snizzle

I hadn't seen this yet so I figured i'd post for others than haven't as well.

Saturn has released more info on their site recently. Looks like a premium of about 3-4K over the Pontiac Solstice.

Base MT - 23,690
Base AT - 24,540

http://www.saturn.com/saturn/vehicles/sky/pricing.jsp

What a sexy car!! I still can't believe it's a Saturn.

therm8

Yep, it includes several optional features for the Solstice as standard items.

The blue looks very nice. Yellow as well.

BlueFrenzy

That's not a bad price seeing as that you're basically getting an Opel GT (just switch out the Saturn insignia for the Opel lightning symbol). If I were in the market for a roadster, I'd gladly pay the 3-4K over a Solstice.

Socr8tes

The Solstice and the Sky are VERY nice looking cars... until you get close. A good friend is looking for a new, inexpensive roadster and the Solstice was at the top of the list. I went with him to the dealership and was really impressed with the overall look. When we got inside the car though, it was a big disappointment. The silver part of the sweeping dash is very plastic-y, panels were misaligned with huge gaps in several places, no finishing trim around the door handles or locks (you could peer through the crack around the handle right into the door), trim on the console peels up easily, and on and on. We sat in 3 at 2 different dealerships and they were all the same. Also, the top's a bit of a pain to put up and down, the trunk is almost completely unusable (especially since it clam shells), and visibility is poor with the top up due to its slope into the A pillar. Don't get me wrong, I think these cars will do a lot for the General's image and there's huge demand, but from the inside it just looks like a car that was pushed out the door as quickly and cheaply as possible. I really hope the Sky has much better fit and finish. Needless to say, he's likely buying the MX-5 this summer. It's not nearly as sexy but everything else I've mentioned here is another class. He has yet to actually drive the Solstice, but from what I've read, the driving dynamics won't sway his decision either.

BlueEyes

I thought the sky and solstice were built on entirely new platforms.

therm8

The 2 Sol's I sat in were near perfect in fit and finish. The interior looks no more "plasticky" than any other sub $30k car I've been in. Trunk space is limited, but everyone knows that. The 2nd year models will be the telling factor, I believe. They won't be rushed to get them out, and learning from 1st year foibles should improve the cars quite a bit. I hear GM is developing a different fuel tank to help alleviate the trunk space a bit, and rumor is that the GXP/Redline packages will be available as dealer installed options, which would set a nice precident in the performance brand world.

The Mx-5 is a fantastic piece of machinery. I just wish Mazda wouldn't have pushed the Ugly button at the end of the assembly line.

therm8

You are correct. The Opel GT was a MR car.

rx8wannahave

That's a nice car.

Socr8tes

Next time you're in a Solstice, take a good look around the interior door latch, look at the seam below the center "Oh ****" handle, lift gently on the center console pad. You'll see what I mean. At first glance it looks great, and if you're biased towards GM, that's all you'll see. But if you look more closely you see abundant plastic mold marks, gaps, extra rubber sticking out where the die didn't cut all the way through, etc...

I do hope it gets worked out though after this year because these cars have boat loads of potential and I'm excited to see what the GXP and Redline can do. Heck, my friend had his mind set -- especially since he comes from a big Pontiac family. But for now, the interior totally killed it for the three of us that were there looking objectively. For my friend an expensive performance package is out of the question. So coupling the MX-5's top that can be opened and closed quickly without moving from the seat with (supposedly) better performance and a usable trunk (not to mention better warranty), I think he's making the right choice for right now. We'll see how the tables turn in a year or two.

snizzle

That's a good point so part of the extra cost most people would get anyway on the Solstice.

snizzle

You're right. Totally new platform from the ground up.

cLLcLe

New platform it may be, but the shell is still the Opel GT.

BlueEyes

I'm going to have to disagree. Other than the angular design of each and size, they don't really resemble each other.

snizzle

BlueEyes

Haha. I didn't even know that car existed. I just assumed people were talking about the Opel Speedster.

jaguargod

The Sky looks really nice, but I have never known anyone who owned a Saturn to say anything about it other than it was uncomfortable, cheap, and not durable.

BlueEyes

Well, it's not really your typical Saturn.

snizzle

I owned a 94 SW2 second hand from my parents and had no major problems with it. Cheap? Yes. Uncomfortable? Yes but reliability was never an issue. I just got rid of the car last year with 160K on it.

So there you go, now you've got one

Saturn is def trying to change their image with the Sky and Aura... I think they're going in the right direction @least.

toxin440

before I got my 2005 RX8 5 months ago, i was in a 98 Saturn SL1...

it was a good car for me in college, it had 4 wheels and an engine, not much else. Cheap, yes
Comfortable, no
but like the guy above me said it was reliable.

It was crazy right before I sold the car (AFTER) i got my 8, sitting it to move it on the driveway or somewhere, it felt like i was climbing into a grey turd or something. haha no offense to saturn but sitting in an RX8 then a saturn... no contest... yay for RX8! :-p


i know im rambling so ill quit and go have a cookie and some ****

cLLcLe

Changing their image or too lazy to make names that actually sound original.
But then again, the company with the most unoriginal names has to be Mazda with their Mazda2, 3, 5, and 6. Hahaha.
Who knows, maybe Saturn will call their next car Grass or Concrete. Or maybe Soda!

snizzle

So what's an automaker to do then if they can't use words to name their cars? Else they would have to do exactly what Mazda is doing....

I wasn't talking about the naming of the cars in the attempt to change their image. I was talking about the actual cars themselves. Both the Sky and Aura impress me so far regardless of the make on the title.

sharward

Speaking of Saturns... This happened to my wife's Saturn 2001 SC2 a few weeks ago...



It took about two weeks for the insurance company to decide that it was worth fixing... And we're very glad that they did.

It's got 20K miles fewer than par (46K) and she loves the car.

I used to kind of like it myself... That is, until I bought the RX-8... ;-) ...Now, driving it induces !

But seriously... Reliability for us has been quite good, as is owner satisfaction. Sunroof module went bad a couple of years ago, but some pushback the retailer got the zone rep to supply the parts at no charge -- we just paid labor. That saved us over $1,000!!

OK, that's all... We now return you to your regularly scheduled Saturn bashing.

xrider01

i have seen the pontiac version (solstice) of the car already. looks alright IMO. nothing to drool over. i think it would be better if it had a more powerful engine in it. something along the lines of a 250hp v6 engine. or an inline 5cyl engine like the ones used in the Chevy Colorado trucks

BlueEyes

Dent resistant panels my ***!

snizzle

They will have an FI 2.0L in the form of GXP trim for Pontiac and Redline for Saturn. It'll pump out about 260HP.