looking into a 04 Solara SLE

[defy69]

hi guys, as you can tell im brand new here, but i am not new to cars. i am looking into possible buying a 04 Solara SLE convertible. i was wondering how you guys feel about yours. i currently have a Saturn Ion and it is incredible, lets say, tinkerable. its incredibly easy to take the car apart and put it back together. i was wondering how the solara is on this front?

the car im looking at has 40k miles on it? so what kind of dependability am i a looking at?

[Gadgetjq]

Dependability? Three words, It's A Toyota. The Solara is built on the Camry chassis but (obviously) features two doors rather than four.

The convertible was designed from a clean sheet of paper to be topless so while there is a bit of chassis flex, it's not even close to the cowl shake associated with cars originally designed as hard tops then the top is sawed off (like the generation I Solara that some owners call 'the noodle'.

As for take-apart-ability, body panels aren't as simple to remove and replace as the plastic pieces of a Saturn. The factory service manual, the complete list of technical service bulletins and a lot of other information is easily downloaded so you'll have full electrical and mechanical schematics and plans. Essentially you'll be able to disassemble and re-assemble the entire car if you really wanted to.

Cheers,
JohnQ
Host, Gadget's Fixit Page for Solara
www.gadgetjq.com/solara

[Jedi54]

bumping this old thread as I think I might be pickig up a 2004+ Solara as well. I need a daily driver that's better on gas and the convertible is an added bonus.

I'll be doing some more reading on here as this Solara idea just came to me out of the blue yesterday.

Curious as to whether the OP ended up buying one...

[Southaurora]

I have SLE Coupe, I LOVE IT!! It is inexpensive to maintain. Good Choice

[dacox45]

I love my 2004 SLE coupe and recommend the Solara to anyone interested. I have 135K miles on my 2004 and have had no mechanical issues to report other than basic maintenance. It still has a lot of pep even with the high mileage.

[Gadgetjq]

Originally Posted by dacox45

I love my 2004 SLE coupe and recommend the Solara to anyone interested.

Dacox,

One 'DOH!' moment coming up. (I had mine last week) You've responded to a message posted back in January. I suspect that person has decided by now whether or not to buy a Solara.

Cheers