I need new tires soon and was wondering what aftermarket rims look great on the Sky, any recs?

Automatic, 28,000 original miles bone stock. Only problem I've noticed is raising the top. It gets stuck on the passenger side flap you have to manually lift it.

Everything inside of it is excellent. The interior looks new. The only thing that shows it's been driven is some scuffs on the bumper nose.

I want to wait a little bit. Enjoy the car before I do any type of modifications. But it being an old car age wise I would like to do some preventative maintenance. I've seen talks of adding a fuel filter line being a recommendation?

Background

I bought my 2008 Redline Manual about 3 months ago. The only car I’ve owned prior to this is a 2008 Toyota Avalon. The only other performance car I’ve driven prior to this is a Jaguar F-Type R.

I bought it with 117,000 miles on the clock for about $8,000. I’ve since put about 400ish miles on it since then. I bought the car to learn how to drive manual in, it’s been pretty fun. There’s a learning curve but it really takes only a week to get it down.

I chose this car over a Miata because I think Miata’s are kinda ugly and people say they aren’t that fast. Redlines do have some pep in their step. I didn’t see myself doing many, if any, modifications for my ownership period. The only mod that has interested me is a WerksRacing Intake for the turbo noises. So the lack of a robust aftermarket didn’t worry me. I have no mechanical experience. I don’t wrench at all.

Maintenance

The primary worry about these cars is parts availability. The mechanical parts are generally not a problem because this was a parts bin car. The exterior body panels are a problem because they are bespoke. If that concerns you, but you still want this platform; I’d get a Solstice. More of them were made.

In my opinion, maintenance on the car becomes more important than the mileage. I chose a higher mileage car with good service records over a low mileage car that is on all original parts. The primary people who bought these cars were older people. They didn’t drive them a lot and not driving a car becomes an issue. Stuff just fails because of age but you wouldn’t know if you don’t drive it.

I looked for the common things to be fixed when I bought. The first owner of this car had it for 15 years and 96k miles. He did dealer only maintenance. He replaced the water pump, timing chain, and replaced the turbocharger within the last 5-6 years and had it done at the Chevy dealer. I have read that those are all the things that fail with age on this car so to have them all be taken care of before I even purchase made this the car to buy in spite of the second owner.

The second owner either did no maintenance or did the maintenance himself. There is only one CarFax record of him doing anything with the car and that was 2 years ago. I also found out that the second owner had the car repossessed sooooooo they probably weren’t the best owner.

So that was the primary point of concern: What did the second owner not do and did do?

The problems with the car weren’t numerous but there were (and still are) issues with it.

- The biggest issue that doesn’t go away is that there is a smell in the cabin. I believe it is the soft top, I have ran an ozone machine in the car. The smell came back. I don’t know how to fix this.

- There is a mildew-y smell when the AC kicks on. It goes away quickly.

- The Paint was sunburnt and the clear coat was failing. I did a DIY paint correction. The picture is right after that DIY paint correction.

- The Passenger Headlight bulb had a burnt harness and was out. I spliced in a new adapter and it has been working fine ever since.

- Passenger Cupholder is broken. Common issue, non issue for me.

- Rear diff was coated in oil. These cars leak rear diff fluid over the years. I refilled it myself with ACDelco LS gear oil. It took about an hour with no mechanical experience.

- The HVAC doesn’t change blowing directions. The harness heats up and will kill itself over time. This is an easy fix, I just haven’t done it. The part to fix it is about $30.

- The turn signal stock sometimes doesn’t recenter itself.

- The Turbo boost pressure monitor doesn’t work at all.

- The TPMS is out on all 4 wheels. I was riding on a flat and didn’t know because of this.

The major maintenance items were taken care of. I haven’t noticed any leaks under the car. There are no suspicious sounds coming from the engine or exhaust. It appears to be mechanically sound thanks to the first owner.

Driving Experience

The car is fun. You’re low to the ground, the wind is in your hair, and the exhaust is shouting.

The car is quick but not so quick that you’ll lose your license. Throttle response feels snappy. There is some turbo lag. Most of the speed comes in Third, and it feels like you build up to and then it just starts going really quickly. You feel fast. You probably feel faster than you actually are going buuuuuut sometimes you are definitely doing 60 in a 40.

The steering isn’t quite heavy but not light either. It takes minor effort but it does feel like I’m telling it exactly where it needs to be and it goes there.

