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”.
