O.T. 2005 Nissan Altima SE-R!!!!

I have a 2001 Camry with the 4-cyl engine. It has had no real problem, other than a emissions control valve had to be replaced. It has 83,000 miles on it, and gets 30 miles per gallon on commutes.
I replaced the transmission on my Ford Windstar by 82,000 miles.
No more Fords.

I replaced everything on my last 2 Chevys (both 6 cyl), inlcuding the intake manifold gaskets on both of them, the power steering pump (4X) on the Lumina, the brakes went out on the highway at 60 on the Lumina - replaced both calipers - (bad brakes on both of those cars), my daughter got to replace the trans. on the Corsica. The list of problems goes on and on.

No more GM cars for me. I would rather have the boredom of the Toyota than the excitement of the GM cars.

The cost of replacing the timing belt on the 4-cyl is trivial compared with the repairs that I had with American cars. The toyota is my first Japanese car, and the cost of the belt is recovered in good gas mileage - you will save the money many times over with the Toyota. I always thought that I should buy American products. I can not afford to keep fixing American cars.
 
I have to agree with the Toyota people. I've never owned one but my wife-to-be got her '93 Celica halfway through our senior year of highschool. It was here first stick and she had to replace the clutch and one of the cables in the tranny within the first year. Keep in mind, however, that this was 1999 when she bought it, and it was previously owned by someone our age that had learned how to drive a stick with it and drove it around for 4 or 5 years. Besides that, not a freakin' thing has gone wrong with the car besides the little maintenance stuff. She drove that thing all over hell's half-acre and back. From Bowling Green to Louisville to Evansville to Nashville, not one problem. She'd go 3000 miles OVER a scheduled oil change and it would just keep on keepin' on. Peppy little thing, to boot. Only 140 horsies under the hood, but torque out the wahzoo. I loved the little thing. She got her parents hand-me-down '96 Audi A6 this last year and it is great. Heated seats, 4 wheel drive, and built like a tank to keep my girl safe:) However, when you consider it was $36,000+ bought used by her parents in '00, and the celica was around 8 or 9K in '99. I think you should expect a little bit more for your money:) Anyway, for the money and quality, i like toyota. Reliable, gas economical, and well made. I don't feel so bad buying them anymore since they built a plant in my town. Lots of good jobs for the locals. Good luck finding your car, Yvsa!

Jake
 
Steely_Gunz said:
...toyota. Reliable, gas economical, and well made...
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I agree. I've had several of them. My favorite was a 1972 station wagon that I fully restored. It was a rare 1/2 year model only sold in Canada that had a classic station wagon look.

I rebuilt the engine from the crank up to the valves and spent months crawling around wrecking yards to find interior and body parts. When I finished it was like new. The paint wasn't even dry when it was stolen right out of my driveway while I ate dinner less than three feet away. I hadn't even gotten insurance on it yet.

I found it a couple of weeks later behind the Welfare Housing Project. It was stripped and smashed with concrete blocks. What body parts were left had been sprayed and written all over with gang marks and slogans.

It made me want to go to war and shoot up the Project, but it would have been pretty difficult to do a drive by shooting from my bike, so I just went home, swore a lot, used a lot of racial slurs, and started searching the automotive classifieds for something cheap that ran.
 
I went to the Toyota Website and built a new Solara SE you can maybe see it at this link that shows all the otions I like, if it'll still work that is...
Well I see it doesn't take you to the right place. I kinda wondered about that, sorry.
http://www.shopatgst.com/shopatgst/step.asp?step=2

This link shows the gauge pix of the coupe...
http://www.toyota.com/camrysolara/key_features/gauges_se_sport.html


I think this link can be switched to a similar interior view as well...
http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2005/camrysolara/exterior.html


The only possible holdback on this model would be if my rollator won't fit in the trunk with the back seats dropped. Methinks it would be nigh impossible to get the rollator behind the seats without a real hassle.
Not as much horsepower either,:( but I do like the fact that it does run on regular gas instead of premium as well as getting better gas milage!!!!:D