The shifter takes effort. It feels like I’m making very long, very deliberate movements to get into each gear. (The transmission is from a truck) It’s also not super precise. I feel that there is a lot of slack and play in the shifter. This lack of precision has made me almost money shift a few times. I don’t feel like I can make fast shifts because of that and with how deliberate you have to be. That being said, the deliberate feeling shifts do feel good. It feels like you have to be intentional with each movement and each shift is a minor event. It makes the drive feel more engaging and connected to the car. I do wish there was a 6th gear to play with. I very rarely go into 5th. Shifting into reverse also can be an issue from a cold start. Sometimes the reverse gear doesn’t quite slot in. And you have to reset the clutch and try again.

It feels like the car has a bad case of the shakes at times. Not while driving but if you’re in too high of a gear at too low of a speed. The entire car will just shake and shudder. Like it’s telling you “Put me lower now!” The doors shake, the shifter shakes. The wheel shakes. Everything shakes.

The sound system isn’t great. I don’t have the upgraded one, just the standard. You can hear it but it doesn’t bang.

You can put regular gas in the car too, but your acceleration is decreased. This is stated in the owners manual.

The wind buffoting isn’t bad at all really. I dont even have the wind deflector but it still is good. I don’t take calls in the cabin though. I drive with the windows and top down and I don’t feel like I’m being assaulted. The windows go up if I would like it to be a little more quiet.

The manual operation of the roof isn’t cumbersome but it isn’t quick either. It’s just…fine. I really enjoy the top down experience, but because I enjoy that experience so much I kinda won’t drive the car if I can’t drive it with the top down. Texas is too hot for the next 3 months to do too driving during the day. It’s pretty much limited to before 11am and after 7:30pm.

Other convertible drivers notice you and will wave! I joined the Miata group for my city and they didn’t seem to mind me. The community for Sky and Solstice are a lot older. I’m 28, the Sky/Solstice Facebook group average age feels like it’s 60.

Final Thoughts

It’s a fun car but it definitely is not a forever car. It feels like a toy that you can throw around and not care when it breaks. I like it, I don’t love it. It’s a good car to learn in but it will leave you thinking “I would change this for my next car”.

May 30th, 2026 Auburn, Indiana

I have been desperately trying to find the turbo coolant return line for my 2007 redline. I have had no luck with online retailers and have been on the solstice forums with no luck. I’m running short of options.

Does anyone here know alternatives or parts fabricators that may be able to help.

Thank you

Hi all. I just inherited my dad's 2008 Saturn Sky. He had it in Kansas. I live in Portland Oregon.

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It needs a bit of work, along with regular maintenance. However, since getting it up here, I've had some trouble finding any body shops or mechanics that will do much more than change the oil and a few spark plugs.

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I've called around to about 10 different shops, all said they wouldn't touch it.

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I be the first to admit, I'm not really a car guy, so any advice or help on places to call, best practices for maintenance, places to find spare parts, in and around Portland is much appreciated.

Hello All!

New to the car and have been slowly working on it as it was pretty neglected by the last owner. Doing the cam and crank sensors this weekend hopefully (2.4 NA motor), but right now I have another issue. I have an issue with the turn signals hyper flashing. I replaced a broken stalk and that fixed the issue of the stalk not automatically snapping back upon turning, but the hyper-flash persists. I get body codes for there being a grounding issue to both turn signals. I have checked the front and rear light bulb sockets and found neither corroded.

Any thoughts? Anyone have an info on turn signal grounds with these cars? Love it otherwise. Thanks in advance!

reposted thought I added interior pics oops

17k miles asking 10k in houston or wherever youll need it shipped we can use keysavy if so.

has a rebuilt not salvage title so its fully road legal and insured. only thing replaced is the hood.

Tinted windows,

PPF on the front bumper and mirrors + rear touch points

Cargo rack

RPM Motorsports intake

Monsoon radio

anyways let me know any questions ill provide better pics when its all said and done including underbody

Spent a couple weekends getting myself console cupholders. Designed and printed it myself. Not sure if I’m going to staple some pleather to it like the OEM. Oh its TPU not PLA btw so its not gonna melt in the car.

Thanks everyone for the replies to my last post. Went and looked at the car. IMO price was fair and it is super clean. Don't think the top has ever seen sun or rain and 100% garage kept. So now we are the owners of a 2008 Sky (not Redline).

Anyone here in central NC (Raleigh-ish) area that can recommend a place for timing chain and water pump? Person I would normally use doesn't want to do it. Doesn't need it yet but trying to be proactive since that seems to be an issue.

Thanks again.

My wife has wanted a Sky since it came out. We are finally at a stage in our life/family that we can do it. However, she spoke with our trusted mechanic and he told her, "Don't do it. If an ECM goes bad you won't be able to get a replacement and now you just have a parts car."

So now she's all nervous and second guessing the decision. Is parts availability really that bad? I get things like body panels but what about other stuff?

Thanks.

