Littleguy Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 They look nice and all (I prefer the looks of the Solstice) but they seem very rough around the edges in a lot of areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miller11386 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Sky Dyno with 2871 turbo, tune, plus full bolt ons: Beating the dog shit out of the car when I put it back to stock and just before it sold. Can you get the groceries in it? No.. can you put a baby seat in it? No. Is it fun as hell to go cruise and play around? Absolutely. Such a blast to go beat around in. Enough power to be fun, but nothing you had to worry about controlling on dry roads. There are many times I wish I still had one just to play around in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miller11386 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POS VETT Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Yes you can put a baby seat in it, even the rear-facing one. The passenger seat has an occupancy sensor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 All good information in this thread. Also, never close the hood with the doors open or else you will bend the hood and dent the doors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POS VETT Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 I have no problem opening and closing my hood with doors open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miller11386 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 I have no problem opening and closing my hood with doors open. all depends on how your doors and hood line up and are adjusted. its a good practice not to shut the hood with the doors open unless you like chipping your door paint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc1647545523 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 No personal experience with them, but here's the take from Grassroots Motorsports: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/buyers-guide-other-roadster/ There are a few good forum links in the article as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miller11386 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Buyers guide from one of my fellow skyroadster pals. Much more detailed and done by a guy who understand the cars, not by some blog jockey The squeek you describe may be the same one that many owners have experienced since the early days. Tilt the driver's seat forward and follow the seatbelt back to the port where it penetrates the rear panel of the cockpit. At this point, there is an interface between the seatbelt guide and two plastic panels. Many owners have found that the squeek is caused by the seat back pressing on this junction and causing them to rub against each other as the car moves while traversing even relatively smooth roadway. I eliminated this squeek by putting a small piece of self stick velcro into the joint between the two panels to prevent them from rubbing together at this point. I am appending a "check list" for new owners that you might find helpful. The vast majority of the deployed fleet of Kappa’s have had little or no issues at all. The owners take them home, have the dealers do maintenance, put gas into them and drive them until they want something new or the car is damaged beyond economic repair. A tiny minority of cars have issues. And a much smaller minority of that subset have serious problems. To my knowledge, there have been on the order of 12 owners with major issues, like engine failures or differential failures. NA cars - that is the 2.4 L normally aspirated cars - are going for 100k, 200k and approaching 300kl miles with few problems. The problems are "normal" failures like water pumps, clogged catalytic converters etc. Some of the early cars had issues with the differential. Several were replaced under warranty. There was a recall for all 06 and 07 MY cars that addressed the rear end. Some cars have rear end wine and some have a "clunk" when making significant throttle changes. I have yet to see a failure resulting from these symptoms. The only failures I am aware of were loss of lubrication or just a mechanical failure . Again we are talking less than 10? The GXP cars are also pretty much bullet proof. A small - very tiny minority have had significant electrical problems that have been traced back to manufacturing errors. One Sky - GS Stage1 on the Sky forum had major issues that resulted in over a year of problems. In the end he got taken care of by GM, new engine, partial remanufacturing of his car . .. Should GM Buy Back My Car? - Saturn Sky Forums: Saturn Sky Forum One GXP coupe had a series of undiagnosed electrical problems that GM chose to not address but they bought the car back from the Oregon owner and made him good. GXPs have had some water pump failures, beginning as early as 25k miles with a cluster in the 50k region. All were repaired under warranty. There are several threads that cover this information, waterpump woes Some automatic cars have had hard downshifting issues. It appears that these are related to cam position servo failures that cause the transmission control module to go into protection mode intermittently. Auto transmission suckage There have been issues with the tops early on due to improper adjustment of the top mechanism and / or the door windows. Some cars were built without the acoustic liner and are noisier. Some early cars were built with plastic ball end joints which failed in some cases are resulted in a redesign. Putting the top up without opening the doors or lowering the windows will cause issues over time. Failure to lubricate the side hinges over the windows can result in sticking. top ripping/pinching fix There are cables that actuate the trunk release and the buttress releases. The plastic retention balls on the ends can fail and make it impossible to open the trunk normally. Trunk won't open Get a GM record pulled to verify the in service date and warranty remaining. Any GM dealer can do this for you. You want to start with the local car because the Sky and Sol are highly susceptible to damage when lifted improperly. The front fenders crack frequently due to road vibration and are easily crushed if lifted with a floor jack. If there is damage you want to identify it before sale and with a dealer you can push to get them to repair the damage as part of the sale. There are basically no available right side factory fenders anymore and