Made a mistake, sold my Solara

[DDH1313]

First a little history.....In November of 04 I was driving my 99 Solara SLE V6 and hit someone that pulled out in front of me (totally unavoidable). The front drivers side of the car was pretty much destroyed. Turned out it was just shy of being totaled and was repaired and paid for by the other persons insurace company. It ended up being such a hassle and problem to be without my car that I ended up trading it in on a 2002 Nissan Maxima 6sp "still having unresolved problems with the repair". At the time, I was angry and not thinking straight and the Maxima 6sp was always a car that I had admired so I just did it. Now... i don't totally hate the Nissan however it can't compare to the quality put into the construction of the Solara. There are more creaks and rattles than my 99 ever had and with 1/3 the miles. The Bose stereo is good but not as good as the JBL. The brakes again, are good and have good feel but are plagued by a warping problem that my Solara never exibited. There is much more wind noise than my Solara had at highway speeds. Finally, there are a few TSB issues out that the dealer refuses to acknowlege as being a problem even when I have TSB in hand. Having said all the bad things.... don't ever try to race one unless you have serious mods. Its fast as hell - fastest car I have ever driven. The 3.5 VQ is rated at 255hp and 246lbs however many on Maxima.org have dyno prints to prove that is much under-rated. My butt dyno would agree. All in all however, the extra power it not worth the loss of quality in the rest of the car.


Those thinking about selling their Solara... please take my advice and make sure that you take a long and tedious test drive of the vehicle you are considering and compare everything.

[RichD978]

want to trade your 02 maxima for my 99 solara?

[Mandarinsolara]

i bet that 6 speed kicks butt to drive.

[DatSRBoi]

I use to own a maxima. Kick awesome engine power but yeah the car itself isnt as gurranttee like the solara.

[ezshift5]

.......appreciate the cogent story DDH lays out for us.

Thank you.

My 2k SE-V6 manual (replacing a total loss '89 Supra Turbo) has had a tough sell.

It was damn hard giving up the lo-boost straight six.

When quitting time came and I got behind the wheel....my asshole
boss just faded away. For 10 years, that's how it went.

I agree with the spirit of DDH' words: Toyota makes a quality product.

Plus the Solara gets 25-27 around town and 31-33 freeway..................

Again, a decent real-world summary DDH

best, ez

[sunrise_solara]

I had 2 Maximas before the Solara, and I totally agree with DDH1313. I loved the power of the VQ, but the cars rattled and creaked with wind noise to boot. People buy Nissans for the bulletproof motors and Toyotas for the bulletproof quality of workmanship.

[Whatever]

hmm... Maxima is not better then solara..interesting compareson

[DatSRBoi]

Cant be compared really. The only really good thing in a maxima (I drove one for a while so I know) is the motor. POwerful piece of machinery. But compare it to a solara motor, It drink gas like a mo-fo for its Hp's. When I had my maxima, I paid almost 45 bucks a week the way I drive. WIth the solara driving the same, I paid only 25 to 30 a week for a full tank.

[jazzlara]

everyone here thinks their solara is a race car, but the maxima will win everytime. ive never drivin a maxima and hate the way they look, but speed for speed, the maxima is better. as far as reliability, the solara takes the cake.

[ezshift5]

...what the hell is a MoFo?

[ezshift5]

everyone here thinks their solara is a race car, but the maxima will win everytime. ive never drivin a maxima and hate the way they look, but speed for speed, the maxima is better. as far as reliability, the solara takes the cake.

I know the solara is a granny coupe, and the Maxima has a better engine but that is it...

...what the hell is a MoFo?

HAHHA, a person such as yourself for asking!!!!!!!!!!!!! MUTHAFUCKKKKA = MoFo......

..well, thanks (FoMoCo came to mind) Can you translate that, ace?