Like I said before above, "We looked at a 2000 Toyota Solara a while back and I wasn't too impressed with the V-6 it had. But there's a ton of aftermarket speed goodies for the Toyota and I haven't ruled out a Solara yet.
The new ones may perform better than one 4 years old.;)"

We're gonna check all of our options and will see if we can get a salesman to load my rollator into the back of one, bet he will if it'll fit;) and then drive it if it does.
The 225 horses ain't to be sneezed at but I do like the idea of 260 horses much better, lots of decisions to be made.
Barb's brother and his wife swear by the Camry and the Solara isn't anything but a Camry coupe albeit much prettier than the plain ol' Camry that everybody and their dog drives which is why I ruled out a Camry long ago.:p ;)

But if they aren't too spendy I can add the aftermarket supercharger, freeflow air filter, and oversized exhaust and have myself a "Real" Rice Racer!!!!:rolleyes: :p :D ;) And there may also be a performance chip for this coupe.
Also like I said above, "However that Toyota Solara is still one sexy automobile as well!"

The very first one I saw I mistakenly took it as a Chrysler 300M,,,,,, for just a moment.


 
Yvsa, what is a rollator?
The Camry has an opening in the trunk that lets you fold down the rear seats and put long objects through.
But, I have no idea what the "rollator" is.
 
Never a problem with my 97 max. Never a problem with out toyota, nissan quest, ect. maybe you all have lemons. the VQ30-35 is one of the best V6s around in the world
 
arty said:
Yvsa, what is a rollator?
The Camry has an opening in the trunk that lets you fold down the rear seats and put long objects through.
But, I have no idea what the "rollator" is.
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Arty it's a 4 wheeled walker with 8" wheels so that it can be used outdoors in semi-rough terrain.:cool: Here's a pic with me and my rollator at the Tulsa Zoo, our most favorite place to walk.:D

Edit:
The Solara coupe has the same split seats so long objects can be loaded from the trunk and that's my concern about the coupe. Our Dodge Stratus is a 4 dr sedan and the rollator slides into the back seat easily, well fairly easy anyway as the rollator weighs about 22 pounds IIRC.:D :eek: :D
It's a heavy duty model so as to be able to carry my fat ass around and won't collapse when I set down on the built in seat to take a rest.:rolleyes: ;) :D
 
What sort of gas mileage do you get in the Element, and is it 4WD? I was thinking of replacing the Ford Windstar, and wondered about gas use in the Element and CRV....Miles are going up in the Windstar, and we want to replace it soon.
 
cliff355 said:
...you might consider test-driving a Honda Element....
In terms of excitement, the ride is comparable to a Greyhound bus...
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So is the styling. It looks like something out of a British movie of the 1930s.
 
yvsa you could buy a decent second hand car for one quarter of 30,000 dollars, and have the other 22,500 to spend on other luvly things. just my angle on all that money. :)
 
KRAKEN said:
yvsa you could buy a decent second hand car for one quarter of 30,000 dollars, and have the other 22,500 to spend on other luvly things. just my angle on all that money.
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Yup, you can do that and that's what I've almost always done in the past, bought one brand new car in 1968, an Opel Rallye Kadet with a 1.9 liter high performance engine and heavy duty drivetrain that would take anything; meaning Anything from US factory stock in a city block.:eek: :D