few left side fenders. They are repairable and there are aftermarket replacements available from DDM but you need to know if the fenders are cracked as this can be up to a $1k swinger on the retail price. You also want to take a good look at the bottom front. Because of the configuration of the car nearly every new owner rams them into curbs one to several times and they get damaged. At the very least there will be scrapes on the bottom of the bumper cover that you can use to get a lower price or commitment to repair from a dealer that you probably will not get from a private party seller. You also want to take a hard look at the top. More than a few cars have had problems with the folding mechanism that has damaged the canvas where it folds over the windows and / or damage to the canvas when it rubs against an improperly adjusted side window. The top is also susceptible to damage from the hold down feet mounted on the trunk lid. The rubber feet come off, fail or even twist allowing direct contact between the mounting structure and the top canvas while the top is in the trunk. I have seen more than one car that has holes in the top due to this. The canvas is $1600 plus installation which at a dealer can run into several hundred dollars. And to the best of my knowledge while there are plenty of replacement canvas parts available, there are no more top assemblies in stock. You want to visually inspect the cup holders. The front one is notorious for failing and they cost upwards of $100 for replacement parts plus installation labor. The rear one between the seats is much more robust however they can and do get so full of dust and dirt that they will no longer deploy. If treated well they are fine but you do not know till you try to pull the things out. Another area that I recommend you inspect is the center console. If the previous drivers did like me and leaned on them hard while driving and used them as a support while getting in and out of the car, they all will crack right down the center. I have had mine replaced under the warranty but you are probably out of warranty. The cover is easy to replace but again is in the range of $100 for a replacement part from GM. There are several threads that cover reinforcing below the cover so it will not crack again and DDM has a replacement that is much stonger and includes two cup holders but again that is in the same cost plus shipping and you get to install it. If you are by chance looking at a 2008 RL, one factor is the production run for the first 6 or 8 months deleted the electronic vacuum pump that provided motive force for the brakes immediately after start up. The issue presents itself on some cars as high brake pedal force required and / or pulsing of the brake pedal for the first few seconds to the first couple of minutes upon cold start after sitting for an extended period or at high altitude. The issue is that the turbo car does not generate much vacuum (its boosted) and as a result once the vacume accumulator leaks down, there is no vacuum for the power brakes when you start. And when you start the factory tune, it is set to heat up the catalytic converter and not optimized for creating vacuum. There was a big safety investigation made and a lot of people had problems with this about mid-way through 2008 calendar year. My wife's car falls in this group and about once or twice a year we get the symptoms but it works fine through it and within about 30 seconds there is normal brake feel. The factory has a software update that if asked they will install on cars with this complaint and in extreme cases there is a retro fit kit that adds back on the electronic vacuum pump. But again, you cannot tell if the car you are looking at falls into this group or not unless you physically check for the pumps presence on the left side of the engine block, and unless you drive the car from a cold start. If you are buying from a dealer you could make the software update part of the deal and get a promise to do the pump retro fit under warranty because GM normally pays for it. You want to cycle the driver’s seat up and down because a lot of cars have never had their electric adjusters cycled and they need to be freed up and lubricated before they work correctly. In fact, I did a test last year and out of 40 cars and 80 drivers only 5 knew that the driver’s seat went up and down with the switch! Servicing the seat is no big deal but it will be half an hour of labor and some parts allowance so its in the $100 range. If you buy from a dealer you are much more likely to have this addressed as part of the deal than if you buy from a private party. And if you do not have access to the car its difficult to verify operation. Many, maybe most of the key fobs for 2006 through 2008 at least have a known manufacturing problem. The metal tab / connector that holds the battery in place has a cold solder joint. The fob starts to work intermittently and eventually stops working. If you are good with a solder iron you can easily fix it as many of us have done, but if not, then the dealer will charge you around $100 for a replacement fob and programming it with the car. Potentially times two. If you have access to the fobs, you can pop them open and inspect the condition of the at risk part and know if you are good to go or not. If not, again you are much more likely to get the fob replaced as part of the deal by a dealer. The door sills have an aluminum insert that is glued to the plastic part. Unfortunately as a result of the attachment method and the difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between the aluminum trim insert and the plastic door sills, the aluminum part will almost always bow up around .25 inches in the middle during cold weather. In some instances drivers will drag their heels across the door sills and can catch the trim plate and bend the crap out of it. They are relatively cheap - around $25 plus labor to install, but if you find it after the fact then it’s your $25 and not the sellers. If you are getting a GXP, put an OBD2 reader on it and pull any codes. There can be codes that are not displayed but that can indicate incipient problems. Have the selling dealer pull the outlet air tube from the turbo at the turbo and check for oil. A little oil is normal. If there is a lot of oil there then have the breather valve checked. When they fail, and if the car is driven moderately hard they pump oil out of the valve cover into the intake at the turbo. If there is a LOT of oil there, have them check the drain on the intercooler to verify that it is not holding pooled oil there. Check the intake clamps for condition. The factory clamps are basically radiator screw clamps and have been known to fail and allow leakage which can cause tuning issues under boost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustlestiltskin Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 I've been kicking around the idea of selling the MS3 and picking up a fun little Saturn Sky. Drove a buddies redline yesterday and it was a damn fun ride and I've liked them since the onset. Too bad they are gone. Thoughts on reliability and being a Saturn and all? Not a fan of the appearance of the solstice really. http://i.imgur.com/J2sVJAW.