Think hard before you buy one of these things. The transmissions are crap. The website says $19,000 base, but in reality it's $26,000 minimum. Then there's the dealer premium of between $4,000 and $10,000. Add taxes and interest and you've got a $40,000 car with a crappy transmission. I bought my automatic 40 days ago. I've driven it 5 times. The rest of the time it's back at the shop for one more try at correcting the various transmission issues. Wish I'd never heard of the Soltice. It's an absolutely, positively, drop dead gorgeous piece of crap.
what various transmission issues are you referring too....and if you paid above MSRP...its your fault and the base was never 19K..its was 19,995...and if you just bought one..you would find out that is slightly more now....and for some reason....most of us on this forum will probably not believe you even own a solstice....but if you do.........seems your best bet is to move on....if you can find a better car buy it....enough said.....
and since this appears to be your first post...it will probably be your last since your opinion of the car doesnt match the other several thousand members of the forum.....hope you are having a safe 4th of July....cheers
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Sorry had to laugh, I think you are one of the only people having this problem. You need to remember it is the first year they are making this car. So there are going to be kinks. But yours just sounds like a "lemon"
Every company has this problem. You werent so lucky when getting yours. **** happens, thats all i can say, and $40K ? ? ? I paid that in CDN FUNDS
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Think hard before you buy one of these things. The transmissions are crap. The website says $19,000 base, but in reality it's $26,000 minimum. Then there's the dealer premium of between $4,000 and $10,000. Add taxes and interest and you've got a $40,000 car with a crappy transmission. I bought my automatic 40 days ago. I've driven it 5 times. The rest of the time it's back at the shop for one more try at correcting the various transmission issues. Wish I'd never heard of the Soltice. It's an absolutely, positively, drop dead gorgeous piece of crap.
I did think hard before I bought "one of these things" and I am absolutely thrilled with it.
I am sorry that you seemed to have been taken by paying an extreme premium by a dishonorable dealer and you've also suffered with the automatic transmission problem.
However, I have a drop dead gorgeous, head turner car that cost me under $28k. I'd say most of us on here will disagree with your "piece of crap" statement.
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Sounds more like you got a bunch of Sour Grapes to me.
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I'm sorry you've had problems so severe that you've arrived at that conclusion. Most have not been so unlucky. So far, my Sol is all I'd hoped it would be & I'm quite pleased with it, even though it will need to go in to the dealer this week for the differential leak issue.
Hope you have better luck with your next vehicle.
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VIN 1702 DOD 10-22-05 BEAUTIFUL, BLACK
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Think hard before you buy one of these things. The transmissions are crap. The website says $19,000 base, but in reality it's $26,000 minimum. Then there's the dealer premium of between $4,000 and $10,000. Add taxes and interest and you've got a $40,000 car with a crappy transmission. I bought my automatic 40 days ago. I've driven it 5 times. The rest of the time it's back at the shop for one more try at correcting the various transmission issues. Wish I'd never heard of the Soltice. It's an absolutely, positively, drop dead gorgeous piece of crap.
I feel for you, but others had said it correctly here. You overpaid for a car that you should not have paid more than sticker. If the auto tranny is giving you problems, then you should report those to you dealership service manager and if repeated, contact GM in regards to this car being a lemon and attempting to get rid of it using the lemon law. However, the "various transmission" issues you speak about regarding the automatic transmission are not a common phenomenon, and although I will believe you in regards to your experience, the best way of handling this is getting a Pontiac customer service representative on the case as soon as tomorrow. I would not accept this, and you should not have to either. In addition, a $40K price tag for the Solstice, which maxes at in non-GXP for at a little over $26K is a stretch. Even after taxes and fees and license, no one pays $40K unless they went their with the wallets open and eyes closed.
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Solstice GXP picked up 10/13/2006. Triple black Mysterious, Darkside, Ebony leather with red stitching. All Options, but no spoiler. 5 speed chrome wheels, XM, OnStar, sport metallic pedals everything but the blonde salesgirl...
I did think hard before I bought "one of these things" and I am absolutely thrilled with it.
