How many miles on your Gen1 - Car condition?

[mig0s]

Hey guys,

The Solara 1st generation is getting old. Mine is 11 years old. Here's just a survey, on the reliability of Solaras.
Please reply in this form:

Year:
Miles:
Mechanical condition:
Aesthetic condition:
Money spent fixing the essential(mods/maintenance excluded):
Major problems experienced:

*Add extra info here if desired*

Thank you very much it's very appreciated.

[mig0s]

Year: 1999
Miles: 96 000
Mechanical condition: Excellent, except suspension is turning a little hard (i'm getting lowered soon), engine a little noisy at start
Aesthetic condition: Some minor scratches, 2 rust dots on hood and inner fender is getting rusty (i'll apply antirust soon)
Money spent fixing the essential(mods/maintenance excluded): 160$ since I acquired the car 2 months ago: 1 brushing table and 1 link kit.
Major problems experienced: None

[1gSE]

Year: 1999
Miles: 160k+
Mechanical condition: Great!
Aesthetic condition: Pretty good aside from the typical wear and tear on the grille, and the dent in the l/f fender. It won't take much to replace, I just have other priorities
Money spent fixing the essential: about 1k+, timing belt kit, tires, regular maintenance
Major problems experienced: none in the 40k that I've had her except the crappy install on the remote starter from the previous owner

[mig0s]

^^Thanks 1gse for sharing!

C'mon guys it takes 1 minute to reply just do it so we can find out how reliable our cars are!!

[supersoldier]

Year:2000
Miles:180000ish
Mechanical condition: Good
Aesthetic condition: good( hit a deer so front repainted and new hood, sides keyed, so repainted)
Money spent fixing the essential(mods/maintenance excluded): other than water pump and timing belt recently, master cylinder,brake booster.
Major problems experienced:right now I have an weird electical problem with my gear and climate control lighing.

[AnglerfisH]

Year:2000
Miles:97,180
Mechanical condition:excellent!
Aesthetic condition: good, grill chroming is showing some wear and tear, paint is in good shape, still has a good gloss and mirror finish, some minor chips that are really too small to notice, plus the previous owner touched them up. Mechanically, all I have done in the 7 months I've had the car is replace the plugs and PCV valve. Battery that was in the car died, but that's an easy problem to fix. Susprension is in great shape also.
No major problems.

[Toy1mzfe]

Year: 1999
Miles: 115000
Mechanical condition: Good no problems.
Aesthetic condition: Good. Headlight haze. Grill Peel. very very small fender buckle (My fault being slammed). Paint not as smooth (need to clay bar)
Money spent fixing the essential(mods/maintenance excluded): 0
Major problems experienced: None

[mac-phisto]

Year: 1999
Miles: 170k (purchased at 70k)

Mechanical condition: need struts, rear brakes & i've got a CEL i've been diagnosing for the last 3 months (i'm pretty sure it's oxygen sensors - doh!) i' also think that my valve seals are starting to go (burning thru about 2 quarts between changes).

Aesthetic condition: relatively good. obligatory CT war paint (keeps the morons from pushing me around on the road ), but she still shines up pretty (just waxed her last weekend - DAMN is she fine!). chrome paint peeled off the grille, but i painted it black (looks better that way, imo) & the clearcoat is peeling off my spoiler (going to sand that down & hit it with a new coat of paint/clearcoat hopefully this summer).

Money spent fixing the essential(mods/maintenance excluded): is this cumulative? aside from the stuff listed above (which is easily $1000 in parts & probably more in labor when i f- it up), i've really only had to put a clutch in it which cost about $800. the timing belt was done right before i bought it, so i lucked out there. HANDS DOWN the least expensive car to maintain that i've ever owned - & A LOT of that is due to the wealth of information i've found here. SOLARAGUY ROCKS! EDIT: forgot that i cracked a front swaybar a couple years back - that set me back about $500.

Major problems experienced: the biggest complaint i have is winter driving. before the lara, i had a 93 honda accord & i could run that year-round on all-seasons. the lara REQUIRES snow tires in new england winters. found that out the hard way when i ended up in a ditch with her when there was hardly a dusting on the road. my sunroof also has this annoying problem where it gets an inch from closing & then opens back up unless i click the button again - something in the gearing is jammed. aside from that, she's incredibly resilient.

other notes: do you guys keep the mudflaps on (or whatever they're called), or have you taken them off? i'm thinking about getting rid of them - any input either way on whether i should or not?

[TheGreenDutch]

Year: 2000 SE V6
Miles: 139,500
Mechanical condition: Great. I have the p0420 Cat code, but other then that she runs beautifully.
Aesthetic condition: Grill paint peeling from parkers and a little rust under the passanger side door jam, Mirror shell cracked from crazy bus driver. Diamond white paint holding up superb tho.
Money spent fixing the essential(mods/maintenance excluded): Timing belt cost the most, tires + rims maybe in the +5 years i've owned it about $1,500 in various parts and maintenance.
Major problems experienced: Coil pack went bad once that was it. My car limped home. Thats probably why my cat is bad today 3 years after that happened maybe.


Its an excellent car. I would only buy a toyota, honda or nissan in my life after her.

[Akfahad]

year: 1999
Miles: 145K
Mechanical condition: good
Aesthetic condition: good, except some bad insurance work which is now showing a spotty paint job
Money spent fixing the essential(mods/maintenance excluded): ~10K which includes all mods/dyno time/oil changes...most of the maintenance issues arose when I hit 100K miles.
Major problems experienced: none

[ToyoSolV6]

year: 2000
Miles: 110K
Mechanical condition:very good
Aesthetic condition: It's ok, needs new front bumper, and paint job.
Money spent fixing the essential(mods/maintenance excluded): About 7k including mods, and maintenance.
Major problems experienced: None

[BaoChikaBaoWoW]

Year: 1999 SE
Miles: 140k
Mechanical condition: just fine excepte for the passenger cv boot that had to be replace but that was my fault
Aesthetic condition: dints in some places, need to sand bar, passenger fender had tobe cut off at bottm(my fault again) or door elas wont open
Money spent fixing the essential(mods/maintenance excluded): only about $600 in repair cost :/
Major problems experienced: hit a curb really hard on an unfamiliar turn, and busted the rigth side up pretty badly :,(

[DSM_Lara]

Year:1999 First Gen FTW
Miles:67k (purchased 12/19/2009 with 59,625 miles)
Mechanical condition: Can't get any better the way it is now
Aesthetic condition: Mint everything is original but, not for long.
Money spent fixing the essential(mods/maintenance excluded): Molly Design TRD Kit & Renova Grill $550, 25% Tints $135, HID 35w H4 6000k/9006 3000k $125, Tinted Tails $60, Regular maintenance so far approximately $500.
Major problems experienced: None

[TadS]

Year: 2000
Miles: 150,000
Mechanical condition: Flawless
Aesthetic condition: Horrid
Money spent fixing the essential(mods/maintenance excluded): Nothing other than basic maintenance, mods, stuff broken auto-crossing, or by aftermarket parts.
Major problems experienced: none

[AnglerfisH]

Forgot to mention, Interior is in flawless condition. Dashboard is immaculate, trim is gorgeous, no fading or rips in the upholstery.The previous owner must have kept this car in a garage.