The Dodge Stratus we have now has been a pretty good car but I'm really thankful I bought the extended warranty on it because the tranny went out, twice! Both times it was over $2,000.00 to have it repaired and it only cost me $100.00 each time, actually one time it went over $2,500.00!!!!:eek: :grumpy:
The bad time was when we were on the way to Phoenix and broke down in Gallup New Mexico, a somewhat small town in the middle of nowhere and our daughters had to come from Phoenix and tow us on in.:grumpy:
I learned my lesson about the extended warrantys on used cars when I bought an '81 Olds Cutlass LS without the extended warranty but/and thanks to a reputable dealer didn't have to pay the some odd $500.00 it took to fix a problem with the engine.
Buying a brand new one or a program car with low, less than 10,000 miles on it will give me a decent warranty without buying an extended warranty when I buy the car. They can be purchased online later for much less. I checked one for the Toyota Solara that goes for 7 years and 100,000 miles for about $1,300.00, not a bad deal at all.:)
The main reason for a new or low milage program car is that we're still able to travel and want something that's going to be as dependable as possible on long trips. Our kids live from the upper northwest corner of Pennsylvania to the middle of Arizona and south to Florida and we want to visit them all in the next four years... if at all possible.:)

I would like to have one last, more than reasonably fast and racy, car before I get too old to drive or kickoff, whichever comes first.
But the luxury of the Solara is very tempting as well as the regular gas it runs on and it's reasonably fast although not a hot rod like the Optima and it also gets better mileage to boot. Guess I'm getting old.;)
Decisions, decisions. :rolleyes: :D
 
The main reason for a new or low milage program car is that we're still able to travel and want something that's going to be as dependable as possible on long trips. Our kids live from the upper northwest corner of Pennsylvania to the middle of Arizona and south to Florida and we want to visit them all in the next four years... if at all possible.


Yvsa. Get your self a good mule team and a modern covered wagon. Make the 4 years a real pleasurable trip. ;) See more of the country , instead of racing by it. Meet alot of good folks, too.

No gas worries, just carry some grain and hay along with you or buy it as you go. Bet you could barter for some with your knives.

Just pulling your leg, Yvsa..........
 
lcs37 said:
Yvsa. Get your self a good mule team and a modern covered wagon.
No gas worries, just carry some grain and hay along with you or buy it as you go.
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Ics that's a Great Idea, Except...:rolleyes: When you feed mules their preferred diet they generate multitudes and multitudes of gas that is ten times worse than the odor generated by modern automobiles with catalytic converters!:eek:
And to top it off the odor lingers on much longer than the rotten egg fart smell generated by the car.:barf:

Knew you were just pulling my leg, but also that you hadn't thought of all the downsides about riding behind mules in any kind of wagon.:) ;)
And besides, a team of mules could very well possibly outstubborn even this ol' ndn.:rolleyes: ;)

Yvsa, who's had a multitude of experiences not all involving mules.:rolleyes: ;)
 
I'm waiting for a friend to get a clutch replaced in a little honda Accord that had it's engine replaced with one from a CRX. The thing worked fine til the owner's hubby walked in or her and his best friend, and quit working shortly after that. She left the thing to sit and my friend is her uncle and had the pink slip anyway, soooo.... I'm first in line to buy it for a few hundred. :D :D :D
 
I just "noticed" a Honda Element on the street. Strange, how when you're not thinking about a new car, you don't notice anything. I just toured their website, and came away very impressed. Yes, there is that 1930's British taxicab look to them. Especially the front-opening rear "suicide doors" that make a lot of sense, on this vehicle. I'm very interested.
http://hondacars.com/models/model_overview.asp?ModelName=Element
 
Toyota..no thanks....and will not even look at them :barf: MSPR for the 2742 Coupe 2D (Auto) $26,610.00
BCTOSOLCPE051.JPG


but

I have driven the Chrysler 300C RWD V8 :eek: what an amazing car at the price it is being sold at...power, comfort, room! (I need the extra room my 2-seater does not have) MSRP for the 300C AWD! $34,820.00
BSCR300CAWD051.JPG


o.k $8210 difference
but AWD, V8, style inside and out...Hemi ! Now I want the Magnum but wife wants the 300C :confused: same car except for body and interior
 
She might not want you drivin' around in the Magnum, 'cause it might attract*** ahem*** a certain kind of attention (read babe magnet) :D :cool:
 
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