2004 Toyota Solara - Car Forums

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2004 Toyota Solara - READ ONLY

672 messages, Last post on Jan 12, 2004 at 7:39 AM

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What is this discussion about? Toyota, Toyota Camry Solara, Coupe, Convertible

#450 of 672 My take.... by cooldad24

Oct 06, 2003 (1:26 pm)

I got my (well my wife's) 2004 Solara SLE V6 for a week. I spend half the driving shared with my wife. Here is my comment:

1. Ride: Smooth, relax but never floating. The suspension is firmmer than Camry and similar to Accord sedan. It's not as sporty as BMW nor Nissan G35. Road imperfection will not upset the passenger but clearly feel what is going on underneat. It rides more like Lexus ES300 with Adaptive suspension at sport mode.

2. Drive: maneuverability is good but not great. Body lean is obvious but never a threat. Steering wheel is quicker than Camry and on par with Camry. The weight toward the light side but not yet like traditional american sedan. I will rate it at the middle. It's better than the previous Solara which is very similar to the Camry. The steering wheel is also improved.

3. Noise: hardly heard any noise in the cabin. Neither wind nor road noise. Low groan from the engine when press hard. The ambient is very like the one in Lexas.

4. Material: first rated and on par of Lexus. My friend sat in the car and mistakenly think is Lexus. Another friend owned a 2003 Lexus ES300 praised the material is like lexus in stead of Toyota. The back of the seat is Synthetic leather but has very good texture on touch and thick. Surface wraped is natural leather. Only thing show non-luxury brand is the head liner. It is the same as in Camry/Accord with thin padding unnlike in Premium brands who use leather or thick padding texture one.

Engine: Quiet, smooth but potent. Low end acceleration is less than I like. After 20mph the speed came up fast with strong pull. The AT works great and smooth. I can sense the gear change between 1 and 2 but not bad at all as the old Honda and Mazda 4 speed. I will report how it works when passing 1000 miles.

Extrior: Everyone laid eyes on it liked it. It looks very sporty and sexy. The cosmic Blue metallic I have is a very soft color and pleasant to eyes. This is the point triggered my wife to choose it over Accord Coup.

Overall, we are satisfied with car in every category including the price. Too bad we couldn't get some luxury options like Xenon Head light, swirl head light, or Adaptive suspension. Or open all windows by pressing keypad. But for 26K+, it provides features better than we expect for this price.

#451 of 672 For northern US owners by russklass

Oct 06, 2003 (1:46 pm)

We bought 4 16" wheels to mount winter tires on our '04 Solara SLE (picked it up Saturday).
The wheels are 16 6.5, sparkle silver finish, with Toyota center caps. Price was $350 the set of 4, delivered, no tax, plus $26 for chrome lug nuts & valve stems.
Anyone interested can find them by typing "Toyota Solara Wheels" in the E-Bay search engine

#452 of 672 snakerbill by pzev

Oct 06, 2003 (4:01 pm)

It's been a couple of weeks since I've checked this topic, but I'd like to add my 2 cents in on a few things you brought up in the past couple of weeks.

First, congrats on getting your order through for the base V6. I believe I've read the same thing about other cars before so it's not exactly uncommon. The G35 for example, if you ordered a cloth version or a non sunroof version I believe some people had to wait a little longer than people who wanted cars with more options. This must be the case with the Solara, and that they don't plan to make a lot of base V6 cars so only occasionally will they make any, and when they do they make them all at once then it could be months before they get around to making more.

Some Accords are in fact built in Japan. I'm not sure if the coupe version is but the sedan can be made in Japan. It can also be made in Mexico. So they have 3 different locations making US Accords. Again this is for the sedan, not entirely sure how the coupe works. Also not sure if the Japanese built Accords are like some of the Japanese built Corollas I've seen. The sticker says a lot of parts are from the US, so I'm thinking they're shipping parts from the US to Japan and then they're put together there?? Maybe a Toyota dealer in here can explain this, not sure if all those parts are made in Japan.

If you're not aware, there's a lot of talk about rust problems in NA built Mazda6's right now. Apparently something went wrong at the Flat Rock plant and some Mazdas are having premature rust, coming from the inside out. Even 2004 Mazda6's still in the plastic are having the rust on them as well. So far no one from another country with the Japan built versions have reported the same rust problem, so it may be exclusive to the NA ones. I just noticed your comment about Japan built cars so decided to throw that in.

And as far as the G35 coupe is concerned. The tires are very expensive to replace, especially the 18" versions. Both the 17" and 18" have bigger tires in the back (like the Corvette I think) so you can't rotate them, which combined to the low tire life of these sporty tires leads to shorter tire life. Unless you have some extra money to play with I would stay away from the coupe version of the G35 for this reason alone. I only say that because I don't have a lot of money, people who buy these cars probably have the money to replace them so for most potential buyers it's not an issue.

With all that said, I think a base V6 Solara is a good deal and you could definetly do worse. I think if you want a coupe and money is an issue I would go with the Solara or Accord coupe. Test drive them both and go with the one you like. Good luck with your purchase!

#453 of 672 Made In USA by akc10

Oct 06, 2003 (4:28 pm)

I see where Honda has had problems with cars made in Marysville Ohio. They say get one made in Japan, not Marysville. Unfortunately we do not have that choice with the Solara. You would think Toyo would have learned its' lesson with the GEO experiment with GM. We know about the american workers and their attention to detail :)but wouldn't one think they could find some QC people who cared. I even find it hard to believe Toyo would let its' reputatation be trampled in this manner. (ie...CR downgrades Camry) I really like this car (solara) but will wait to read more as more people drive/buy them. Are there more forums or input other than this one (edmunds)? Has CR did a review on the 04 Solara yet?

