Need advice on what year convertible Solara to buy

[Vector1234]

I want to spend around $16k for a daily driver. I am coming out of a lease of an 07 Acura TL, so needless to say I've gotten use to luxury. I was thinking of getting a BWM 325ci, but they are of course more money. I just missed a cream puff 06 with 10,000 miles for $17k, but that is a rare price for that model and year Beamer.
Anyway, I know the body changed for 2005, but what features/upgrades are must haves in future year models? I suspect I will wind up in a 2006 for the price range I am looking in, but if the 07 is a must have, let me know why.
Also, how good is the stock stereo & navigation in the SLE model?
Would I be better off getting one without nav and adding it myself with an aftermarket system like the Pioneer?
For the price is the SLE a better value, or should I get an SE and do a few upgrades like XM and/or navigation?

Needless to say any and all opinions regarding which year, trim packages and features will be appreciated.

[kevdude]

Bought an 06 SLE convertible in Sept, came with factory GPS and stereo. We paid 18 for it, and that was the blue book value. The stereo system is great, read some complaints on other posts about poor quality, but haven't noticed any myself. The car handles well, no rattles or dash shake, and the top hasn't leaked a bit. I think it's the best car around for the price, but we've had Toyotas for quite a few years. Wife loves the GPS, never was a "gadget" person myself, but it does come in handy.

[Vector1234]

^^^ Thanks for the reply.

Is there another forum that is more active as it relates to Solara's because this one seems dead with only 13 views and just your reply so far.

[kevdude]

The only other one I'm aware of is solaraguy.com. I tried to register a month or so back, but haven't had much time to look at the site. Check it out and see what you come up with.

[fenixus]

check out the SolaraGuy.com, it's purely about Solaras over there, you might get more valuable opinions from other users. cheers!


nvm, sorry for repeating heheh...

[Vector1234]

I tried to register over there but they have not sent me the needed confirmation email and it has been over 24 hours.

Anyway, I am looking at several private sales at the moment. One is a 2006 SE Sport with 68,000 miles that I can pick up for about $11,000. It needs a repaint from all the road rash/scratches on it, but the body is fine. The interior also needs some major cleaning as the seats are loaded with sweat and dirt stains. The other one I'm looking at is a 2007 SE with 30,000 miles that I can pick up for $14,000. It has some minor exterior issues, but does not need a new paint job.
The nice thing about my search is I am in no rush to buy, but have the money if the right one comes along. I'd just like some advice from those of you who own the cars as to weather I should go with a Solara or get another type of vert. Furthermore, any info on trim packages would be nice.

[fenixus]

check your Junk/Bulk/Spam Folder, that's where i found my Activation email from Solaraguy. the email its coming from is:
no-replies@solaraguy.com

do a search for it in your mailbox folders (Inbox and spam filter), add it to contacts.

[kevdude]

I never got any reply from solaraguy, so kind of gave up. Not sure what to tell you on the trim packages, mine is a factory set-up. I've got an 06 brochure I could send you that has all the available options mine came with. We got a really good deal, the previous owners took great care of the car, inside and out. I've always been a fan of leather seats since I've had kids. Normal wear and tear on the floormats, the exterior is almost flawless, and no rust anywhere. I really like the styling of the Solara's, but then again I've never had a convertible before this either.

[Vector1234]

I appreciate the offer of the brochure, but that will probably not help me much being totally unfamiliar with each years strengths and weaknesses.

Now maybe most Solara's are the same after the body restyle between 05-08, but with many models changes/upgrades are made from year to year. As an example maybe the brakes were upgraded from the 05 to the 06 model year. Maybe the navigation stunk until the 07 model. Hopefully someone here is enough of a fan of the model to know the details and differences between years to help me decide if I want to buy an 07 rather than an 06 for example?

[Vector1234]

Originally Posted by kevdude

I never got any reply from solaraguy, so kind of gave up.

It was no great loss, believe me. I finally figured out how to get registered but it took a backdoor email to a moderator. After I finally got on I decided to post my experience and gave a few suggestions as to how to make it easier. It winds up that the administrator is an immature punk who proceeded to be rude, crass, condescending, and ambivalent about it.
Below is a my post and a few select responses from him.

