Topic: CD Article: 2007 Toyota Solara SLE V6 Coupe

[Minou]

Jil,

Why didn't you mention in your review that The new Camry SE V6 pack B is available for the same price ($36945.) as the Solara you tested ($36975.) and comes with Toy's superb 3.5 liter powerhouse and 6 speed automatic?  And doesn't have the Solara's shaky structure.

Can you provide some proof that Solara's have a "shaky structure"?? If not, I suggest you are full of BS.

My wife has had 2 Solara coupes, a '99 and the current '06 one. Both car are extrememly solid, with no flexing, no creaks or rattles and generally feel as if they were carved out of granite. People have often commented on how solid and well-built the Solara feels. Shaky? No way, fella.

Care to back up that statement? 

From Jil's roadtest you apparently didn't read...

"The car transmits a fair bit of vibration, as if the engineers had simply taken a four-door sedan and cut out the B-pillars and much of the bracing. The folding rear seats only open to an 84-cm-wide pass-through, which usually helps to stiffen up the body somewhat, but the Solara's still fairly shaky, especially on anything less than really smooth roads."

[evilhomer]

I don't understand why some people bash on cars that are not sporty in performance.
I guess some people get some sort of satisfaction by bashing on unsporty cars and drivers of such car as if it makes them "sporty people".
I believe every car has its own target and job to do.

[ovr50]

Jil,

Why didn't you mention in your review that The new Camry SE V6 pack B is available for the same price ($36945.) as the Solara you tested ($36975.) and comes with Toy's superb 3.5 liter powerhouse and 6 speed automatic?  And doesn't have the Solara's shaky structure.

Can you provide some proof that Solara's have a "shaky structure"?? If not, I suggest you are full of BS.

My wife has had 2 Solara coupes, a '99 and the current '06 one. Both car are extrememly solid, with no flexing, no creaks or rattles and generally feel as if they were carved out of granite. People have often commented on how solid and well-built the Solara feels. Shaky? No way, fella.

Care to back up that statement? 

From Jil's roadtest you apparently didn't read...

"The car transmits a fair bit of vibration, as if the engineers had simply taken a four-door sedan and cut out the B-pillars and much of the bracing. The folding rear seats only open to an 84-cm-wide pass-through, which usually helps to stiffen up the body somewhat, but the Solara's still fairly shaky, especially on anything less than really smooth roads."

I read it but I don't agree with it - her opinion and mine are vastly different in this car. It is NOT a sports car, but it is not a poorly built car either, and is very solid. Just because Jil wrote it based on a day or two with the car, doesn't make it fact. I stand by my comments.

[ovr50]

I don't understand why some people bash on cars that are not sporty in performance.
I guess some people get some sort of satisfaction by bashing on unsporty cars and drivers of such car as if it makes them "sporty people".
I believe every car has its own target and job to do.

 

Good comment, evilhomer. It seems that many on here consider themselves superior to the "mere masses" that drive what they consider to be "ordinary cars". This is particularily true in the case of this discussion about the Solara. It's not designed, built nor intended to be a "sports car". That fact makes it an inferior car to some. Compared to the other cars it competes with, such as the Accord Coupe, or the Sebring, it is a fine cruiser and a solid, dependable car. Styling is all in the eye of the beholder and is a personal feeling, not a truth.

Must be wonderful to be so superior. All those poor stupid boring ppl driving Camrys, Corollas, Altimas, etc, etc.  Guess they should be taught a lesson by some on here.

I get tired of the attitude. 

[mdxtasy]

I don't understand why some people bash on cars that are not sporty in performance.
I guess some people get some sort of satisfaction by bashing on unsporty cars and drivers of such car as if it makes them "sporty people".
I believe every car has its own target and job to do.

I agree with you.  But who is bashing this car for not being sporty?  I know the writer did, but most comments were stating the fact that this car is not designed to be a sports coupe.   

[airbalancer]

Jill is out of her mind. I've always thought the Solar to be the UGLIEST on the road.  It's obvious that it's a Camry mid-section with a swoopy front and rear added on as an afterthought to try to make the conservative Camry design more sporty in a two door.  This type of patchwork design never works.  The square door and mid-section don't match the car's front and rear.  Whenever a manufacturer goes this way because of budget concerns, rather than create an entire new cohesive design from the ground up, the result is always a mess like the Solara.  No wonder why it's a sales flop.     

Why do people comment on cars they do not like
Solara is a small market car, design for people in their late 40's probably first car after years of minivans.
Were a person still needs a large car to feel comfortable in.
I glad there is a larger number of different style of cars to chose from out there.

[Minou]

Jil,

Why didn't you mention in your review that The new Camry SE V6 pack B is available for the same price ($36945.) as the Solara you tested ($36975.) and comes with Toy's superb 3.5 liter powerhouse and 6 speed automatic?  And doesn't have the Solara's shaky structure.

Can you provide some proof that Solara's have a "shaky structure"?? If not, I suggest you are full of BS.

My wife has had 2 Solara coupes, a '99 and the current '06 one. Both car are extrememly solid, with no flexing, no creaks or rattles and generally feel as if they were carved out of granite. People have often commented on how solid and well-built the Solara feels. Shaky? No way, fella.

Care to back up that statement? 

From Jil's roadtest you apparently didn't read...

