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2004 Toyota Solara
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Comments
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Mackabee
Also, what gives with the mini-site. JUST FREKIN UPDATE the Solara pages, they are in production now!
Before I go to a dealer, I want to know if they've got what I want. Go to Nissans website, you'll see what I mean.
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Mackabee
The difference with the web sites is that EVERY Nissan, Mazda, Chrysler, GM, etc. dealer has their inventory listed on a centralized site, whereas the Toyota practice of leaving the inventory up to individual dealers makes things difficult and introduces inconsistencies. By the way, I think the reason for this is that Toyota has the private distributorships that handle regional stuff. For example, I know that Southeast Toyota and Gulf States Toyota both like to put 4-digit ripoff stickers on the cars for things like paint sealant and flimsy Taiwan-made alloy wheels. In order to be accurate, a centralized inventory system would have to take all of this add-on junk into account. That's probably why they don't want to bother with it. If I were in charge of TMSUSA, I would take the other approach: tell those private distributors to shape up or ship out. There's no excuse for loading that overpriced trash onto the cars before they even reach the dealership.
-Andrew L
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Mackabee
You must be doing something wrong with the Nissan site. Go to the home page, click on any model, then on that model's page, click on any trim level. This will bring you to a screen in which you can A) either configure the vehicle you want, and then search against a dealers inventory or choose from local dealers and view all of that dealers inventory for that model. You can sort by trim line, price, or color match.
The fact that I could find a dealer in my area with the Sentra I wanted (Molten Silver, 2.5LE, no major options) made my day and made the deal incredibly easy, and fairly obliterated any chance the Corolla had simply because I didnt know where to go to find one with ABS and side airbags, cause Toyota's website does not have that functionality, nor do local dealers. (Plus the Corollas airbags dont cover chest AND head and the Corolla is a lot less peppy, but thats a different story).
~alpha
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Mackabee
[sarcasm]What a surprise![/sarcasm]
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Mackabee
P.s. both Camry 04 and Solara 04 are at your local dealers right now. Or are you afraid to step into the "lion's den"?
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Mackabee
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Mackabee
Not ONE Camry Solara. Damn South East Region!
Anyway, I am willing to wait, AND bet that all of the Camrys that come to this area will have a whole bunch of useless accesories.
The UGLY alloy wheels they put on the Camry LEs are sooo bad...I hope they don't do this to the Solara.
Heck, even some of the SEV6 Camrys have the accessoires alloys and they have the nerve to charge extra for them.
I still cannot wait to finally see one. I will be in Atlanta tomorrow, but I bet they will not have any.`
-Andrew L
BTW, I only go to the dealer if I'm buying or have a scheduled maintenance done. Since I'm not doing the prior anytime soon, nor the latter (next scheduled maintenance 9K miles away, I change my own oil), I only go to dealer on Sunday when I know that I'll have some privacy (especially now that it's "Toyota Time"). In other words, I only go there when it's absolutely necessary.
Besides, if these vehicles are "supposedly" on the lots now, then shouldn't Toyota have them up on their site, regardless of actual release date? Even Honda had the Pilot and Element up before they went on sale.
I am thinking of getting one too. I live in NY
and I was wondering what options you chose and what they are charging.
Thanks
By the way, overall I don't have a major problem with the Toyota web site, but I think they dropped the ball on the Solara re-launch.
1) no dual climate control on the SLE
2) no power passenger seat
3) no Xenons
Number Two: Crosstown rivals Nissan and Honda update their sites frequently. (Nissan is a bit slower than Honda- but Honda is really fast. The Pilot page went up a couple of weeks before it went on sale) Also, they have a dealer inventory search system. VERY EASY TO USE! On Toyota's website, when I'm just wondering what Siennas my local dealer has in stock without going to the dealer, I have to go to the dealer's website- which has no inventory search either.
Number 3: Why can't Toyota just distribute Toyotas in the Gulf States/Southeast region themselves? I'm sure they'd gain some customers who bought Accords and Altimas instead of Camrys because of those aftermarket Alloy Wheels installed by whoever distributes the Toyotas down there right now.
Thanks and good luck,
I went to my local Toyota dealer and they were
clueless...
Did $26,680 include NAV? and Do you think
the dealer would negotiate further.
If you want to email them yourself here's the address: toyota_cares@toyota.com
Put "website updates" in subject line.
What do you expect from Honda? LOL! :-)
And one could buy the entry level SE with the six cylinder and most options for about $21,000.00. Thankyou goodness for the economic freedom that we have left. This car is an amazing value.
The interior looks much more upscale than the price class and the satin trim looks great. And there is plenty of luggage room, close to 14 cubic feet.
A very impressive car that draws with its styling and has to win you over with the finish quality and value.
I am looking forward to seeing the car in the Artic Pearl and the other great colors.
This is the way I understand it, and if I'm wrong someone please correct me. A long time ago when Toyota first came to the US, the regions weren't controlled by Toyota themselves. They relied on these investors to help get them going, and when Toyota became successful they started to buy back control. The Southeast/Gulf regions refused to sell out so to this day they are still not under control of Toyota. Toyota builds the cars like any other place but once it arrives at the "port" the SE/Gulf region slaps on aftermarket alloy wheels, adds the dreaded ToyoGuard Package, charges more for floormats and other PIO and any other scams they can dream up. Most cars in the lots will have that ToyoGuard Package and it's difficult to not have to pay something for it.
From what I understand, it's not Toyota's fault and not the individual dealer's fault, this is something the people in charge of these regions force on the cars and the cost is passed on to the dealers, and in return the dealer must recoup the money they're charged by charging the customer as well.
This is the explanation I've heard for all the nonsense that the SE/Gulf regions do. Could someone confirm this for me or if it's not true, could someone explain to me why this is going on? I've always wondered if this explanation was true or not.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&cate- gory=33744&item=2427645296
I am in the hubcap business and those are definitely not any wheel covers I have ever seen before, which makes me think the description might be accurate. So, what 2004 Solaras come with wheel covers???
-Andrew L
Hubcaps, all SOLARA 04'S come standard with alloy wheels. Never seen that wheel cover design before.
jchan, have you tried using the phone? Works everytime and you get updated information instantly.
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Mackabee
Mackabee
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Mackabee
It was a Lunar Mist SLE with many options. Nice looking, but I am not crazy about the rear end.
As expected, it was loaded with accessories.
Gold trim, sunroof visors, etc.
Nice though.
On my way home I decided to stop by another dealership, and low and behold, they had an SLE as well.
It was black. It also had the gold trim and sunroof visor. It looked better for some reason.
I really like the interior!
Oceanus Blue ain't bad either.