports
Safety recalls: 1

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

16V063000 2016-02-03

Air bags:frontal:driver side:inflator module

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2006-2011 Saab 9-3 vehicles manufactured May 31, 2002, to February 15, 2011, 2006-2009 Saab 9-5 vehicles manufactured June 7, 2005, to May 28, 2009, and 2008-2009 Saturn Astra vehicles manufactured April 11, 2007, to July 24, 2008. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.

In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

In owners’ own words

Air bags 37,890 mi 3.6 yr in service

AIRBAG LIGHT COME ON WHILE DRIVING MY 2008 SATURN ASTRA XR ???? NO ACCIDENT INVOLVED NO IDEA NO DAMAGE ...NONE ??? THE CAR ONLY HAVE 38K THANKS *TR

Air bags 55,000 mi 4.6 yr in service crash / fire / tow

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 SATURN ASTRA. THE CONTACT STATE THAT WHILE DRIVING 25 MPH, SHE CRASHED HEAD-ON INTO A TREE AND FRACTURED HER RIBS, STERNUM AND VERTEBRAE. THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY AND THE CONTACT SUFFERED MAJOR INJURIES TO HER RIBS AND BACK. THE CONTACT WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL AND A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS DESTROYED AND THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 55,000. UPDATED 06 /05/12 *BF THE VEHICLE WAS TOTALED BY HER INSURANCE COMPANY. UPDATED 06/18/12

Air bags 109,000 mi 8.1 yr in service

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 SATURN ASTRA. THE CONTACT COULD NOT START THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS FINALLY ABLE TO BE STARTED. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V063000 (AIR BAGS); HOWEVER ,THE PART TO DO THE RECALL REPAIR WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VIN WAS INVALID. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 109,000.

Electrical system mileage not reported 1.3 yr in service

SERVICE UPDATE-INV & CUST-OBD SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS RPRGRM ECM & TCM EXP 8/80 WARR. TYPE:YT NUMBER:08335. *TR

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

2008 Saturn Astra

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

In owners’ own words

How to read this