"The car transmits a fair bit of vibration, as if the engineers had simply taken a four-door sedan and cut out the B-pillars and much of the bracing. The folding rear seats only open to an 84-cm-wide pass-through, which usually helps to stiffen up the body somewhat, but the Solara's still fairly shaky, especially on anything less than really smooth roads."

I read it but I don't agree with it - her opinion and mine are vastly different in this car. It is NOT a sports car, but it is not a poorly built car either, and is very solid. Just because Jil wrote it based on a day or two with the car, doesn't make it fact. I stand by my comments.

I didn't drive the Solara and just took Jil's opinion as cash here so YMMV.   You may ask her to substantiate her view on that before sending the horse sh$t though!

My point is just that the '07 Camry SE V6 represents a far better value than this Solara for the same price;  New platform, much more powerful engine, better performance, 6 speed automatic and that she didn't care to mention it

[Cord]

Why do people comment on cars they do not like

Say what? Do you want this entire forum to whither and die? 

[rrocket]

The closest car to compare it with is a Honda Accord coupe...and even then, it's plush. 

I think you forget the the G6 GTP coupe    The Solora 07 still offer the old 3.3 not the new 3.5 from Toyota.   The 3.6 in the G6, IMO, is superior to the 3.3.   At the design level the G6 looks way more sporty than the Solara.  And I guess the G6 is cheaper than the Solara.

Yea..but by the time you factor in all the trips to the dealership for warranty/repairs on the G6, the Toyota ends up being waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy cheaper...And the G6 is nowhere near as refined as the Toyota, and the quality of the materials in the G6 is a joke.

[RunsinLight]

Yea..but by the time you factor in all the trips to the dealership for warranty/repairs on the G6, the Toyota ends up being waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy cheaper...And the G6 is nowhere near as refined as the Toyota, and the quality of the materials in the G6 is a joke.

Perhaps you should check whos flooding the recalls lately before posting garbage like this.

[safristi]

Good ONE Cord....................the old "DON"T GORE MY OX".......wot happened to THAT GUY....was he giving a Speechifying in Buffalo THURSDAY......

[Prius]

Yea..but by the time you factor in all the trips to the dealership for warranty/repairs on the G6, the Toyota ends up being waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy cheaper...And the G6 is nowhere near as refined as the Toyota, and the quality of the materials in the G6 is a joke.

Perhaps you should check whos flooding the recalls lately before posting garbage like this.

Perhaps you should give both cars a shot before assuming that the recalls that Toyota listed make Toyotas suddenly poor quality lol.

I'll give you that to. Must be tired of all the recalls from Ford and GM. I've sat in my friend's G6 which he got as a company car. Yes, it's better than the Taurus and Malibu and in terms of domestics, it's a pretty good effort. Compared to the imports, it's just horrible. You gotta wonder where they get their plastics. I mean, I can understand if they want to use plastic to reduce cost but to add injury to insult by using cheap plastic?

It's not just the vehicle you know. At the auto show, I asked a representative to show me the G6's multi-panel moonroof. He was sooo  unenthusiastic. He just got the key, came over, turned on the car, open the roof and said "there you go"  Talk about attitude.

[UDB]

Yea..but by the time you factor in all the trips to the dealership for warranty/repairs on the G6, the Toyota ends up being waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy cheaper...And the G6 is nowhere near as refined as the Toyota, and the quality of the materials in the G6 is a joke.

Perhaps you should check whos flooding the recalls lately before posting garbage like this.

Perhaps you should give both cars a shot before assuming that the recalls that Toyota listed make Toyotas suddenly poor quality lol.

I'll give you that to. Must be tired of all the recalls from Ford and GM. I've sat in my friend's G6 which he got as a company car. Yes, it's better than the Taurus and Malibu and in terms of domestics, it's a pretty good effort. Compared to the imports, it's just horrible. You gotta wonder where they get their plastics. I mean, I can understand if they want to use plastic to reduce cost but to add injury to insult by using cheap plastic?

It's not just the vehicle you know. At the auto show, I asked a representative to show me the G6's multi-panel moonroof. He was sooo  unenthusiastic. He just got the key, came over, turned on the car, open the roof and said "there you go"  Talk about attitude.

Number of recalls G6 2005 and +:  0
Number of recalls Solora (current generation):  0.5 sticker recall 

True that the quality of materials in the G6 do not match Toyota, I don't like much the black plastic, but we have to admit that's an improvement over the dead Grand Am.

Quality at Toyota is going down over the past recent years.   Everybody here I guess, saw articles from automobile magazines talking about that.  Toyota want to become #1 too fast and they cut the corners, that's probably explain the 'flood' of recalls from that company.  That's why also they have decided to push the launch of some new models to fix quality issues.

[mdxtasy]

GM has made leaps and bounds of an improvement over the previous crapboxes.  The interior is now inhabitable and isn't taken from Fisher Price.  Let's hope it continues and their quality and reliabillity continues to improve.

[safristi]

Let me introduce you to the NEW  Director of INTERIOR DESIGN & ERGONOMICS fer G.M  he has a Diaper -filled resume ...................

[mrthompson]

I think the new Director has fudged some details on his 'resume'.   

[safristi]

Mmmm FUDGE!!!! & MUD PIE................

[Bullet Blue]

Hmm de Colours match the "flag"...avatar.....

Err... not quite.