My Search for a Saturn Sky, Part One

"Z (ND + Cancer Fighter)" (roadsterzach) 12/12/2013 at 15:40 • Filed to: ZachR'S Sky, Saturn, Sky

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So, I've made the decision to buy a Saturn Sky Redline. This is not going to be as easy as I first thought it was going to be.

I had actually made my decision before I had !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! asking your guy's opinions, but the affirmation of my decision in comparison to what my silly car-friends were saying was a nice boost.

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If you don't want to read the first part of this, in short I have found one car within 300 miles of me that is what I am looking for. I have e-mailed the dealership selling it and am waiting to hear back from them. Hopefully this happens soon. Feel free to scroll to the bottom to see it.

The Sky fits my needs just enough, and is a car I'm passionate about to the point that owning one almost seems like a dream. If I had known the odds facing me, I might have reconsidered. Seems like finding a non-riced out, mint condition RX-7 FD3S doesn't seem so out of the question.

There's a reason I've mentioned how hard this will be a few times now, and the odds against me. Let's take a quick look at some numbers real fast. Keep in mind the Sky was a "low-volume" niche market car.

Going Against the Odds

Total Sky Production: 34,415. Including all manual, automatics, standard, and Redlines; 2007-2010.

Total Redline Production: 15,212. Including all manual and automatic transmissions; 2007-2010.

Total Manual Redline Production: 5,629. 2007-2010.

So my goal is to find a car that they only made almost six thousand of. While definitely not impossible, it's not too promising either. Still, I've gone against worse odds. After all, I did get cancer at the age of 18; and I had lower odds of that happening than winning the lottery according to my doctors. So one out of nearly six thousand isn't too bad. I can do this. Maybe.

It gets worse though.

See that fifty-six hundred number? That's included all sorts of colors, options, and what not. So long as it's a Saturn, a Sky, a Redline, and a manual transmission; it's included in that number. Why is this such a big deal? I don't want the majority of colors the Sky came in. My choices are:

Black Onyx: 5,434.

Carbon Flash: 550.

Techno Gray: 1,240.

Silver Graphite: 2,714.

Now that list is out of every one of the 34.5 thousand Skys produced! There is no breakdown that I could find of manual Redline color productions. To make it more interesting, I only want a black convertible top; which was standard on most of those colors. So out of all my color choices combined, I'm limited to a max of 29% of Skys produced. Assuming the take rate is identical for N/A and Redlines (which it wouldn't be), I'm looking at a choice of roughly 1600 cars. Hoping that one of those is for sale.

To throw another wrench in the gears, the only option I absolutely must have is satellite radio. I want i factory installed, not to add it after the fact. This is just another limiting factor.

Let's Talk About Price

Ah, another question. I've already said before that I can afford a Sky, but let's get into that a bit.

My budget is $15k. Yep, just fifteen thousand dollars for a fun, used daily driver. Heading on over to the great Kelley Blue Book, let's plug in some numbers. I'm going to use 60k miles as my baseline figure, as I feel that's a fair average for a car of this age. Now I always go by private party pricing because I refuse to pay dealer mark-ups, so here's those numbers:

Excellent Condition: $13,672 (2007). $14,458 (2008). $14,909 (2009).
Very Good Condition: $13,222 (2007). $14,008 (2008). $14,409 (2009).
Good Condition: $12,922 (2007). $13,608 (2008). $13,959 (2009).
Fair Condition: $11,897 (2007). $12,508 (2008). $12,759 (2009).

So no matter the year, I can (seemingly) afford this; assuming I can get close to the KBB pricing. An average $13k-$14k price tag isn't too bad. I just have to find one for sale.

To AutoTempst We Go!

Ah, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , everyone's favorite means here of searching quickly for a car we might only be remotely interested in. It's so convenient to be able to search multiple listings on different sites all at once. I love this place. :)

So I plugged in my criteria: Saturn, Sky, 300 miles, my ZIP code, Red+Line, Years 2006, Years 2010. Go!

eBay results: 2 Redline Skys! One dark blue 2008, one red 2009. Neither what I am looking for. Both automatics as well.

Cars Direct results: 6 Redline Skys! One pale blue 2008, one red 2008, one silver 2008, one white 2007, one white 2008, one Silver Graphite 2007! I got my hopes up on this 2007, but it turned out to be autotragic. :(

Oodle results: 5 Redline Skys! One black onyx 2008 ,one red 2007, one silver pearl 2007, one silver pearl 2008, and one white 2008. Unfortunately the one black onyx was also an automatic.

Craigslist results: 0 Redline Skys!

Cars.com results: 8 Redline Skys! Two black onyx 2008s , one dark blue 2008, one silver pearl 2008, one white 2007, three white 2008s. One of the black ones was automatic, but one was manual! Bingo! :D

Autotrader results: 18 Redline Skys! Hot damn! Two black 2008s , two blue 2007s, four blue 2008s, one green 2007, one green 2009, one red 2008, one silver pearl 2008, one techno gray 2009 , one white 2007, three white 2008s, and one yellow 2007. One of the blacks was automatic, one manual (same as the Cars.com result!) and the techno gray was automatic.

So, after all that work, I had found one car that fit my criteria. Just one.

Is It the One?

So, here it is. ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! & !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ) The one I found. It's for sale at a Chevy dealership in LA, 122 miles away from me. It's a manual, Redline Sky in black onyx with a satellite radio. It has 63,300 miles on it. From the pictures, it looks to be in pretty good condition. They are asking $14,959 for it. Which is far, I guess.

KBB.com says it's worth $13,353 in good condition or $13,753 in very good condition; which it looks like it could be either. Those are also private party values, which are the only values I plan on paying.

