Topic: Sky or Solstice - Would it really have been a deal breaker?

[BIO Hazard]

I have a question for everyone here that has been bugging me for some time....

If Pontiac had not offered the Solstice and all that you could buy was the Saturn Sky ~or~ if Saturn had not made the Sky and all that you could buy was the Pontiac Solstice... Would you have completely taken a pass on the car and not purchased it?

As most already know from my other posts, I set out to buy a Saturn Sky but ended up buying the Pontiac Solstice because I was treaded better by the Pontiac Dealership. I love both of these cars the same. If one wasnt made or available I would have clearly purchased the other.

Take this into consideration... Except for some cosmetic differences they are the same car.

Look at the number of owners who modify their cars with hood scoops, hoods, facia, trim, spoilers, interior mods, rims, exotic front clips and killer back ends. Because of after market offerings you can change either car to look the way you want it to look. IMHO, I think GM should offer their cars in what I call open source versions for custom customers who will mod them out different anyway. Let the customer buy the car unpainted, without a hood, front clip, spoiler, truck deck, back end panel, or turn signal lens covers... etc. Let them save the money up front for parts that they dont want on the car anyway.

So my question again is if the Sky was never made and your only option was a Solstice `or` the Solstice was never made and all you could buy was a Sky... would you have not purchased at all? I ask the question because I truly want to know.

[G8TR]

Certainly not a deal breaker for me. The wife and I had looked at both. I had already owned 2 Saturns, but I went and looked at the Solstice when it first came out. I hauled the wife down to look at it and we took a test drive. We considered it, just weren't ready to commit at that time. When the Sky came out we saw it every time that I went into the dealer for service. I was impressed with it's looks but was still considering a Solstice. As it was for you Brazen, I was treated better by the people that I had dealt with in the past and ended up buying the Sky instead. Many times I've wondered if I made the right decision. I am a member of both the other forums, under a different name, and while I have not posted as much on the Pontiac side I have spent almost as much time on that forum. At times I was, and still am, envious, it seems that the best mods have mostly been on the Sol side. As is evident from the current poll on the home page, most of the body panels have been redone for the Sol, and not much has been done on the Sky side. The Sol lends itself better to this kind of modification, and I like it. 
Brazen, I see you posted this on both the other sites. Strange how proprietary people can be. 

[tazz]

Liked the Smooth Silky Sexy lines of the Solstice better than the Aggressive Sharp look of the Sky. 
In the end though if the same deal would have come across for a Sky I would now Own a Sky but I would had to have been the Redline.

[Gunnys GXP]

I'd be happy with either and looked at both.  Deal was just better and I saw more modding pottential with the Solstice.  Honestly I think the perfect package would have been the Sols body wrapped around the skys interior layout.  No regrets whatsoever on my decision.

[BIO Hazard]

I see you posted this on both the other sites. Strange how proprietary people can be. 

Yeah I posted on both sites to see if bias was strong one way or the other. Call it my checks and balances

[Smiling Clint]

We looked at both. In fact, we were going for the Sky, but as been said before, we were treated better at the Solstice dealership.  But as it turns out the dealers service dept. sucks!  But I think if the Saturn dealer was a little nicer, thats what we would be driving.  

[Sky 5]

Simple, if only one of these Kappas had gone into production,

that's what I would be driving.

[LatinVenom]

I would have purchase either.

[Sly Bob]

Simple, if only one of these Kappas had gone into production, that's what I would be driving.

I have to agree, I looked at both and decided the Solstice was my preference but if the Solstice hadn't been built, there is no question that I would be driving a Sky.

 

[GXPsy Rose]

I looked at both, but was treated more professionally by the Pontiac sales person than the Saturn sales person (The saturn sales guy, kept wanting to talk to my husband and he kept pointing the sales person back to me...."I'm just the taxi driver, you need to talk to her, she's buying the car").  I ordered & bought the sol.
FYI:  The week I picked up my GXPsy, I went by the Saturn dealership, talked to the GM, told her what occurred, gave her the name of the sales person and showed her what I bought.  1 year later that Saturn dealership has since closed.

It all boiled down to who wanted to really sell me a kappa car.  (I had done all my homework prior to looking, so I knew what options I wanted/needed)

[Sol Asylum]

I guess I am going to be the one to say yes it would have made a difference.  No offense to Sky owners but I don't really care for the lines of the Saturn.  I didn't like how they made the front end look like the rest of the Saturn line. I just kept thinking  why would I want my new sports car to look like a Vue?  Since my car was bought as a toy and not as a "I have to have a car to get to work" I would have just passed and spent my money on something else like an airplane. 

[deepwater805]

This is my seventh new Pontiac (second Solstice) To be honest: if not for the 06' Solstice NA I would have gone with an 06' GTO. I didn't even know that Saturn had the Sky until well after the ink was dry on the first Solstice purchase. However, a year later when I bought the 07' GXP there was never any doubt about what I was gonna get.

[CPB]

we were going to buy a Sky but could not get a salesman to talk to us. Waited 25 min. to talk and try and drive one with no luck. Left and went 2 miles to Pontiac dealer and was test driving a Na in 10 min. Went back a few days later to buy the car and dealer was closed for  holiday  Went to another Pontiac dealer drove a GXP and was hooked on it. Bought it 2 hr. after test drive.