#454 of 672 re: Made In USA by pzev

Oct 06, 2003 (4:47 pm)

I use to think Japanese-built cars had no big advantage over US-built versions but after the Mazda rust stuff I'm not so sure. This could be the nail in the coffin for Mazda. They're struggling to get a reputation for reliability that's on par with Honda and Toyota and now if this rust problem is true and as bad as it seems to be, this could hurt them in a big way.

Oddly enough, almost their entire line-up is built in Japan. The Protege, future Mazda3, MPV, RX-8, and Miata are all built in Japan.

I think Honda is getting some from Japan because they wanted to free up space in Ohio for another model. Toyota must have plenty of space for the Camry's and Solara's so no need to go to Japan for help. I believe the same applies to the Corolla. More demand and not enough space so some Corolla's are being built in Japan.

#455 of 672 Made In USA by akc10

Oct 06, 2003 (6:21 pm)

#456 of 672 Made by Japan or USA by cooldad24

Oct 06, 2003 (7:11 pm)

Fisrt of all, it's not based on where the car assembled to be tag the where they made. If you saw a sticker said made in Japan only sure it means more than 50% parts are imported from Japan. Assembly still could be in US. For Japanese car companies, they can save more by produce car in the market they are selling to save shipping, time and possible import tax. Some states like CA request dealer to post the percentage of parts they came from. It's hard to verify if the car did imported from oversea.

I have visited the factory of joint of GM and Toyota in Fremont, CA. They use same process and QC procedures as other Toyota factories all over the world. They collect the defective rate and problem, and have sent engineers from Japan to investigate the unusal high defective rate. So initial quality should be the same no matter from which site.

Honda start to built their cars in US later than Toyota. For satisfying the demand, they have to use their oversea facilities to build more to meet. Now, they have two different platforms for North America and Asia/Europ markets. I wonder how can they build two platform on the same line with almost no re-schedule and planing time for the change. That is the reason why they can't increase the volumn for the Odyssey/MDX/Pilot in the past 3-4 years. So I don't believe Honda really built NA version in Japan and ship them here. I bet they ship more parts from there to US for unexpected shortage of parts or sudden high order from dealers. Remember, none of the manufacturer can change the assembly line in days. It usually take 3-6 months minimum for that change. Dealers just try to make you believe the car from Japan by the sticker actually imply more parts were made in Japan not built there.

#457 of 672 cooldad24 by pzev

Oct 07, 2003 (5:22 am)

The next time I look at one of the window stickers I'll double check to make sure what I'm saying is correct, but I think what I said is right, but you may be right as well. I recall it saying it was assembled in so and so location and gave the location of the factory in Japan. I believe the Accord has had some of the cars made in Japan from the very beginning, so Honda must have prepared for it ahead of time.

Also the Honda Inspire is very similar to the US Accord, so it wouldn't be that difficult to build US Accords in Japan. Also a recent article said the Toyota Prius hybrid is being built on the same line as 4 other mass-produced sedans in Japan. Before it needed it's own line to itself. Compare to the Honda Insight which the article says is pratically being hand-built. The Prius is also being cranked out 1 every minute compared to before when it took 1 every 8-10 minutes.

Also here is a little info on the Mazda Hofu, Japan plant.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/page.arcview.php3?clid=18&id=- 86363&usrsess=1

"Mazda�s Hofu plant is the first car-assembly plant in the world to feature a mixed body-assembly line, which means that many different models can be assembled at the same time without interruption of the production line.

This system enables mixed production of up to 12 different models in variable volumes. It can cope with model changes, addition of new models and fluctuations in volumes without making substantial changes to the facility, ensuring consistent product quality, reduced costs and also minimal preparation time required for mass production.

In addition, the body-assembly shop features 700 robots offering 100 per cent automated spot welding."

Also I don't have the article anymore, but I read one where the Ohio Honda plant would have a lot of upgrades done within the next year. Not necessarily new techniques to increase output, but they were adding equipment and raising the quality bar for the cars built there. Even though I don't think the article mentioned it, one can only assume the Japanese factories already have these techniques and equipment in place.

I have no problem buying a car built in NA. In fact I'm considering buying a Korean car as my next car. Where a car is built is not a deal breaker for me, but I think we can agree that all factories are not created equal. Some have better equipment, some have machines doing jobs that humans do in others, etc.

By reading that article on the Mazda plant, where would you rather have your Mazda built if you were buying one? From the high-tech Japanese plant or the one from the Philippines? Not to say that the Philippines plant is all bad, but quality control may be better from the Japanese plant.

#458 of 672 any new news on the convertible by icangelat03

Oct 07, 2003 (8:02 am)

Just wondering if anyone has heard anything new about the release of the new '04 ('05 - whatever model it will be) convertible. And hopefully the ordering issues that Toyota seems to have will be worked out by then.

#459 of 672 Solara - Only Made in USA? (Re: #448) by Marty684

Oct 07, 2003 (11:23 am)

I attended a SolaraStyle test drive session last month in New Jersey and I asked one of the reps who said it was possible to get a Solara that was built in Japan for U.S. delievery. Did not get into an in depth discussion but rep said it could be handled thru a dealer and might cost a little more (don't know what that means!) Maybe a couple of hundred $$$. Raised this ? because I have an '88 Supra which was made in Japan and still runs great and still has many of its OEM parts.

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