Wish list of features or options for the new Solara

[slingshot]

The Solara SLE V6 I'm getting is just under $26,000 after negotiations. Accord EX-V6 Coupe would be $24,000 with fog lights and spoiler after negotiations.

Yes, the Solara has more features, but still trying to be as close to apples to apples as possible, the Accord is less.

Try other Toyota dealers then. Did you ask for quotes over the Internet? I got $3000 off sticker. Sounds like the Honda dealer negotiated down more which is very unusual. The MSRP though is no cheaper for the Honda (I calculate your Honda makeup as $27800 without including fake wood and auto day/night mirror which add another $500 on. You did say apples and apples right so you should include them. So the Honda dealer came down at least $3800 which is almost nuts as the Invoice without spoiler and fog lights is $24704. That Honda price, if true, is the steal of the year. Very hard to believe that you can get it for only $24K which is a total of $1400 less than invoice if you add in the two options. THat's no profit AND no holdback for them! Recheck your numbers.

Your Solara's MSRP is at a minimum of $27760 without adding the mats package.

[TW85]

The MSRP of the Solara I'm getting is $28,350, being sold for $25,850.

Honda has been taking $3,000+ off the Accord for months. It is a matter of finding a dealer that will but the fact is there have been plenty of owners that got unbelievable deals. Then the question is, with the problems Honda is having, are they truly unbelievable deals?

Keep in mind that the invoice we (consumers) see is really not what the dealer paid.

[Guest]

Just to comment on some of the suggestions for upgrades for a minor change. The 2004 Solara does have mood lighting in the SLE its located directly underneath the HVAC unit where the seat heater switches are located if you have that option.
The Satellite radio option is available, but you need the dealer to attach the antenna and activate the service on the premium audio. So if you order the vehicle with satellite audio you will get the vehicle ready for use.
The others are good suggestions keep them coming.

[bigpow]

Yep. My SLE's got that greenish light from the front center console - where the seat heater buttons are.
I was referring to Scion's leg room mood light


It's kind of rice-y, I know

[fotodad]

The Satellite radio option is available, but you need the dealer to attach the antenna and activate the service on the premium audio. So if you order the vehicle with satellite audio you will get the vehicle ready for use.

WRONG!

fotodad wrote:

Okay, just got off the phone with an XM technician/consultant (extremely knowledgeable and helpful) who deals with Toyota direct. The XM executive that I mentioned earlier had me talk to this guy. He knows his sh!t. This is what he told me I'd need if I wanted to install XM. This information is ONLY good for XM radio NOT Sirius.

One of my goals was to keep the interior looking factory clean. I wanted to avoid extra equipment hanging from the dash or stuck in a compartment. Going with the equipment listed below will allow me to use my factory radio to tune XM satellite stations. The factory radio will also display the song title and other relevent satellite information.

First, all Toyota dealerships were sent a PANT Bulletin (basically a technical service bulletin) which describes the equipment necessary to get XM working in your "XM ready" 2004 Solara. The PANT Bulletin number is 03-25. The bulletin came out on July 25, 2003 and was updated again in August.

The PANT Bulletin describes what Toyota parts are needed. The Toyota part number to get this all working is PT546-06040. This part number includes: the receiver (mounts in the trunk), the wiring harness, and the satellite antenna (recommends mounting on trunk or roof). The MSRP for this DIO (dealer installed option) AND installation is $488.00. According to the XM guy installation by the dealer should take no longer than two hours. The installation instructions for the dealer can be found at the Toyota TSI website (actual address is only available to dealerships).

Once all this cool stuff is installed, tell the dealership you have an XM Promotion Code. This will get you a month of service free and free activation. The Promotion Code is XM-TOY2003.


CORRECTION!
The $488.00 price DOES NOT include installation. All other numbers listed above are correct. According to Toyota the installation should take about 1.5 hours which will cost me an extra $155.00! So now the price to get your "XM ready" factory radio to be fully operational is around $643.00. That's a hefty price considering you can get an FM modulated satellite system direct from either Sirius or XM, installed, for around $200.00.

[slingshot]

That's too pricey for me. I'd much rather have a CD player that plays MP3 songs or an add-on MP3 player to this radio. Wonder how much that costs. Ideally it would have an external USB hard drive that you could take out and record songs onto from your PC then put back into the car.
I bet the cost for that is less.

How much a month is XM service anyway?