I am sorry that you seemed to have been taken by paying an extreme premium by a dishonorable dealer and you've also suffered with the automatic transmission problem.
However, I have a drop dead gorgeous, head turner car that cost me under $28k. I'd say most of us on here will disagree with your "piece of crap" statement.
And she takes hairpin freeway exits at 50 mph (my hero ).
These are first year cars, most of us have wanted this car since seeing it either at Detroit in 2002 or as a concept write-up in one of the rags. Sorry if you bought one and are having problems, you obviously will be much happier with a more established sports car with an automatic like a Mustang, Corvette, or Porsche.
Sorry you had such a terrible experience and I'm sure the GM/Pontiac folks that monitor this forum would like to have your feedback and document this experience in an effort to stop other occurences.
One thing is for sure, Mr. Lutz said he did not approve of upcharges, if your listening do something about it.
If on the otherhand you are not an owner and just want to bust our chops and wait for vile comebacks, hopefully our members will not give you your wish.
Oh, one more thing, Why does Porsche, and the almighty Japanees car makers come out with new models, could it be they are making improvements to keep up with the competition?
Come on GM, start cranking these things out to meet the demand, Honda would.
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Take it easy on Layne. You have to admit, many Solstice owners and forum members have not been happy with the drivetrain. Just run a forum search on: clunks, whine, or differential leaks.
My wife's Solstice is just 2-months old and it's been in the shop 5 times already. It goes back again this Thursday for the infamous whine problem. Quality issues thus far include: drivetrain clunks, broken driver's door handle, faulty ventilation fan, drivetrain whine, chirping from trunk.
First year car or not, there's no excuse for so many having these problems.
And she takes hairpin freeway exits at 50 mph (my hero ).
These are first year cars, most of us have wanted this car since seeing it either at Detroit in 2002 or as a concept write-up in one of the rags. Sorry if you bought one and are having problems, you obviously will be much happier with a more established sports car with an automatic like a Mustang, Corvette, or Porsche.
Sorry you had such a terrible experience and I'm sure the GM/Pontiac folks that monitor this forum would like to have your feedback and document this experience in an effort to stop other occurences.
One thing is for sure, Mr. Lutz said he did not approve of upcharges, if your listening do something about it.
If on the otherhand you are not an owner and just want to bust our chops and wait for vile comebacks, hopefully our members will not give you your wish.
Oh, one more thing, Why does Porsche, and the almighty Japanees car makers come out with new models, could it be they are making improvements to keep up with the competition?
Come on GM, start cranking these things out to meet the demand, Honda would.
Well written SoCool. Two points in followup. GM and no other manufacturer can control what a given dealership charges for a given item. Oh, they could punish a dealer by not giving them allocation in the next cycle, but that doesn't happen often enough. Often it is just a nod and a look in the other direction knowing that the stealerships are gonna do what the stealerships do. For me, the base Sol had a great marketing idea in trying to get dealerships to honor the MSRP pricing. Now, from what I have found out, smaller area dealerships were at a major disadvantage in this program because the Solstice marketing program resulted in charges of $7K to just get brochures, info, models and the like for Page Ranking at the dealership prior to the Solstice being produced. So, a dealer had to pay $7K to get a low volume car with a fixed profit below $1500 for a modestly equipped model. the numbers weren't there for the small dealers, I have been told. That was a shame on GM, if true.
Secondly, I agree with you that other manufacturers do consistently upgrade their products, even sometimes offering midyear improvements and newer options/option combos. GM does this to a degree as well. However, when Toyota or Honda introduces a new model, they seem to get it more correct out of the box, than say GM does. That is my issue with some of the problems mentioned by myself and others here on the SF regarding quality issues with the Solstice. I have had a few, and it makes me suspect regarding GM and this vehicle, which seemed to offer so much promise.
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Solstice GXP picked up 10/13/2006. Triple black Mysterious, Darkside, Ebony leather with red stitching. All Options, but no spoiler. 5 speed chrome wheels, XM, OnStar, sport metallic pedals everything but the blonde salesgirl...
lemon 
