2009 Saturn SKY Red Line

Pros

Great on Gas!

Cons

Love the way it drives on long trips.Money Saver!!

Purchased As New

I'm a 57 year old wife and mother,I have the Red line and i Love it. My car is silver with the Red and Black interior very sporty! And i do turn heads,and it's not me there looking at. LOL I got my Saturn Sky in Macon Ga.SMOOTH DRIVING CAR!! NO MORE MINI VANS FOR ME!! LOVE MY SKY!!

Pros

Price, sharp appearance, lots of compliments

Cons

Little storage room, NOT driveable in winter

Purchased As New

I own the Saturn redline (black) with all options. The car looks amazing and feels great to drive. Mine has a 7-speaker Monsoon stereo (which sounds great even with the top down) along with the 6-disc CD changer.

The car is quick, and has fantastic manueverability on dry pavement. All the reviews here which say they receive compliments are NOT exagerating - I get comments on it everywhere I go.

The dash board has a plethora of information in digital-display format. The info can be toggled from the steering wheel (tire pressure / oil life / outside temp / two trip minders / available mileage based on remaining gas / tire pressure - to name a few). You can also control the radio volume and channel selection from the steering wheel.

Generally speaking I am pleased I purchased it - subject to the following criticisms

Tiny cabin:
I guess this should be expected - it is a sports car. However, the spring-loaded passenger-side cupholder is prone to frequent, inadvertent openings (passenger's leg almost always hits the thing to spring it open).

No other "smart" storage areas to compensate for the lack of trunk storage:
A tiny pop-open compartment is provided between the passenger and driver, not much else. However, an after-market leather pouch system is available for roughly $80 (I bought one). It straddles the area between the driver and passenger. One can store wallets, sunglasses, MP3 players, etc. Well worth the extra money.

A word of caution, however, this should NOT be your primary (and only) vehicle - especially if you live in a snow-prone state (like Illinois, as I do). The Sky is not a snow-friendly car due to its low ground clearance and rear-wheel drive transmission. If you live where public transportation is plentiful, plan on garaging this for the majority of those really bad winters (much as you would a motorcycle).

There's no spare tire, but instead a self-inflation kit for a flat tire. Speaking of tires, when the colder weather arrives, you will receive the dash board warning for low tire pressure rather frequently. The owner's manual seems to imply that this warning will occur more during cold days....but why?

During one particularly cold winter day the trunk froze shut. Because I already pressed the "open trunk" button I shoved down on it as hard as I could to be sure it was closed - but then I kept receiving both the "trunk adjar" warning light and audible warning tone!! I finally pulled home and managed to resolve the problem by slamming it shut (again).

I guess the pros outweight the cons. But realize that this is a car based upon pure vanity and style. There's litte to no practicality. It's just a fun car to drive during the summer and for most of the fall before winter hits. If this is your only vehicle during the winter, you'll need a bumper sticker that reads: "My other car is a jeep."...read morehide

Pros

Decent handling, nice short-throw stickshifter, decent aesthetics

Cons

Soft brakes, soft clutch, mediocre audio system

So after reading some great reviews on here, I decided to go to the local Saturn dealer to test drive the Sky Red Line. I wanted to drive it because my friend, who currently drives an '03 Civic EX (stickshift), test drove the automatic Sky and she is thinking of buying it (she wants the stickshift in Red Line trim). The one I drove was Evening Blue with 18" chrome alloy wheels, and Good Year Eagle F1 GS-2 (W) tires and it had manual transmission. I would never opt for the automatic transmission on a roadster.

Let me start by saying that I currently drive a 2008 Audi TT 3.2 so I had to try really hard not to compare the Sky to my car. It would not be fair since they are in a different category and price range.

Aesthetically, I would have to say that on the outside, this is the best looking reasonably priced American roadster (maybe because its design is largely based on Opel's GT). It's much nicer that its sister, the Pontiac Solstice which has too many curves, in my opinion.

The inside did not impress me very much. I don't care about trunk space or cup holders on a Roadster but the dashboard is cheap looking, in the GM tradition. The short-throw stick is nice and very functional; the sound system is very average and the window and mirror controls need to be slightly re-positioned. The turn signal lever and wiper lever also should be repositioned slightly higher and to the rear.

Acceleration was decent and cornering is quite good. The body feels stiff enough, making the car fairly responsive. I did not like the brakes at all. They are very light and it made me feel unsafe when trying to postpone braking until the last reasonable moment.

I also thought the clutch was a bit too light, for a roadster (my TT has the same problem).

Overall, I’d say it’s a decent effort by GM to tap into this market, once again relying on the styling of its European division, since the company cannot design an aesthetically pleasing car in the U.S. market. With a sticker price of $32,000, I’d pay $6-7k extra for a BMW Z4 2.0i....read morehide

Pros

Great fuel economy! I have a standard transmission and get 32 MPG on the highway!

This car looks great, performs great, and is a lot of fun to drive. I traded in an SUV and was afraid I might not like having such a small car but I love it! When you are driving or riding inside, it does not feel small, it feels like a regular car. There is plenty of room and it is very comfortable. I get a little embarrased that so many people make comments about what a great looking car it is. I have the midnight blue with the killer wheels and it does look good. I think it is the best looking convertible out there - even better than the corvette!...read morehide

Pros

Has everything you need.

Cons

No built in garage door programmer.

People are constantly looking at it and asking what is it. Their pride can't get the best of them on this one, they simple break down and ask.

If your looking for a car that makes people do a double take then the Sky Red line is for you. The turbo charged motor packs quite a punch with 260 horses and a wide torque band and yet you still get great gas mileage from the 2.0 liter ecotec.
Oh and you can drive it in the rain you just put the top up which takes about 20 seconds to do....read morehide