How is your Gen 2/2.5 holding up?

[jimmm]

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Almost there.......

[Black Bob]

^^^I wanna be first to congrats, I hit 100k back in September meself. It's an odd feeling actually, unlike the wifey's Dodge Neon it gave me no sense of urgency to trade it in or set it on fire.

[jimmm]

Thank you BlackBob. It's sitting on 99961 outside in the parking lot at work right now.

[SoSleek]

Don't DO ITTTT!!!!! nooooo!

[firstSolara]

2004 5-spd SE Sport I-4 with 132,000 miles. Bought it with 70,000. I am a battle-hardened commuter in the Houston area and have logged well over 300,000 miles in the past 12-1/2 years. This is the best car I have ever owned (even better than my 1997 Honda Accord). The dash is cracking all over the passenger side and working over the driver's side. Driver's side floor mat and carpet below have a hole from where my heel sits and the driver's seat (left pad) has a hole worn in it from climbing in and out. I have a slight clunk somewhere under the car when I accelerate (nothing concerning me at the moment). I had a water pump put in around 100,000 miles. Other than tires, brakes and routine maintenance, I have done nothing else to it. I will drive this car until the wheels fall off or I win the lottery.

[jomo795]

I bought my 08 Solara convertible in July with 40K on it, I just drove it Boston and back from Philly, my first trip in it, and the car is just great. I drove a Diamante for a long time, which I loved, but gave that to my son when Toyota totaled out my 99 Tacoma due to frame rot. They bought the truck back and after a short time with an 09 Escape Limited, I bought the Solara Conv.

The car had huge vibrations in the front end, and I looked up and found a TSB and had the dealer in NJ perform service before I bought it, It is real tight in the front and just really drives great.

I am still having an issue with the HID headlight on the right side. It flickers. I replaced the bulb and the ballast. What a pain in the butt to get to the ballast. I am going to troubleshoot the ballast. I think I will swap the ballasts and see what happens to narrow down the issue. I found the ballast on ebay for $99, which was awesome. It's almost $300 at the dealer.

[SoLarry]

My 2004 just passed the 75000 mile mark. When I had the 75k scheduled maintenence done I found out that I needed to have one of the tie rod ends replaced. It has tons of rock chips, scratches, and a few dings, and the headlights have started hazing over. As far as reliability it has been rock-solid reliable, and 34 m.p.g. on the highway to boot.

[Down2TheC]

I'm at 46k. No major issues. Both main windows have lost a bumper causing passenger side to go higher than it should in the back, and drivers to clunk when it gets all the way down. Dash picked up a nagging rattle that needs to be chased down. 7 yrs old... can't complain.

[DriDed]

At 60,800+ miles; my Solara's motor runs real smooth and the transmission shifts real smooth, the car is still on its original (1st) set of brake pads (plenty of padding left, should last till 70,000 miles). The HID low beams work on the car but the fog hids have not been working since summer (planning to fix it soon).


The car has no rattles during driving but the interior is in fair condition(the dash has a few cracks and the door panels have some peeling). The body paint hasn't faded yet, the bottom of the front bumper has some nasty scratches though and there are chipped paint spots on some parts of the front of the car.

[SoLarry]

I'm at 46k. No major issues. Both main windows have lost a bumper causing passenger side to go higher than it should in the back, and drivers to clunk when it gets all the way down. Dash picked up a nagging rattle that needs to be chased down. 7 yrs old... can't complain.

I forgot to mention that the driver's side window has recently got the "clunk" at the bottom when I open the window all of the way down...

[Down2TheC]

I forgot to mention that the driver's side window has recently got the "clunk" at the bottom when I open the window all of the way down...

I think they had a bad process for attaching the bumper stops on the windows. Mine came from the factory with one that was off already and it was fixed on warranty. I'll be cracking open both doors this winter and will post pics of what I find and how to fix it. Cant' be that hard, but maybe tough to reach.

[DriDed]

I don't know whats going on but the dash in my car's interior's previous cracks got longer and there were a couple of new ones that I just noticed yesterday. The car is garage-kept and a windshield shade is put up when parked for long hours out in the sun.

I did use interior shine but it was over a year ago since I last used it.

The car is getting old.........

[kingkakyle]

I forgot to mention that the driver's side window has recently got the "clunk" at the bottom when I open the window all of the way down...

I think they had a bad process for attaching the bumper stops on the windows. Mine came from the factory with one that was off already and it was fixed on warranty. I'll be cracking open both doors this winter and will post pics of what I find and how to fix it. Cant' be that hard, but maybe tough to reach.

ive had to do it twice already on my passenger side
ull probably need a magnet to reach, or at least it'll make it easier, kinda like operation, dont touch the sides lol
otherwise its easy....i get worried about overtightening and eventually cracking the window, which is probably y mine keeps falling off

[firstSolara]

2004 Solara SE Sport 5-speed with 143,500 on the clock - new water pump at 93,000 and brake pads around the same time. Some slight clunk underneath when I let out the clutch in 1st gear. Other than new tires, and hole worn in the floor mat/carpet from my heel and a road map of dash cracks, it's been a really good car. I'll probably drive it until it dies or let my 16-yo drive it until he kills it.

[CosmicGrooves]

At 88k miles now, some nicks and dings, but the car itself is great. The dash lights are burned out on the A/C fan knob, but I just haven't replaced it yet. It's my fault they burned out due to a weak battery which seemed to wig out the electrical until I reset it and put a new one in. I was just trying to make that old battery last.

I would like to order a new rear bumper cover and a passenger side mirror housing, both in absolutely red.

My headlights are just now starting to show some age, but are still 80% clear and new like but my car is garage kept. Some of the headlight issue was caused by me getting some crappy polish chemicals on them when wiping the car down.