1999 Solara - opinions (car insurance, best, selling, engine)

[mrs1885]

My daughter found a 1999 Toyota Solara that she's in love with. It's got about 120k miles on it. Looks flawless. I told her we'd go look at it this weekend. Does anyone have any thoughts / opinions on them?

[hoffdano]

Not a lot of miles on an 11 year old car. It is definitely a girls car.

The guts of the car is a Camry so it should be solid. But you need to know its maintenance history. I don't think those cars have timing belts but you should check if it has one - if so - was it changed?

[M3 Mitch]

They seem to be good cars, one of our secretaries has one and has had no problems with it, likes it. She has about 110~120K miles as well.

One thing I will comment on is that Toyota A/T are *very* sensitive to over-filling. Beware any that have about a pint too much fluid in them - reasonably sure sign that someone has added a can of "magic elixer" in the vain hope of fixing some sort of leak or slip. What this *will* actually accomplish is ruin the main pump... Never mind how I know this...

Certainly take a look into the oil fill port on the engine, you can see if it's clean or sludgy, at least to some extent you can.

[johnfrisco]

Definitely get a car-fax and have a mechanic check it out. They are nice cars for females.

[mrs1885]

Thanks!!

She found a Grand Am GT she likes too. I'm not too sure on that one. I heard their safety ratings at one point were horrendous. Not sure if the 99 / 00 models are better, but it was enough to scare me away from her getting one. Will go look at it though.....

I do like the Solara so far the best. It's a nice little design for an 18 year old girl.

[johnfrisco]

Originally Posted by mrs1885

Thanks!!

She found a Grand Am GT she likes too. I'm not too sure on that one. I heard their safety ratings at one point were horrendous. Not sure if the 99 / 00 models are better, but it was enough to scare me away from her getting one. Will go look at it though.....

I do like the Solara so far the best. It's a nice little design for an 18 year old girl.

Personally speaking I would shy away from Pontiacs for 2 reasons:

1) Horrendous reliability. It's a money pit.

2) GM is no longer making Pontiac--the resale value will be terrible. Even if she doesn't plan on ever selling the car--the car insurance company will only give her Blue Book value assuming she wrecks it.

[johnfrisco]

1999 Toyota Camry Solara Detailed Pricing and Specifications - MSN Autos

1999 Toyota Camry Solara Consumer Review (http://www.edmunds.com/toyota/camrysolara/1999/consumerreview.html - broken link)