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Comments
I originally ordered a Camry XLE and between the time I ordered the car and it was delivered to my dealer I read many negative posts about the short drivers seat in the Camry which started to concern me so when I went to the dealer to pick up my Camry I took it for a long test drive which confirmed the negative posts as I found the driver seat to be much too short and I just couldn't find a comfortable driving position so I then test drove the Solara and was sold on that car before I even pulled out of the dealers lot for a test drive.
The Solara I bought was the SLE with all the options and I have to say that I find that car to be the most comfortable car I have ever owned and a fun car to drive on top of it.
I will miss not having the trip computer that the Camry has but for my needs I feel the Solara will be a much more satisfying car.
A test drive changed my mind. The sedan leans much more in turns than the Solara, and the seat felt like I was sitting on a bar stool.
There are a number of nice things about the sedan, but I ended up in a SLE Solara.
The paint finish on this car is the, WORST, repeat, WORST I have ever owned. Because my car is black I go out of my way to baby the finish, but the paint looks like a 5 year old car or older, that has seen many a soft cloth car wash. Clear coat has so many swirl marks, made even worse by the bodyshop the replaced the hood, when they blended the hood with the car. It was like Martha Stewart at the detail shop, deciding to "ANTIQUE" the car so the finish was consistant. My 2 years of babying, ruined worse by a rotary buffer!?! A rotary buffer on a black car!?! EECH. Looks greeeaaat in direct sunlight now, NOT. At least I can start using the soft cloth car washes now, rather than going out of my way to the do it yourself places, and worrying about leather chammois, of soft cotton towels on the finish. They did not work well anyway with the OEM paint and clearcoat being sooo soft, and the paint being prone to chips.
IMO, this car should never, please let me repeat, never, be compared to a LEXUS, or any car other than a Toyota. After speaking with Toyota, I find that even the paint processes are different on Lexus and Toyota Solara. For those who want to make themselves feel better about your cars by comparing them to a Lexus, no offense intended, please do a reality check.
Curlyq... The chips just go with the car, and can become one on your shoulder if you allow them. The paint is soft, and Toyota knows it, from the few phone calls I have had with them. IMO, get another car, and keep the Solara for the beater. IMO, after 2 years with this car, thats what it is, the second car, or spend $5-6,000 for a new paint job.
That said, I don't know about you guys here, but I can live with my car having chips here and there, but I can't live without drinkable water. It's your choice. Everybody hates a paint chip, including myself. But there are products out there that will do a pretty good job repairing those chips for you. If not, that's what body shops are for.
I've owned an Intrepid ES and a Corolla before my Solara. My Intrepid was very prone to chips, but it wasn't better or worse than my Corolla or Solara. I therefore disagree with the people here that think that this is a problem with Toyota. Give me a break!
I agree with you. I had a 99 Chrysler 300M that was very prone to chips also. In addition to the lack of lead in the paint for environmental reasons, the sloping hoods of many new cars doesn't help either. Best protection is a car bra for long highway trips.
fastdriver
All current Lexuses come from Japan. I think I read on the Toyota USA website that it does not use any leaded paints in its North American factories (http://www.toyota.com/about/environment/manufacturing/help_environment.html), but Toyota Japan might not be as environmentally conscious as we are, and so Lexuses might still come with leaded paint. We'll see with the planned production of the RX300 in Ontario if the owners will also complain about brittle paint.
Read about what other manufacturers are doing to become more environmentally aware. You'll see that Toyota is doing a pretty good job, and they're also continously improving.
http://www.thehollywoodextra.com
Be careful to choose dealer. I had very bad experience with Scott Clark Toyota ( in Charlotte) on service. By the way, how to rate the service of dealers in each city or state?
I suggest Edmund provide such forum.
The Solara lacks a lot of features that similar priced cars have but I was aware of that prior to buying the car so I feel it would be wrong for me to complain about that but overall it's a great car and I am very satisfied with my purchase.
I have read a lot about the paint chipping problem and was wondering if that was also a problem with the pearl white color{I had to pay an extra couple hundred dollars for the pearl white}
The bad part is that the parts do not fit precisely. Even the professional installer was not pleased with the final job. There are some small wrinkles, some overlapping seams etc. if you are a perfectionist about how the car looks, you definitely need a professional to install this stuff. There are other brands that advertise a more precise fit, and may be worth investigating. I think they area all the same 3M film, but may be cut better.
The stuff is basically invisible from more than a few feet away, but up close, you can see it and some of the flaws.
Overall, I think I am happy with it, but it is not perfect. My $0.02 worth!
ezguy, that the way the Solaras are. They look nice, and drive nice when you do the test drive, but after you get used to the new car feel, the ride is almost like you are in a boat, with about as much control!?! Very front heavy, especially in rain and snow, with mucho momentum when stopping. Tech that moved my car into service bay told me the brakes feel soft, in an effort to have me replace, but they were just replaced the last vist. I then got the disc/disc, needs no maintenance, that probably how they are!?!
