2004 Toyota Solara V6

Pros: Unique and attractive styling, Toyota reputation, quiet ride, comfortable seating, well composed suspension
Cons: Too many cheap bits inside detract from the upscale image of the exterior

I've been getting the new car itch lately and, to scratch it, I've been looking at the following new cars: Cadillac CTS, Acura 3.2TL, Chrysler 300 and Infiniti G35 coupe and sedan. I also noticed that Toyota had changed the styling on the 2004 Camry ...

Pros: Looks
Cons: not enough leg room in the back seats

First of all, I'd like to start off by pointing out that the picture provided for the Solara is OLD!!! That isn't what the 04' Solara looks like at all! The new Solara's body style can be compared to a Mercedes CLK because it's sleek, simple, a 2 door, an ...

Pros: Smmooooth, comfortable, great looking, affordable luxury
Cons: The Optional Sequential Automatic Transmission

A quick introduction to my reviews: I am new to the area of reviewing vehicles. I will mostly do Toyota, JEEP, and Volkswagen. Please, help me help you by letting me know how my reviews meet or fail to meet your expectations. I will not go into ...

Pros: Smooth, powerful, very comfortable, more luxury than price would indicate.
Cons: Bad fake wood, pull to left, huge doors, pricey options. 16mpg

I bought the Camry Solara SLE V6 after an extensive search that started out with Acura, Lexus and Audi. In each case, it seemed that if you were willing to forego a little luxury and the name cachet, the Honda, VW and Toyota offerings were pretty close. ...

Pros: Sleek styling with an extensive options list. Great handling performance oriented sport coupe.
Cons: Fully optioned, the price is comparable to other near luxury car offerings.

While searching for the perfect replacement for a flawless "98" Accord EX V6 coupe and comparing the various sport product offerings from Mercedes Benz, BMW, Jaguar, Lexus, Acura and Honda, one particular model just stood out like a dandelion on a world c ...

Pros: Quiet smooth ride, plenty of power.
Cons: Sulfur smell, not just on acceleration, AC smells "musty". Low speed kick when accelerating.

The Solara is more than a year old now and I cannot wait to get rid of it. My wife was crazy about the car, so we got it. The initial lure was the quiet smooth ride with lots of power! We came from a 10 year Camry and grew very pleased with what we ...

Pros: Engine - quality of finish - fuel economy.
Cons: Rear view vision.

I replaced my 1999 Solara with the new 2004 model. After 1000 miles my new Solara has met/exceeded all expectations. The big improvement is in the V-6 engine which I understand Toyota borrowed from the Lexus RAV-4. It is strong silent and very gas ...

Pros: Quiet ride and very sleek looking.
Cons: The green digital displays on some items are ugly.

Awesome vehicle. I purchased the four cylinder after reading about the V-6 pulling to the left and there were so many unhappy customers. During night time driving, the inside gauges are bright and pleasant although Toyota should have illuminated the same color instead of installing a drab green color to them. This is the smoothest riding car I have ever purchased. The turns are smooth and great gas mileage. My insurance actually dropped buying this car because of all the safety features. I would definitely buy this car. You can not go wrong.

Pros: Style V-6 Gas mileage Front seat comfort Interior looks great
Cons: Loose fitting trim Rattles V-6 Hesitates at low speeds Blind spot to the right

Sexy car, but with several problems. Been in shop four times within 11,000 miles. Pulls to the left, BIG blind spot to the right rear, rattle in the dash and the 3.3 V6 has a hesitation at low speeds when you give it gas that has almost got me hit (Toyota claims that it was designed that way).
All of these issues can be found on the Toyota Owners boards and on the complaints section of the NHTSA website.

Pros: Smooth quiet V6
Cons: Ride, noise, air conditioning

The standard set by my SLE V6 is far below any Toyota product that I have owned. In the 3 months we have owned it, it has been in for warranty work 5 times.

It has a harsh ride. You not only feel every indentation in the pavement you also hear it.

It is a noisy car, road and wind noise are excessive.

The air conditioning unit is undersized. It is fine in the 70's. Need to run it at max cool with the blower on step 4 in the 80's which adds to the noise. When it hits 90 to 100 we will probably not drive it.

The stopping distance is too long.

Try parking a car that you can not see any of the four corners.

It has been cheapened over previous models. No ashtray, only 2 cup holders, no coin/change box, minimum gauges, and the plastic trim that is supposed to look like wood doesn't.

Highway gas mileage is 26-28 mpg.

Drove an '04 Camry 4/D 4/C rental for a day while the car was in the shop. Much smoother ride with comparable handling, considerably quieter, air conditioning no better and brakes worse than the Solara.

Pros: Very quiet, great highway mileage, good sound system.
Cons: Rear seat is hard to get into.

Any car company can build a great vehicle for $65,000. The challenge is to build a great car for $25,000. Toyota appears to have done that. The 2004 Toyota Solara V6 SLE is by far the best $25,000 car on the market. I bought two Lexus vehicles new, in 1990 and 1993, but now that I am a decade older, I no longer wish to spend $60 per oil change and $1,500 per tune-up, just for the prestige of driving the Lexus brand. The Solara offers everything I want. Yes, the back seat is very hard to get into, but I never use the rear seats, so this is not an issue that concerns me.