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Thanks for listening and over to you, cliffy1 (or any other of you tuned in folks I've noted in monitoring these forums)
GAS - YES - your car will run fine on 87, but it is a false economy. The computer and the knock sensor will prevent knocking and pinging while using 87 - but they can only do this by constantly RETARDING the engine spark timing. The result is less power and less gas mileage! Guaranteed. It is simply the laws of physics and internal combustion engines. Anyone that used to do their own tune-ups will know this is true.
I, as well as others on this forum, found that the cost savings of using 87 was outweighed by the reduction in gas mileage, so it actually COSTS MORE per mile to run 87 than 92. Try 2-3 tanks of each from the same source - you will find this out for yourself if the overall driving is about the same for each trial. AND the car is much zippier on 92, another by-product of the more advanced timing allowed by the 92.
I believe - using the 89/91/92 - the V6 will turn in surprisingly better mileage........especially on a long road trip. Enjoy!
Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience!
KarenS
Senior Host
Owner's Clubs
My question is, if I have the right tools, is this something that I could install myself? It appears that on the Solara you have to remove the inside door panel to connect the electrical cables and I have a friend who feels confident in doing this for me. However, while I trust my friend, I also don't know if it something that someone should really do on their own or not.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks-
PNC
Good luck.
Look at my new intake...
http://users.ev1.net/~gunpilot/intake/
Thanks.
A $1,000 over invoice sounds kind of high to me! Too high. Have you checked the fair market value here at Edmunds? Maybe cliffy can help you.
fastdriver
Shop around, hambone32, and don't expect the local dealer can or will offer a rockbottom price.
Zooker Gill
Sounds like some good advice above. Research, Research, Research. I am not an advocate of buying a car at the end of the model year, UNLESS you're going to keep it for a long time and you get a fantastic deal, because the car has already DEPRECIATED a year. Do a search for automobile buying services. I believe there are topics here in TH that discuss these services. I remember a long time ago that someone in this very group, if memory serves me, had his Solara delivered, by truck, right to his front door!
BTW, Cliffy1 works at a Toyota dealership in VA. He has been in this topic for a long time and has been a great help and source of information for Solara owners.
Good luck.
fastdriver
Quick question- my aunt is thinking of selling her 1999, sand beige, Solara SLE. She wants to get a Camry because at 80+ years old, the doors on the Solara are too big for her. She has the spoiler, side airbags and traction control. I believe those were options in 99. I don't think there is any other option that I can think of right now. She has about 9,000 miles on the car. Would you say that a "ballpark" figure for its value would be about $22,000? I know that once the 2002 models come out and she gets serious about the Camry, she will have NO trouble selling it. I know several people already who are interested in buying it. There is no way that she is going to trade it in.
Thanks.
fastdriver
The equipment and miles are what make that car so attractive. Combine that with the fact that whoever buys it will see that it really was driven by a little old lady should make the sale fairly easy.
Thanks. With only 9,000 miles, she should have no trouble getting her price.
fastdriver
We pay this amount and it is itemized on the invoice. If you're talking about paying an amount over invoice, you need to use the real invoice. We are NOT rebated this money. It does not pay for the individual dealer's advertising expenses. It pays for Toyota's national advertising campaigns in each region.
Radracer, your analogy is flawed. A better one would be buying fries as McDonalds. If you were to ask what the store's "invoice" was on the fries, you would find that a certain percent was for the potatoes, some was for the shipping and handling and some was for McDonalds to advertise to bring customers to their franchised locations. When you spend your $.99, you are paying for the advertising on the national level.
Keep in mind, what a customer pays for a car is retail. The advertising line on the invoice is part of what the dealer pays on a wholesale level. Don't confuse the two.
fastdriver
Zooker Gill
Fastdriver, for what its worth, in the Washington/VA area, used '2000 loaded V6 5 speeds with 15K miles are going for $17,500
At least Toyota is being honest and letting the customer know that this expense is built into the price of their vehicles.
Whether a manufacturer invoices this expense or not, you the consumer do pay for it. Guess what, we probably also pay for the "free" tank of gas they put into our new car, the furniture in their building, etc, etc. You even help pay for the salary of the sales guy who sold you your car.
I know it sounds like Toyota is pulling a fast one, but they aren't. Just remember the next time you drop $70 on a shirt with one of those guys riding a horse on it, that it probably really cost about $10 to manufacturer that shirt. Part of that other $60 pays for their advertising in GQ, on TV, etc.
If you don't like it, don't shop retail. Build your own.
Let me put it another way. You didn't stroke your check to Toyota Motor Sales did you? You didn't see the Certificate of Origin did you? The car was not shipped from the factory to your door was it? That means you paid a retail price for the vehicle. Perhaps not the "suggested retail" price, but a retail price none the less. When you asked to see what the wholesale price of the vehicle was, you saw that the dealer paid an advertising fee for the right to own the car. You felt like you were being asked to carry a burden that was not yours. If the dealer thought he could get away with it, he probably would have said "no problem sir, I wont charge you for the advertising" but would have asked for an amount much higher over the "Edmunds Invoice" to cover what he actually pays.
I have noticed that the dealer's are overstocked in that car and I understand there is a manufacturer's rebate of $700.00. I was wondering if the high supply and low demand means something about this relatively new vehicle(3 yr old). Can anyone clue me in? I have test driven both the Solara and the Accord Coup and I like the drive of the Solara much better but all those cars in the lot and not many that I see on the road makes me hesitant. Any ideas folks?????
Regarding the other cars you mentioned, by comparison the Solara will provide a smoother ride, and has a much roomier back seat, if those features are important to you. There is actually more knee room in the rear of the Solara than was in my Lexus.
You can't go wrong with any of them, but there are differences. Good Luck!
One of the things I have noticed with a 1000 miles on the car now is wind noise from the left(driver side) top, while the passenger's side is extremely quiet.
I've had the dealer check it out, and didn't find any problem. Wind noise was comparable to the other car on the lot.
So, why would the noise be much louder on one side of the car vs. the other?
Other than that, I LOVE THIS CAR! Since it's illegal to drive with the top up, it's not a huge issue!
Now, concerning your inquiry about the CL... I would give the benefit of doubt that Acura would have likely fixed the problems of body panel misfits because the CL just came out for '01 and first year models do usually have some bugs. However, seeing that it's the end of the year, and that you are likely to run into a car built recently, maybe Acura did fix its problems (look at the JD Power's initial quality survey for the TL -- it finished in the top 5). I would say that the CL is somewhat of a gamble, however, because it IS technically still a first year car.
To make this short, the Solara vs. Accord seems like a matter of preference. Solara has a better ride, but the Accord handles better. Solara has more room, but the Accord is more driver oriented. Solara costs a bit more and needs premium fuel (recommended) while the Accord only sips the good ol' 87 octane. etc. etc. You can't go wrong with these cars... see what kind of deals are out there and just go for it!~