Hello from Houston

[lizard_boy]

Great web site you've got here. I just bought a used 2002 SE today.

2002 Solara SE - $13,500 + TTL

29,000 miles
4 cylinder
Auto
Green/Tan
Cloth
JBL Sound

So far I love this thing, probably put on 100+ miles today driving around. I only went in to test the 4 cylinder since I'd previously driven the V6, but they had the exact color I wanted and came down to the price range where I wanted to be with a few rounds of negotiations. The also gave me a decent price on my trade-in sight unseen.

Couple of questions:

1) Keyless entry. What's the cheapest/easiest way to add keyless entry do this car? The dealer quoted me $295 for keyless entry and something like $450 for an alarm with keyless. I was planning to look at Best Buy, Car Toys, etc tomorrow and see what they have to offer.

2) Scheduled maintenance. I'm almost at 30,000 miles right now, since the car has been through the dealership recently and checked out where should I pick up on the scheduled maintenance?

3) Coin box? Where is this coin box I remember reading so much about when I first started researching Solara's a few years ago? I can't seem to find one on this car.

4) Known issues? I'm aware of the 'sludge' history, this car had all its oil changes on time according to the records the dealership had. I've also read about the left-pull issue, this car definitely doesn't have that. If anything it goes a hair to the right. I'm going to have the wheels balanced in the next few days and have them check the alignment, I think it may be a touch off.

All-in-all I'm very happy with this car, especially since I'm upgrading from an early 90's SUV. So smooth, so quiet and I was impressed with the power/pep of the 4-cylinder engine. It won't give the V6 a run for the money but it was much better than I had expected. Plus I'll take the extra gas mileage.

[krook]

Couple of questions:

1) Keyless entry. What's the cheapest/easiest way to add keyless entry do this car? The dealer quoted me $295 for keyless entry and something like $450 for an alarm with keyless. I was planning to look at Best Buy, Car Toys, etc tomorrow and see what they have to offer.

2) Scheduled maintenance. I'm almost at 30,000 miles right now, since the car has been through the dealership recently and checked out where should I pick up on the scheduled maintenance?

3) Coin box? Where is this coin box I remember reading so much about when I first started researching Solara's a few years ago? I can't seem to find one on this car.

first off welcome to the boards! happy posting to ya!
as for the alarm, with that $450 alarm w/ keyless entry from the factory, chances are: there is NO IMPACT PROTECTION. meaning that if someone hits your car window to steal the things inside, the factory alarm WILL NOT TRIGGER. that is, unless, they open the door.

i'd highly recommend a DEI alarm such Viper, Sidewinder, Hornet, Wasp. Cliffords, okay too. for a DEI alarm with keyless entry, impact protection, basic door pinswitch protection, and all the other basic workings of an alarm will run you about $250, and no more.

as for the maintenence, i bought my car with the same mileage and i changed my oil and filter about 2,000 miles after. just ask the dealership for maintenence records and pick up from there.

coinbox should be under the radio of your center console.

[Yanks0114]

coinbox should be under the radio of your center console.

Ahh you are forgetting about the infamous extra coinbox. I believe only the SLEs have it. There was a huge discussion about it. Missay actually has pictures about where its located.


Welcome to the Forums man

[Mole]

howdy from Glendale and welcome!

whats with the coin box?

[Yanks0114]

howdy from Glendale and welcome!

whats with the coin box?

It all started here http://www.zer0.info/solaraguy/viewtopi ... c&start=30

Here is a pic of missays car and the coin box. http://www.geocities.com/solarachick84/cointray.html

[krook]

that's the one ross!

[Missay]

Coin Trays!! lol

Don't worry if you don't have one. It's very overrated

In fact..I don't think I've ever put anything in there...ever.

(although, that would be a nice place to hide...uhh..nevermind, use your imagination! )

[krook]

used condoms. well, that's what i'd put. hmmmmm
*wishful thinking*

[Hsakuragi]

maybe 5$ bags of greens with penny cover it? haha..

[lizard_boy]

It appears my Solara has no coin box. I have the JBL stereo but no climate control (SE model) so I think I'll have to watch coinboxgate from the sideline.

After three days I've put about 150 miles on my Solara, sadly I crossed over the 30,000 mile mark in the drive-through lane at McDonald's today. Would you like fries with your odometer hitting the big three-oh? I was so paranoid about letting any part of the (potentially) greasy bag touch the car that I ended up holding it above the parking brake without letting it touch anything.

I have a few questions on car alarms, but I guess I should go start a new thread in the correct place...

[Flipside909]

Your coinbox/tray is technically that little bin on the left side below the dimmer swtich controls.