[fotodad]

That's too pricey for me. I'd much rather have a CD player that plays MP3 songs or an add-on MP3 player to this radio. Wonder how much that costs. Ideally it would have an external USB hard drive that you could take out and record songs onto from your PC then put back into the car.
I bet the cost for that is less.

How much a month is XM service anyway?

mp3 player add-on would be nice!

XM=$9.95/month
Sirius=$12.95/month

[bigpow]

I found 6 disc are not enough either - so I put my personal CD (~200-250 songs) MP3 player inside the compartment, powered from the compartment's DC, then an FM transmitter (88.1, 88.3, 88.5 & 88.7 MHz).

The problem IS during trips, often times, I have to keep changing the frequency - to get a clear reception.

Total cost ~80$

Look is still clean - uncluttered stock - but lost some space on the compartment
-> see why I whine about DC power inside the trunk?

[samster]

who makes the trunk mounted XM receiver and did you find any existing wiring harnasses in your trunk? I wonder if there is a gray market for the receiver since a lot of car mfrs are offering "satelite ready" systems.

[slingshot]

I found 6 disc are not enough either - so I put my personal CD (~200-250 songs) MP3 player inside the compartment, powered from the compartment's DC, then an FM transmitter (88.1, 88.3, 88.5 & 88.7 MHz).

The problem IS during trips, often times, I have to keep changing the frequency - to get a clear reception.

Total cost ~80$

Look is still clean - uncluttered stock - but lost some space on the compartment
-> see why I whine about DC power inside the trunk?

Could you please explain in more detail what you are describing here? Which compartment? WHich player model? How did you connect it to DC power? How does it use an FM transmitter? I don't understand how you got this to work. Did you do it yourself? I have a small portable CD MP3 player that is powered by batteries or AC adapter. Is this what you are talking about?

[bigpow]

I found 6 disc are not enough either - so I put my personal CD ....deleted...

Could you please explain in more detail what you are describing here? Which compartment? WHich player model? How did you connect it to DC power? How does it use an FM transmitter? I don't understand how you got this to work. Did you do it yourself? I have a small portable CD MP3 player that is powered by batteries or AC adapter. Is this what you are talking about?

You can use any audio source with these mini FM transmitters.
Basically I just replaced the MP3 car kit (RCA stereo to Cassette) with the FM transmitter.
There are some transmitters out there: Audax, carstar, Belkin, etc.
I bought Belkin since it was available at my local Bestbuy (I figured if I didn't like it, I'd return it easily). And because I trust Belkin's name brand.
For the place, I was referring to the dash compartment or the middle compartment (both have DC power plug inside - which can be used to power these devices over long trips).
50$ for the Phillips MP3 CD Player & 30$ for the FM transmitter (My wife can use her iPOD clone too).

-> Bestbuy has 30$ MP3 CD Player now.
-> carstar FM transmitter is only 10$
So the cheapest combo would be ~40$ - but quality could suck

NOTE
====
Any FM transmitter will ONLY transmit 50Hz to 15KHz - compare this with CD Audio/MP3 output of 20Hz to 20KHz.
I'm not sure what's the spec. on those car kit cassete adapter.

Now if only I can 'tap' into one of the headunit's un-
used input...

[slingshot]

Bigpow:

Thanks for the info. Which model Philips did you get because all I see are 2 $99.99 models on Bestbuy.com website. I already have an MP3 CD player that runs on batteries or AC adapter. Did you get a converter to go from DC to AC? Where do you get this converter and how much?

Thanks in advance,
Dave

[slingshot]

Bigpow,

What about the Arkon SF100 Wireless audio adapter on bestbuy.com for only $19.99? Looks like it converts DC and sends output to FM all in one piece. Does the Belkin do the same?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... pe=product

[bigpow]

Bigpow,

What about the Arkon SF100 Wireless audio adapter on bestbuy.com for only $19.99? Looks like it converts DC and sends output to FM all in one piece. Does the Belkin do the same?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... pe=product

I actually bought the phillips MP3 CD player almost two years ago, it came with its car kit (cassette adapter & car DC cable).

But YES! What you have there is brilliant! And it's cheaper than Belkin's.
Definitely give it a try, I didn't see it at my local Bestbuy (I hate paying shipping!) - that's why I got the Belkin.

Let me know how it turns out.

PS: If there's a close Fry's electronic near you - you should try there too.
The closest one from my place is 85 miles.

[ChrYstiE]

I want a heated steering wheel. That's all. My hands are always cold and that would be fricken awesome.