Vector
Just Licensed SolaraGuy


Joined: 18 Nov 2009
Posts: 14
Location: South Florida
Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 8:42 am Post subject: New to the forum with a few suggestions I know it is probably not a great idea to announce I have a suggestion/complaint with my first post. However you may not be aware of the problem I had registering and getting the confirmation email to get posting privileges. As a result you are probably losing potential forum members who will not be patient or will lose interest if they cannot get posting soon after their initial discovery of your forum.

For me it was a pain(compared to other sites) in the registration page alone with the verification section. The spam filter must not be working because I kept putting in the correct letters but it kept rejecting it. Of course you have to then go back and retype at least your password if not other info. Eventually I saw a note not to input the letters shown, but rather spell out Solara instead. Then if memory serves me correctly, it was cap sensitive, yet no mention of that was there for people to read.

Anyway once I got that all squared away, I immediately went to my email to get my account activated because I had several questions I would have liked to pose about a potential purchase. I not only waited hours, I had to wait days with no email. I finally came back to the forum, had trouble even fining a way to contact the administrator(no tab for "Contact Us") . So I searched and found a moderator who had email capability on his profile page, then emailed him for help. At another site for Solara's several people expressed that they had similar problems here. One of them had a spam filter issue with the topic being "no-reply" but eventually figured it out. The other never got a return email so he just gave up.

The bottom line is that I not only visit several other forums, I administer one of them. It is a different platform, but essentially they can all be set up the same. My suggestion would be for you (at bare minimum) to create a Contact Us tab in a prominent place for those members and potential forum members to reach you.
I'd also suggest finding a way to streamline the registration process to fix the aforementioned issues I had. Lastly, if your confirmation email is getting clipped by anti-spam software, you should make a new title for it, or find another way to avoid it being identified as spam for some people.

I hope I did not step on any toes, and this thread will be taken in the way it was intended. That being constructive criticism in an effort to help make the place better.

Here are the responses

Down2TheC
SolaraGuy Moderator

Joined: 25 Dec 2004
Posts: 3213
Location: Chicago area
Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2009 7:00 pm Post subject:

The CAPTCHA thing is to prevent bots from signing up. We were getting 5 new bogus users a day when it went in. Most folks only get rejected once before deciding to read the instructions.

If someone can't figure to check their spam folder when signing up, I'm guessing it's no great loss.

Overall, we get plenty of new members. I think the newbies are better off having found there way in. Builds character and filters out the dorks who just want to come in and post IN ALL CAPS.


Now your response on the other hand is a bit pissy for a new member. Check out the average time it takes to get a response here compared to your alternatives. There's a reason you suffered the oh-so-torturous trail to get in. The model went from 99 to 08 and we've got 8 years of answers in these threads. We have no ads and no search limits on non-sign ins, and decent search retrieval.
And you actually made the extra three mouse clicks to come in and bitch about the login, so again... we're doing just fine.

Yeah dude... that would be me. Point taken and considered. Now stop being a prick about it. Don't ask questions if you can't accept any answer



After that sampling of replies to my posts in the same thread, he sends me this PM showing what a power tripping punk he is.

Originally Posted by Down2TheC

Listen butthead, you gotta let this go. I did address each item. Some by saying "we're fine with it". It's still an answer even if you don't agree.

Originally Posted by Down2TheC

And how many times do I have to tell you... admin = me. I'm the current owner operator. And anywhere else you'd be booted by now if you took on the guy that runs the place. Now get with the car chat or get the f*ck out.

I don't need to be gentle. I'm not a mod. I'm the guy with the keys who keeps the place running. As you can see in other threads I'm keeping your bitchy intro thread separate from your others and not holding the attitude against you. I'll continue to be helpful and friendly when you're talking about the cars. But if you continue being a pain in my ass, I'll remove the problem. We've got enough "entitled" people to manage here. Prove you're not one of them and let it go.

Needless to say he did something to my account where I can no longer log in. Several people in that thread expressed the same complaints and mentioned how certain people could not get in despite several attempts. This guy obviously does not care, and likes to be an internet tough guy by calling people names and insulting them when he would never have the guts to do it in person.
`

[fenixus]

that's sad... what a punk ass mofo, screw that forum. at least here you won't be called names and insulted for being honest with your forum experience.
solaraguy seems to have gone down the hill recently.

[Vector1234]

^^^The sad thing is that there were some nice posters who were willing to help and had some good information. But the guys ego got in the way and it ruined what otherwise would have been a good experience.