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Bought a 2008 Saturn Sky

659 Views 9 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  09skyhigh
In November of 2022 I purchased a 2008 Saturn Sky, with 120K miles, base model, black in very rough shape.

Needs body work and paint, there is scarcely a body panel without some damage or blemish. Top does not close and as a consequence was left down for three years, rain of shine.

It would not pass smog, had several issues. Found oil in the sparkplug wells, replaced valve cover gaskets, and sparkplugs. Replaced thermostat, coolant temperature sensor. Had issues with EVAP system, was finally able to get it to pass smog. Yeah!

Driver door handle was broken, now fixed. Power door locks were working intermittently. Came with just one key and without key FOBS, purchased key and two FOBS had them programed, seem to work now.

Since the top was never closed, car was exposed to sun and rain for about three years, and the interior of the car is in bad shape, carpet needs to be replaced, seats need to be replaced, needs a new radio, illumination does not work.

Purchased a pair of seats from Redline Autoparts, looking forward to replacing them after the top is fixed and when the weather gets nicer. I will need some serious help with the top. It's pretty messed up; hoping some forum members with convertible top experience can chime in.

Don't believe what the Beach Boys said about it never rains in Southern California. This is the wettest year we have had in a long time. The sky is sitting under a tarp on the west side of my house, waiting for some sunshine here in the golden state.

This is a sad little car, that I hope to bring back to working order, and with any luck I can make it look spiffy too.
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From the sound of its condition, I hope they paid you to take it off their hands. LOL

Seriously, good luck with it.
From the sound of its condition, I hope they paid you to take it off their hands. LOL

OH, and good luck with it.
Well shoot, I guess I got off on the wrong foot. I didn't pay a lot for the car, but if this works like all of my other projects, I'll be spending a lot of money to fix a car that I can never get back what I put in it. In spite of that, I like tinkering, and this has already done its job, it has kept me off the streets. LOL

I actually hope to do the body work myself and maybe even paint it myself. Something I have always been too fearful to try. :)

Thanks for your reply! Looking forward to hearing and interacting with all of the awesome forum members. Cheers!
I bought a lot of new bikes, but when I found an older severely neglected bike, my wife thought I was crazy to buy it. But there was a lot of satisfaction knowing that I brought it back to its original glory. Enjoy the project, should be fun.
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Enjoy you project and make sure you come back to this site and research when changing such things as lighting or even stereo replacement. Our cars are rather finicky that way.
Congrats on the purchase. Sounds like a fun project car.

Where in SoCal are you by? There’s a coupe of us in LA, but there is a nice SD group that does meetups once a month.

Also, new owners should send a quick Hello to @Hoosier GXP. Whatever parts you need, more often than not, he’ll have it.

Enjoy you project and make sure you come back to this site and research when changing such things as lighting or even stereo replacement. Our cars are rather finicky that way.
I bought a lot of new bikes, but when I found an older severely neglected bike, my wife thought I was crazy to buy it. But there was a lot of satisfaction knowing that I brought it back to its original glory. Enjoy the project, should be fun.
I agree it feels good to snatch something from the heap pile and wring some more life and utility out of it. Thanks for the encouragement!
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Congrats on the purchase. Sounds like a fun project car.

Where in SoCal are you by? There’s a coupe of us in LA, but there is a nice SD group that does meetups once a month.

Also, new owners should send a quick Hello to @Hoosier GXP. Whatever parts you need, more often than not, he’ll have it.

I'm in the north part of San Diego County. I'll have to look up the San Diego group. Do you ever go to the cars and coffee up in Costa Mesa?
In November of 2022 I purchased a 2008 Saturn Sky, with 120K miles, base model, black in very rough shape.

Needs body work and paint, there is scarcely a body panel without some damage or blemish. Top does not close and as a consequence was left down for three years, rain of shine.

It would not pass smog, had several issues. Found oil in the sparkplug wells, replaced valve cover gaskets, and sparkplugs. Replaced thermostat, coolant temperature sensor. Had issues with EVAP system, was finally able to get it to pass smog. Yeah!

Driver door handle was broken, now fixed. Power door locks were working intermittently. Came with just one key and without key FOBS, purchased key and two FOBS had them programed, seem to work now.

Since the top was never closed, car was exposed to sun and rain for about three years, and the interior of the car is in bad shape, carpet needs to be replaced, seats need to be replaced, needs a new radio, illumination does not work.

Purchased a pair of seats from Redline Autoparts, looking forward to replacing them after the top is fixed and when the weather gets nicer. I will need some serious help with the top. It's pretty messed up; hoping some forum members with convertible top experience can chime in.

Don't believe what the Beach Boys said about it never rains in Southern California. This is the wettest year we have had in a long time. The sky is sitting under a tarp on the west side of my house, waiting for some sunshine here in the golden state.

This is a sad little car, that I hope to bring back to working order, and with any luck I can make it look spiffy too.
View attachment 122374
Good for you to take on this reclamation project! Your car thanks you even though it might not say it…YET.
Great to hear you are saving the car from the scrap yard. Have fun with the rebuild and smiles as you drive it around.
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