I was using premium at first, but then I switched to ethanol, and I've been using it for the past 4-5 tanks. Now I've noticed that the car "chugs and tugs" a bit when I slowly accelerate. There's no difference in RPMs. It also does that when I'm going around 45 mph. Now I thought this must be because the ethanol fuel cleaned the engine, and my fuel filter's getting clogged. So I call my dealer and asked for a price quote on a fuel filter change. They said the fuel filter on Solaras are lifetime, and don't need replacement. He asked me what kind of fuel I was using, and so I told him this whole story, and he said I should either go with regular, but premium's the best. He said that some engines really don't like ethanol, like the Toyota Supra.
Any thoughts on this? I'm thinking about switching back to premium, and I know that according to past discussions here, the extra price of premium is warranted by the extra mileage I can get from the same amount of gas.
I pamper my car, and I really think it's one of the best cars out there. Like ezguy said, it feels like a Lexus. In any case, your comments or experiences would be appreciated. Thanks.
Webguyster: Winter fuel might be the problem, but I fueled with premium during winter and never had a problem. I might've just gotten a bad batch of gas?
Yammaha makes outboard 2 stroke motors. They are the only manufacturer that requires a fuel additive to keep their warranty alive. The additive they require is called Ring Free. This product prevents carbon build up on the pistons. Carbon build up leads to all kinds of problems, including a degradation in performance.
What is Ring Free? I've been told that it is also known as Techroline which is the additive Cheveron uses in all grades of its gas. I know also gas companies use various additives, but the one Cheveron uses seems to have a pretty dramatic effect on outboard engines. Any of you that have access to a Cheveron station may want to consider using it and letting the rest of us know if you experienced any improvement in performance.
Cliffy: We don't have Chevron gas in Canada. It might be marketed under a different name, but no Chevron gas bars here.
Loucopits: That might be, but I would doubt it. There would be a performance boost better that 10 HP if they'd crank up the compression ratio. I think the 10 HP is just because of the VVT-i.
So here's Part II: After I noticed the slight "bucking" from the car, I thought it could either be: A) the effects of ethanol (89 octane here) on this engine, or a bad batch of gas. I still had about 35-40% of gas left in my tank, so I decided to fill it up using premium. The better gas, I thought, would dilute the bad gas. Good plan, right? Well... I took my car for a 60 mile trip yesterday, and when I got to the 4th gear and cruise to 50 MPH (90 km/h), it started bucking significantly more. It's not to the point where I thought it'd stall, but definitely a rougher ride.
So this, after all, doesn't sound like a gas problem at all, but something else. Being that I'm not a mechanic, I ignore what else could be wrong. Funny thing though: the car runs smoothly at any other speed, except when I get to 50 MPH on 4th gear and stay at that speed. It's like the transmission doesn't know if it should downshift to 3rd or stay in 4th, so it alternates every few seconds? This is weird, because I cruise on very flat roads.
So guys, I have NO idea what else it could be here. Any ideas? I'll definitely bring it into the shop, but I'd appreciate your comments on this.
Otherwise, the car is still turning heads and the engine is super smooth. Idle is so quiet I always think it's turned off.
The way I look at it is - would it be worth $10k to me to have real wood and less chips in the paint? Personally, I can live with the paint.
A car bra would help for those highway trips. They're not as bad as you might think. I use one for extended trips on my car.
fastdriver
Webguyster: thanks for your comments, but let me clarify that it didn't go back and forth like a newbie on a manual. That's REALLY bad. My "tug" motion was noticeable, especially since this car is so smooth, but now the smoothness is back, and I hope it stays there.
I'll try and keep staying away from bad gas for a while, and give you an update.
I, for one, do NOT have a problem with trying to make this planet last long enough for my grandkids to enjoy (good grief - 100 more years, and there might not be any polar bears left?!?)
As for regular vs premium, I would use premium. It does give me better gas mileage (slightly) and power, and probably lower emissions, although I have no way of telling. Using regular is fine, but you'll be overworking the knock sensors, which are expensive to replace.
Sounds like you should have called your state department of CONSUMER PROTECTION for false, misleading advertising! By not doing that, that's how they get away with this crap!
fastdriver
Seems like all is quiet on the Solara front, sludge fears waining.
My latest paint story...
After having my black hood refinished, with Sherwin Williams, and having to have it wet sanded for a 3rd time to get rid of the swirl marks, I was inspecting the hood, paint quaility, worksmanship, etc, I noticed a few imperfections. The body shop advisor said that the tech noticed quite a few small chips on my hood, and managed to wet sand most out. He said they cant warranty the quality of the paint from wear and tear, and I reminded him that the hood was painted only 30 days ago, and that having only driven a couple hundred miles, suburban driving, shouldn't the paint hold up a little better, especially soft, un-cured paint? It's not like I drive behind gravel trucks or something!?! So, my conclusion, is that like the sludge mystery, the paint is a few variables, like paint quailty, and the shape of the car. Unless the new Sherwin Williams paint is bad too. As far as a bra for the car, I would be too concerned that debris would gather under the bra, and make the front end worse. Maybe 2003 will have better paint, or a smaller hood!?!
2nd question...to have this checked out would I take the car back to the dealer or Bridgestone/Firestone tire store?