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeesammy Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 You ever met chad (start master) hes well into the 6 feet area and he daily drives his fine. They are fun cars, and dont belive scott on the wind he just doesnt like to get his perm from the salon messd up. Its just as normal as any other car I feel. Drove chads in the winter from easton to newark top down and was near no wind. Ide say go for it if your worried about kids u have the urban assult mini van and your company car if neeeed be. Might as well have a fun car. Also off topic for the money on a sky redline, couldnt u be in a c5c5z for the same price? More car for the money. Yes I've met Chad, (starkmaster). Scott likely just wants to be able to have a conversation without screaming as you can in 80% of the convertibles out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkmaster03 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Like others have said, it's a parts bin car and when you own one, you notice the smaller things. The wind is significantly more turbulent than the Miata but when your by yourself it doesn't bother me. Mine only has map sensors and a tune. Stock hp is supposed to be 260/260 which is about 221/221 at the wheels. Pushing 23 pounds mine put down 274/350 at the wheels and ran a 13.8 in the quarter. I think they are a good bang for the buck and a step down from the vette. I'm 6' even and have the seat all the way back and I can feel my hair touch the roof. CCW'S are the only wheels I found that I liked on them but I converted mine to a C6 setup for brakes and wheels(one off setup). They are also known for rattles and squeaks. I daily mine for the most part and the little things don't bother me. Let me know if you ever want to go for a drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Brian Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Meh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 I have no problem opening and closing my hood with doors open. As Miller said, it depends on how it's adjusted, but I also found it depends on the door position. I had closed my hood with the door all the way open, but it seems some people had damage if they did it with the door partially open. It happened to one at my work too. It wasn't pretty and that hood can't be cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRD2BDF Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Yes I've met Chad, (starkmaster). Scott likely just wants to be able to have a conversation without screaming as you can in 80% of the convertibles out there. I've never screamed to have a conversation in my Saab with the top down... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 I've never screamed to have a conversation in my Saab with the top down... LOL Not sure if serious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHIEF Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 LOL Not sure if serious. While he makes way to many 'look over here it's a Saab swing', he does say some funny shit based on his disablility. Kudos to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustlestiltskin Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 While he makes way to many 'look over here it's a Saab swing', he does say some funny shit based on his disablility. Kudos to that. Speaking of him, not Brian and I were walking through the tech lane at the last track day, look over to the right at a random old car that was teching in and there's mr.saab guy crouched down cupping/fondling the balls of those dangling trailer hitch rubber balls that people put on their trailer hitch. It couldn't have been a better moment. We laughed our ass off and kept walking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeitgeist57 Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 Tim, why not go for a C5 convertible? Faster, better-handling, far more useful trunk... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted May 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 Tim, why not go for a C5 convertible? Faster, better-handling, far more useful trunk... Meh....not as big a fan as I am the C6 styling. Sky's are a bit more unique too. Silly I know.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRTurbo04 Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 http://www.columbusracing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117736 Make him an offer. ..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted May 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 http://www.columbusracing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117736 Make him an offer. ..? That's bad-ass! That's another reason I like this car....damn near anything will fit under the hood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdhill Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 The process of taking the top down is ridiculous... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted May 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 The process of taking the top down is ridiculous... 99% that I would only do it once. When I had my S2000 I never drove it with the top up. Washed it with it down too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 The process of taking the top down is ridiculous... Taking the top down is easy, putting it up takes an extra step for walking around the car. However, you cannot put the top up or down while driving, where I know you can in the Miata. This is all because the top stows in the trunk instead of behind the seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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