New Solara

[akora12]

My buddy's gen 3 camry had 287k on it when he sold it, and it still drove just as smooth as mine does now.

[Chinky420]

this forum and it's vast amount of knowledgable souls is half the reason to drive/buy a solara

i'm at 133,xxx miles on a 99 and still going strong.

just make sure you test drive a used solara for about 60-70 miles, to see if there are any Check Engine Lights that come on (the CELs can be cleared if a person removes the neg battery terminal for 10 minutes, but will reappear after about 60 miles if no repair has been done).

if there are no CELs, no engine sludge, and the strut/shocks aren't making excessive 'clunking' sounds when going over bumps, then you should be fine.

[Skew]

They are great car's man.

[JamesT]

Another Camry here with 220,XXX miles (same engine as the solara) and everything is running fine.

Great to hear! Btw what rims are those in your sig?

They are Kazera KZ-A 18's. I bought them from a member here, actually.

[jstarone]

I agree, its not like the Honda forums where you have all the kids that are constantly flaming people and going on. Here people actually seem nice haha. Anyway, I am waiting on sale of my current car before I move to the Solara but I have 2 serious buyers right now, so I should be ok.

[SleeperSolara]

Good choice man.
I love my Solara.
I've got about 130,000 miles on it, and it's still goin' strong.
There are somethin' i hate and somethin's i love about my Solara.

[jstarone]

Good choice man.
I love my Solara.
I've got about 130,000 miles on it, and it's still goin' strong.
There are somethin' i hate and somethin's i love about my Solara.

What is it that you hate?

[jstarone]

this forum and it's vast amount of knowledgable souls is half the reason to drive/buy a solara

i'm at 133,xxx miles on a 99 and still going strong.

just make sure you test drive a used solara for about 60-70 miles, to see if there are any Check Engine Lights that come on (the CELs can be cleared if a person removes the neg battery terminal for 10 minutes, but will reappear after about 60 miles if no repair has been done).


if there are no CELs, no engine sludge, and the strut/shocks aren't making excessive 'clunking' sounds when going over bumps, then you should be fine.

Thanks for the tips! Didn't think of the cel. Im going to bring it home and put it on the hoist and check it all out before I get it so that should tell me whats up with the suspension if anything.

Another Camry here with 220,XXX miles (same engine as the solara) and everything is running fine.

Great to hear! Btw what rims are those in your sig?

They are Kazera KZ-A 18's. I bought them from a member here, actually.

They look great, pretty close to what I think I might go with as my current rims are just 4x100.

[TadS]

I have 2 Toyota’s (Avalon and Corolla) over 200k, and 2 (Celica and Solara) over 150K. My brothers Camry is at 270K+. My Dad’s ES300 is at 190k. They won’t freak’n die LOL. Really, the Celica is all ripped apart right now, as the clutch started slipping, but it’s a ’94, so go figure.

Tomorrow, I will only have 1 Toyota over 200k, and one with less than 100 miles, don’t worry kids I’ll still have the Lara, and the Celica…I just signed the papers tonight for something new. I’m going to miss my Beaterrolla, as it’s been unbelievably reliable, but I am ready for something nicer, with a bit more utility.

Really, I guess the point of the post is I have driven a lot of Toyota’s, and have never been dissatisfied, even brand new they are a great value, as they don’t have half the issues of some of the other companies.

[mazen222]

check for front strut mounts... if timing belt has been changed or not, clutch (duh).

The rest is usually in good condition.

[JamesT]

They look great, pretty close to what I think I might go with as my current rims are just 4x100.

Thanks! The KZ-A's are discontinued, unfortunately.

[jstarone]

This is great. Lots of information and great people to talk to. I was kinda worried there wouldn't be a large Community with these cars. But it's better then hondas. Sure hondas have loads of info floating aroUnd but so much of it is crap and with this site it's very well written. I am very happy, probably one of the best car sites I have ever joined. Keep the suggestions comming il post some pics when I get it.

[jstarone]

They look great, pretty close to what I think I might go with as my current rims are just 4x100.

Thanks! The KZ-A's are discontinued, unfortunately.

That's alright it still gives me a great idea of what will look good on it

[Chinky420]

This is great. Lots of information and great people to talk to. I was kinda worried there wouldn't be a large Community with these cars. But it's better then hondas. Sure hondas have loads of info floating aroUnd but so much of it is crap and with this site it's very well written. I am very happy, probably one of the best car sites I have ever joined. Keep the suggestions comming il post some pics when I get it.

in my opinion, sg is one of the higher-quality complilations of mechanical knowledge, regarding a particular model of car.

like you said, most of the honda stuff is crap, and possibly from a ricer background. plus you have to search and re-search to verify if the info you found is correct.

but the way i look at it, regarding forums, and how sg compares:

mechanical: we got people who are into building bulletproof engines, who are into custom turbo applications, and fabrication of other performance parts (since there's limited aftermarket support for the solara)

aesthetic: we have a couple graphic designers as members, most of us have a discriminating eye (boo rice, yay class and style!), and then there are also those who go for other style mods that could be considered ricer by some (HD lip, vinyl graphix, LEDs everywhere, underbody glow kits, lambo doors, etc)

community: we try to keep it friendly (most of the time)...it seems that the SoCal kids get along pretty well, and know each other fairly ok (i'm in texas, and am just guessing). additionally there's a toyota employee on here who helps keep us in the loop, as far as official information (where to get parts, which part numbers, how much, etc). plus, we have members who no longer drive solara's, but still are active members (some may still be in the toyota family, others may not).

available knowledge: the DIY/tutorial section here is HUUUGE, and took me about a month to read through it all. lots of good stuff to be found, and lots of little quirks to find out about. all specific to solaras/camrys.

SG.com: your one stop to learn to chop shop.

[jstarone]

You couldn't be more right, everything you said I have started to realize in a couple days. Some of the exterior mods I was looking at I was really impressed with, im not much for exterior, Maybe a nice set of rims and some tint, possibly a lip kit if it looks ok, but I like to keep it stock outside and put the money where it counts, into the motor. I have a best friend that worked for Lexus and Toyota up until less then a year ago. One of my childhood friends/neighbors father owns a toyota dealership. They all speak really highly of these cars so I'm really excited to say the least.

I just cant get over how there is next to no rice on this site, its great, its classy. I guess that goes back to not having ricer kids and having people with taste. I'm not bashing the ricers, i mean if a massive wing and all that crap is what you want... its your money, your choice. That being said, that is not my taste and this site fits my taste much much better then almost any honda site I have EVER found.

I was not expecting much from the DIY section.. then I realized its MASSIVE and its all very very very useful stuff, no random crap mods. I enjoyed some of the fabrication DIY's especially the one on custom fiberglass enclosures, im going to try to make a nice one this summer for this car, I have it pretty well all worked out, I just don't understand how to come up with the volume of the box needed for the sub, but il figure that out as I go along. Im sure its on here somewhere.

Plus the site is organized well enough and there's not a lot of duplicate info so searching becomes a breeze. Thank goodness Google led me to this site.