[Critterman]

I don't know.   I had been looking for a convertible off and on for ten years, really wanted another british sportscar of the 60's but didn't want to spend 30-40k for a 40 year old car, then I saw the solstice on the apprentice show and knew.  Put down my deposit and waited.

can't see myself doing that for the sky, but if it was the only thing available, who knows.

[KWhale]

For some reason, the first Sol I saw rolling down the highway going the other direction had me hooked.  I could immediately spot them from a 1/2 mile away, or in a crowded parking lot after that.  I drooled for 2 years before deciding to get rid of the Boxster and get the Sol.  On the other hand, the Sky does not do anything for me.  I don't see them automatically out on the road or parked in a lot.  To me, and of course this is just my opinion, the lines just aren't there on the Sky.  I would not have bought a Sky if it was the only one available.

[Deep-GXP]

I may have bought a Sky if the Solstice was not avialble but probably not.  Im pretty sure I would have went with an Ecplise Spider v6 if the Solstice was not in production.

[GXPinKC]

My mind was made up the moment I laid eyes on it, and that was in November 2005. when we flew both our sons Rob and Paul and their families down to Florida for a family vacation at Disney's Epcot Center where we first encountered the first pre-production NA Solstice at the GM World of Motion.  I was blown away, and when we got back to Kansas City I placed my order for the NA, then changing to the GXP when it later came out.  Have never looked back!  Best decision I ever made on a sports car.  After seeing the Sky when it came out that even re-cemented the deal, even though we had purchased a new 1991 silver Saturn for my son replacing the 1985 Ford 5.0 liter Red Mustang Covertible that he had in High School. 

 Nothing against the Saturn, but in contrast to the smooth sculpted and rounded lines of the NA Solstice, and Solstice GXP, the Sky and RedLine had more aggressive lines that I really did not care for from the first time I saw it.  Reminded me of the Japanese imports, enough said.  Let's face facts, I have always been a Pontiac man, and still am. 

As I said, my mind was set way back in November of 2005.  Thanks GM for creating the Solstice GXP and NA, as well as the Saturn Redline and NA.  Great marketing move to bring them out to expand your market.  I am especially glad that you came out with the Pontiac Solstice first, because the deal was sealed at first sight!
GXPinKC
Ron

[1LILNDN]

Well my screen name is allpontiac and have built a 400 and a 455
 for a 1947 Pontiac Streamliner and I kept it all pontiac . When the Solstice 1st came out I fell in Love and knew I would own one. Sold my 47 little over a yr. ago . When I delivered it to the new owner. A duel wheel GM pick-up w/ trailer pulled in drive way behind me this Guy ordered a Sol 7months be4 . He got it the same day he got my 47. I got Louise on Dec.20th 08  now doing Mods Never gave 2nd though for SKY .Brothers son has Sky and said he likes the Sol's lines better.
GRYPHON  your tag isn't ( N V US ) is it      Im just partial to Pontiac

[KWhale]

Gryphon, at the end of your little quest for knowledge, post here to let us know what the other forums consensus was?

[Howster]

I had my eyes on a Redline for a little while. I was initially going to purchase my second Porsche, but decided to save the money. I had not even paid attention to the Solstice and had only seen it on a tv commercial with Jimmy Kimmel a couple of times. One of the guys I worked with at the time has a girlfriend who owns a Redline, and he told me about it. He then suggested I take a look at the Solstice, which I did-three days in a row. I purchased the car, a Mean GXP that week. I do like the lines on the Solstice much better as it just seems more clean and fluid. I think the Sky has much too much chrome for this guy.

I have removed all of the badges at the rear, and have removed as much chrome as I can. I hate the bling. Chrome wheels have been replaced with black SSR wheels. Much better lowered too. Yeah, the Sol is the first GM product I have owned, and may even be my last, but I do enjoy the car. No regrets as of this posting. I have found a dealership that is really interested in making me happy, so there is about 90% of any future problems solved already. Enjoy...

Cheers,

Howster

[G8TR]

For all the inquiring minds that want to know  yes people are pretty proprietary. Most Sky people and most of the Sol people on the other forums say they would only own their version. Having been a GM person all my life I have always looked at the cars of every division to see which gave me more of the style that I wanted and the bang for the buck.
Am I N V Us, fasttoy? I'm envious that there has been a lot more done as far as mods for the Sols. There are more Sols, more Pontiac people and your cars came out first, that's why I figure y'all get all the best. Would I trade for a GXP over my RL? Probably not, as I always wanted a vette and the front end of the Sky harkens back to the days of the '69-'73 that were so popular when I was coming out of high school and my time at college and the military.
However, when we go back to the original question, would it have been a deal breaker? If Saturn never existed, If the Sky had never been built I would have bought a Sol in a heartbeat. In fact the wife and I have considered adding a second Kappa to the stable and if I have my way we will have one of each before it's over. With the lines, the heritage, and all that goes with the car I think they are and both will be classics for a long time to come.
Oh and by the way, heresy of heresy, I prefer the '67 Firebird over the '67 Camaro.