So what other cars were you considering before the Solara?

[VirtualSlayer]

Bought the ACcord, highest trim EX V6 w/ Navi and they tossed in Spoiler + Tint. I bought my car at around $4000 off and when I added on the 6/100,000 warranty, the out the door cost was still less than the sticker price.

I woulda bought a solara if they fixed the car's behind + gave me better offer than few hundred off... Seriously the sales ppl at toyota were saying all these "good" things about the solaras, and i only see 1 or 2 on the road every few weeks, yet the most they would give me off was 500 some...

[technole]

Solaras being rare is a good thing. Its bad enough I see too many Accords daily.

[online]

4 Passenger converitble was my key priority
Cars considered:

Mustang Cobra - awesome power, extremely poor quality
Audi 3.0
Benz CLKs $$$$
Saab 93 - consevative - not enough hp
BMW 330 - $$$$
Volvo - no nav, too conservative

On the same day I test drove the Cobra I stumbled upon the Solara convertible. With the Solara it was literally love at first sight/drive. I was blown away by the quality and options that came with the vehicle. Having owned the Solara for 2 weeks now I know I absolutely made the right decision. Being anal about break in (I know some say you don't have to do the following) - 1st 1,000 no hard accelerations, heavy braking, vary speed/rpm on the highway and oil change I can't wait to test out 0-60 acceleration.

[TripleBlack]

I've wanted a Solara convertible since the day they made the first one. Problem was, back then, I couldn't afford it.

Since then, the other cars I've also wished I could buy include...

The new '05 Mustang convertible - but it's too expensive, and it's probably brutal to insure.
Audi A4 convertible - an absolutely gorgeous car, and I'm jealous of everyone who owns one, but again, too expensive.
Mercedes CLK and BMW 3 Series - Not only are these too expensive, but their reliability reputations leave a little to be desired.
Chrysler Sebring - Haha, jk. I never considered this.
Brand new Volvo C70 - of course, this is mad 'spensive, but damn I love it. Hopefully, in a few years, this will be my next car.

The common thread here, of course, is price. So, what else did I consider that I could actually afford?

Eclipse Spider - Yeah, I don't know why I didn't buy this one. I guess it just didn't look/feel refined enough.
Mazda Miata - Too small to be my only car, which is what this is.
MR2 Spyder - Even worse than the Miata for my needs.
VW Cabrio - Haha, jk again. I never considered this either.

I guess, when it comes right down to it, if you want a reliable, practical, affordable, stylish car, there are a lot of options out there. But, if you want a reliable, practical, affordable, stylish convertible, you get a Solara. Period. It really has no immediate competition.

So, here I am, a few years later and a few bucks richer. I finally bought my Solara SLE V6 convertible - in all black, just the way I've always wanted it. I can't think of a nicer car to drive around in while I wait for the new Volvo to become affordable. =) As for all those others, even the A4, the dealers can keep 'em.

[alan8888]

New CARMY with V6

[DatSRBoi]

Ahhh forget you guys. VietNOme style. I want a MOOOWWWWWW-PEd , Never have to worry about speeding haha since it tops out at 60 mph.

[PXLpainter]

I really wanted a convertible and was looking at the Z4, 350Z and a couple others, but they're all just too damn small! I mean, can't even get some groceries in some of 'em!

I was seriously looking at a sweet used 1999 BMW 3 series convertible - about 50K mi and mint condition for about $20K, but I had a hard time getting rid of the Tundra so it didn't happen.

Now I'm glad I spent the extra $ and got the Solara - plus, I wouldn't have run into SolaraGuy if I hadn't!

[DaTwUnKrAziEpInOy]

I was lookin at an RSX type-s but parent's said it was too small ( I was like...for what me myself and I?) and I was also lookin at a 350Z but a bit out of my price range.

[indiglosolara]

When I bought my Solara, I was actually shopping for a Matrix at the time. Test drove the XRs and didn't like it. Looked at my options and saw a Solara on the lot and drove it home that day.

When I was shopping for a car I was not planning to mod it. I actually left the car pretty much stock for about a yr.

Then I meet a few ppls with modded Solara's and it all started from there....

[iinokturnolii]

Chrysler 300. didnt have the extra couple of grand to get the nicer one...

[SolaraBlue]

i was looking at anything i could find and liked under 12k. i didnt really want a solara untill i tested a 2000 black sle. i loved it. only had 53k mile. it was only $11,500 but no sunroof . then the same day as i turn into the next dealership a 99 twilight blue pearl solara sle catches my eye. it only has 41k miles on it and is $1500 less then the black one. not to mention it has a sunroof!!!!!!!!! so i bought it the next day. at the time i had no idea twilight blue pearl was "rare". im soooo glad i passed the black one up.

[CosmicGrooves]

Originally, I was looking at the 2005 Limited Edition tC (absolutely red). I almost had it, but it fell though (car was out of state). The whole time I was looking at the tC, I was thinking the Solara is a classier car, but didn't think I'd find it at the price I wanted. I started looking at used cars so I checked the Lexus IS300 (absolutely red). They wanted too much for that car, then I found the perfect Solara!
So...

tC
IS300
Solara

I didn't even consider anything else. I wasn't even that happy with the IS300. If I didn't find this Solara, I probably would simply not have a car yet. I didn't even look at or was interested in any other models. I also wasn't pressed to get a car since the one I had was paid off, and running perfectly.
Ahh... I still miss my Paseo.

[QuickSEV6]

Before the Solara, I had a Monte Carlo Z34. I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT CAR except it didn't have a manual transmission.

Back in 2000, the website www.cars.com used to have a car search feature. It was menu driven. That is to say, it would ask you a series of questions. As you answered them, it would narrow your search to a handful of cars. My criteria narrowed my search to:

Honda Accord
Mercury Cougar
Solara SE V6

Needles to say, you can guess which one I chose. I still like the Montes, but still no manual transmission. Come to think of it, the new V6 Solaras don't have a manual anymore either. Why is that?

[Deion]

1995+ Lexus SC300 w/ manual tranny: hard to find
1997+ Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4: high insurance/reliability
2000-2003 Eclipse: sales people didn't know there was a GT-S model which I was looking for
1993+ RX7: insurance/reliability

Then I found my 5 spd Solara after test driving a lexus SC400 and fell in love. I was actually looking for one but there literally was like 2 in the city and area for sale and I was shopping for about 6 months. Super rare to find here and the second I found it I left the lot that day as it's owner. They actually got it the day before, just cleaned and maintained it and havent even put it on their website yet. I needed something year round, reliable and affordable.

Funny thing is now that I'm financially stable I'm back at the dealerships looking for the same above cars for a project with the inclusion of a 89-92 Skyline.

[kamikazi]

Celica
matr
colora

well. i was pretty much despert and was looking for anything. i was at the dealership pretty late one night and he was showing me crapy cars like 93 camery, 97 Altama. my eyes was on an red GT-S celica but my mom thought it was too small and too girlly looking so the only car left was an solara. i didn't even know what an solara is. i didn't even seen the car caz it was so dusty fron sitting in the back for so long and it was so dark at night. so i just bought it and didn't realized what i got myself into.