ugly wood trim on new Solara?

[rschleicher]

Maybe it's just me and my wife, but we are totally turned off by the color of the wood trim on the 2004/2005 Solara. We were looking very hard at getting a 2005 Solara SLE convertible, until we saw the reddish color of the (plastic) wood trim. It is strange enough to us to override all of the many things we like about this car.

Has anyone out there tried to replace this wood trim, either with a different color wood (brown, or tan, like real wood), or else with the brushed-aluminum trim of the regular Solara? Or, alternatively, has anyone tried to cover the wood trim with an aftermarket wood trim kit in a different color?

(As an aside, the wood trim on the previous generation Solara (through 2003) was very attractive. I can't figure out why they changed to this totally unnatural reddish color, that doesn't go at all with a beige interior.)

Bob Schleicher
bullswin5@aol.com

[CraigW]

The light color trim has always looked strange to me too light, strange color.

On the other hand I love the dark fake wood trim ( I have it on my Corolla)

The UV light and heat will cause problems with the upper pieces (separation) on the dark it shows up quickly.

CW

[98CamryLE]

I've like the wood trim on the new Solara. It kind of reminds me of the wood trim on the Lexus ES330. I actually prefer it over the wood trim on my 98 Camry.

[89SV21]

I'm not a huge fan of fake wood and have to agree with you that the reddish plastic fantastic wood in the new solara is an eye sore. Maybe you can get some nice brushed aluminum to cover it up.