SolaraGuy.com

I'm going tomorrow to look at a '04 Solara SLE w/ 122,000 miles. It's black , V6, and grey leather. The timing belt was changed right on schedule and looks to have always had the oil changed at the dealership at the appropriate mileage. The car does have a few very minor blemishes in the paint but nothing I can't fix. The dealer was asking $9,000. I can get this car for $8,500 including taxes/title.

What else should I look for when inspecting the car? Any common issues?

Make sure the plugs, timing belt and water pump have been replaced. Should be in the service records. To have this done yourself will run you 750-1000. Also check to see if they performed the transmission tsb for the shift lag. Sounds like a great car though. Should last many more miles with the proper maintenance.

What Nutz said--the back bank of plugs are notoriously a pain in the ass to get to. I traded in my '05 V6 'Lara with around 115k miles on it and except for the radio skipping on copied CD's only and the slightly withered surface of the arm rests there wasn't a dang thang wrong with it. Would've kept it if I could have financially swung it--hell, I still miss it. The ONLY maintenance performed was new front struts and only ONE of those went out but replaced both. I, for one, commend the State of Kentucky for making a fine, quality Japanese car with enough back seat space for a menage-a-trois with 2 chubby chicks.

Thanks for the replys. I went and looked at the car today. I was very disappointed. The car looked to have been extremely neglected. The dash was really bad, looked like someone tried to hide the blemishes with spray paint. The leather on the doors was very wrinkled. On a scale of 1-10, the paint was a 5. I had a '82 Mercedes with OG paint that was just as nice body wise.Also, one wheel was missing a lug nut, a center, and one lug was completely different than the others. I didn't even look at the rest of the wheels. Also was a smoker's car.

I did drive the car about 3 feet in reverse and 3 feet in drive . I was so disappointed I decided a drive was a waste of time. I do know and trust the salesman pretty well and he warned before hand that it was "just an okay car". he knows how picky I am.

O' well, I will keep looking.

Here's the car. Warning, the pictures lie.

Geez, even from the pics the dash looks destroyed, may have been actually spray painted or at the very least somebody used some harsh solvent. Caveat emptor, thank God neglect is easier to spot.