Hey guys,

As title says my spare key won’t open the door and my battery is dead. The fire department tried to help and I’ve held off on calling a locksmith due to cost issues. I’ve got an 09 Saturn sky redline and I’m worried the city will tow it, so I’m trying to move it. I figured since it was a soft top it should be easy, but even with the fire department we couldn’t get it open. How can I get into my car?

Thanks so much!

Happened just as I was pulling in the driveway. I have enjoyed every mile of it.

Wiped clean. Redact removed this post along with thousands of others. It also handles data broker removals so your personal info stops getting sold.

heavy gaze run mysterious truck adjoining modern special snow gray

I think my car came with a fob, (its in the obd2 settings but Im not 100%).

The door lock buttons dont work but the car does auto lock when I go into drive and unlock when I go to park.

How do I program a new remote to the car (with just a working key).

I couldn’t find anything concrete about how to program for the sky specifically.

Mine is a 2007 btw, if it matters

Bought last weekend, immediately upgraded the radio and added a backup camera (a 9 hour ordeal). For under $10k, this was the perfect first car for my daughter. Straight drive lessons are going well, but struggling with downshifting a bit.

Late night write: ignore my bad spelling and continuity for remembering something from multiple days ago.

TLDR: Amazing handling, decent power, had a hard time fitting in it. Manual: Gears are a little long, clutch feels great. Probably wont get one till I need a miata-ish car but want this instead.

Alright, now tile for the real deal text.

Just a few days ago, me and my buddy went on a little trip to go test drive an '08 Base with the 5spd and in (steel blue?). It had about 58k miles, leather seats, and a relatively still great condition interior.

For me, it was an amazing experience, I finally got to drive a car I have been speculating about for MONTHS now. So I have my data for when I go to get a manual sports car for real.

Unfortunately though, despite how much I loved the experience. It was a mild pain in the ass. I popped out of 2nd going up a small incline (I may have also just not put it in 2nd all the way). My buddy when he drove it was staring at the upper portion of the windscreen frame the whole time while already being squished because he barely fit in the car anyway.

On the bright side: power delivery felt smooth. It sounded waaay cooler right off the bat than I was expecting. The cup holders still worked, the shifter felt nice when it did work, and the top did need some fnagling to get into the right spot when putting it back up.

But of course, I need to acknowledge the elephant in the room:

# THERE IS NO TRUNK

I mean I knew yall made memes and poked fun at that fact. But I thought i may be able to fit even a small backpack back there. NAAAH. That top really did take ALL the room in the trunk. And I cant use anyway most likely because of being so tall its hard to fit in it with the top up.

Its a great car, but I'll probably get it if I become a millionaire, but also only in Redline form.

I loved it either way, but my buddy didn't. So its out of my picture now :/

Thanks for all yall's tips over the past few months on these things. But now that I know, it may be hard for me to come back :(

Have a good one yall

UPDATE: I test drove one and loved it so much that I want to just buy a nicer, lower mile example.

Does anyone have experience with 150k+ mile examples? I’ve searched high and low in the forums for Sky Red Line and Solstice GXP with this mileage and can only find people saying “Hasn’t been so

Maybe I'm nuts but the Saturn sky has been my dream car for YEARS. I'm a 48 years old woman and I have been in love with this car. I wanted yellow and a standard ofcourse. What fun is a sporty car if it's automatic... Talk about hard to find... Well 2 days ago one popped up 20 miles from me. it's a 2008 with 51,000 miles. $10,000. We went and drove it it's so well kept garaged the whole time only driven in nice weather. Can't hardly believe it. We pick it up tomorrow. I'm so excited ..

65,000 miles with RPM Motorsports mandrel bent charge tubes, Big shot twin air filter intake, tune, high flow cat, and MagnaFlow Magnapak glass pack. The performance improvement is insane! 3 port catch can is being added soon. Pro tip for modded LNF motor: Run one temperature cooler spark plug and gap the plugs to 25-28 thousandths. OEM gap is too wide for 24 psi boost. The catch can is important as well so excess crank pressure is also relieved and scrubbed even at WOT. I should have added it as soon as I modded my motor.

There's a 2007 Saturn Sky Redline for sale at a local used car lot. Appearance-wise, it looks to be in decent condition, but I don't have any information on the history other than it having a clear title.

I know it's a bit of a gamble, but what things should I be looking for? I read a post on the forums talking about some big ticket maintenance items (timing chain, water pump, etc.), and I'm not sure if any of this stuff was done on it.

What would be a good cash price to offer?

I am thinking about buying a low mileage 2008 Redline. I like to listen to audio books and podcasts as I drive. With the louder cabin noise of a convertible 2 seater, are you able to hear this type of audio just fine?

I’m really excited about getting this car!