My goal? Pay no more than $13,500 for it. I feel that's a fair price. If they got it as a trade in, they probably only paid $11k to $12k for it, so they are at least making some profit at $13.5k.

I've sent an e-mail through AutoTrader to the dealership. I've been reading many, many mixed reviews about this dealership on-line. Their !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! also sucks, really badly.

Hopefully someone gets back to me sometime soon, as I am actually really interested in buying this car. I'll call on Saturday if they don't reply back to me. I'd actually make the trip up to LA this weekend to go buy it if they'd be willing to deal.

So that's my journey so far in trying to find a Saturn Sky Redline. I'll keep you guys updated as I go. Anyone notice anything from the pictures or have any experience dealing with this dealership?

area man > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) 12/12/2013 at 15:51

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Y u no solstice?

magman007 > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) 12/12/2013 at 15:52

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it may suck, but its a legit chevy dealership, better than a shady used car lot. Carfax and auto check it and pay the $100 to have an independent shop do a PPI on it for piece of mind.

hobbes567 > area man 12/12/2013 at 16:01

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Because ugly.

The Sky is much better looking than the solstice vert, and the Solstice GXP Coupe is damn near non existant. A googling shows they only made 226 manual solstice gxp coupes.

area man > hobbes567 12/12/2013 at 16:07

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I'd love the Sky if the Solstice didn't exist, and it might be Pontiac nostalgia talking, but theres something about the front end of the Solstice that just works for me.

The Jevans > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) 12/12/2013 at 16:10

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There's a manual Redline Sky in my work parking lot. I have yet to find the owner. These cars are awesome. I hope you get one.

gabdere > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) 12/12/2013 at 16:55

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I did a search in Quebec + Ontario with your criteria, just for fun. 15 cars came up, 2 of those were redlines, one gray automatic, one blue manual. The manual is a 2007 w/ 49 000 miles. They're asking 17900$ CAN . Hem... http://www.autotrader.ca/a/Saturn/SKY/R…

steevmitch > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) 12/12/2013 at 17:42

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nice. stick to yer guns, dude. i love the Sky over the Solstice.

you'll get it. faith.

Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) > area man 12/12/2013 at 19:49

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Y u tempt me with GXP Coupe?!?

Honestly though, I personally prefer the looks of the Sky over the Solstice. The front bumper is about the only thing I like on the Solstice. Hate it's curves, it's rear, and especially the interior. The interior on the Sky is a night and day difference.

Also a GXP Coupe would cost me double my budget and I don't even want to think about how hard it is to find one of those 226.

Now if Saturn had made a Sky Coupe... well, this would be me:

Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) > steevmitch 12/12/2013 at 19:51

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I have faith. I'm just hoping I have patience enough to stick to my guns. I have in the past, but this one might be a rough ride.

Especially given my deadline.

Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) > The Jevans 12/12/2013 at 19:52

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What color? Where's it located? Would the owner want to sell it? :P

They are awesome little cars. Very underappreciated. I also hope I get one. :)

Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) > magman007 12/12/2013 at 19:56

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This Chevy dealership is starting to sound more shady than those used lots just from what I've been reading. Changing prices on the contract, not having the correct car, flat out lying.

Also, they have a bullshit "no haggle" pricing scheme like Carmax on their used cars, even though every review says they don't follow that rule and will negotiate, just make it a pain in the ass to wheel and deal.

I already sent the VIN to a friend who works with a used car dealer, and they're going to run it through Carfax for free for me. Just waiting to hear back on it.

If I do buy it, as soon as I have it back down in San Diego, it's going to the dealership my Dad services his ZR1 at for a full inspection. They'll treat me right, look it with a fine comb, and not charge me out the ass for it.

Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) > gabdere 12/12/2013 at 19:58

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That is one clean, nice little Sky. Shame about it being blue and in Canada. Really low miles too.Obviously I'd totally recommend buying one, if you're so inclined.

area man > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) 12/12/2013 at 20:04

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The rear of the Solstice is like a poor man's F-Type.

Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) > area man 12/12/2013 at 20:17

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I'm going to have to disagree.

The plastic-fantasic lower valence, the massive amounts of blank space, the tiny taillights and awkward reflectors all with those curves do not make me feel any way like the F-type does.

On the other hand this...

...is something I can get behind. The Sky rear plus the Norm diffuser is ungodly in the amount of want. Not F-type levels, but obtainable levels for me. I love the way it looks. With an RKSport spoiler added, it'd be a nice OEM-looking rear.

The stock rear is good enough, better than the Solstice in my opinion, but a few tweaks to the Sky it could look like a far more unique machine than it already does.

gabdere > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) 12/12/2013 at 23:14

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Not really into americans cars, been there done that and moved to euro! And 2-door rwd cabriolet are really not suitable for my lifestyle! Would love to try one though

magman007 > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) 12/13/2013 at 10:56

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Bring it back to your dealership is all good and all, but honestly do the PPI before you sign on the dotted line. When i bought my e46 m3 there were some problems a PPI would have solved easily, however I wanted my shop to look it over after I brought it back from Jersey, and ended up with a $1500 bill I could have avoided had I just had the bmw dealership across the road look at it before I signed.

rabidpenguin > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) 12/13/2013 at 12:17

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You will find what you want, it is just a matter of time. You also have to be willing to walk away from what seems like a good car either because of price or number of red flags come up. Alot of the fun in purchasing another car comes with the search for it. I always enjoyed doing it.

AM3R > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) 12/13/2013 at 23:29

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Stick with it! Patience will pay off. When I was buying my E90 328i I couldn't find any sport package manuals with navigation.. I settled for an auto and two weeks after getting the car I got a call from a local dealer that an M-sport 328i 6MT came in at a better price with lower miles.

You can imagine how I felt hahahah