2001: A Parking Space Androgyny
After reading TTAC for a few years now, I have totally drunk the Kool-Ade: it’s always cheaper to keep you car on the road than to buy a new one. But where does one draw the line between saving a few shekels and personal satisfaction?
I bought my 1999 Solara SE (3.0L V6 5MT) in 2000. It had 12,000 miles when I bought it from Carmax–basically a new car. Almost 12 years on, I’ve now got 99,000 miles on it, and I’ve put almost no money into it, save for regular oil changes and service. Unless someone changed the brakes before I bought it, it still has the original pads. I’ve definitely gotten my money’s worth out of it, especially since there’s been so little hassle with repairs. I give it an annual detailing, so aside from the late-90’s bar-of-soap styling, it still looks like a new car. It is roomy, nominally fun to drive, and has enough juice to hold its own on LA freeways.
But I’m tired of it.
At my last major service, my trustworthy mechanic gave me a to-do list for next time: brakes, all new struts, new clutch (maybe), timing belt and water pump, and new plugs He’s not trying to milk me–I do feel the suspension rattle, and the shifter grinds a bit going into second and sometimes fifth, although it’s not slipping yet. This guy drives to his shop in a CRX with 375,000mi–I like the way he operates. But I’m thinking that the repairs will be at least two grand, when the resale value on my Solara is only about $3500. It’s worth more to me than to anyone else–but is it worth the investment?
We’ll be welcoming our first kid in November. My wife drives an ’05 Outback Sport. I have my eye on either the Outback 3.6 or the Acura TSX wagon (or the new Escape. I drove a diesel Ford Kuga in Scotland recently and loved it). My MO: buy slightly used, no cars with trunks, and keep this next car for at least a decade. I don’t need AWD in SoCal, I can slum it with an automatic, and I’ve had enough 350 V8s in my past to quench my need for speed.
So–for you and the B&B: Should I fix up the Solara and drive it for another 3 years, or should I go for the wagon?
As for everything else, you answered your own question when you wrote this.
“This guy drives to his shop in a CRX with 375,000mi–I like the way he operates.”
You obviously want the longevity. But you also want the excitement and, let’s face it, you’re a cheapskate.
There is some good news for you. That car you’re driving is still worth about $5000 to $6000 retail (depending on the features) and if you fixed it up, you would probably have at least seven to ten years of mildly entertaining driving ahead of you with minimal depreciation.
However you want excitement, and you’re cheap. Sorry to tell you this but fatherhood will only make you even cheaper. Trust me.
So my advice is to buy a go kart. Wait until the neighborhood has trash day. Then engage in a community beautification project by smashing your ride and/or a baseball bat onto every neighborhood garbage can that has ever given you crosseyes over the last few years.
When you’re finished with that fantasy, just upgrade your stereo system a bit and follow the mechanic’s recommendations. A new belt and pump will give you another 90k before the next service interval. Upgrade the struts. Maybe even consider a nice seat upgrade on Ebay, or visit the nearby upholstery shop and improve your seats and door panels. The ones on the Solara are a bit cheap and sometimes a nice stereo system, and a first class interior upgrade, are all you need to enjoy an older car.
I would spend $3k on the car making it right for another 100k. Then drive it until it drops dead or qualifies for an antique license plate. As for a healthy dose of fun, enjoy a weekend rental special Mustang convertible every few months or so. Oh, and consider treating your family to some nice vacations and cruises.
When it comes to cars, it’s the stingy guys who pay the most. Be generous with your maintenance and penurious with your purchases.
Good luck!
Editor’s Note: Questions? About cars? Hopefully? Feel free to reach me at steve.lang@thetruthaboutcars.com.
My wife is in a similar situation with her 2004 Grand Cherokee – it runs great and after some recent scheduled maintenance needs nothing. It has a tiny oil leak (one or two drops a day on the garage floor).
The problem is she is getting tired of it. The new ones are fantastic, but here’s the problem – they cost $35k.
We ultimately decided that we would have to be morons to get rid of it – so we continue to drive it.
The wife insisted her pristine, 13-year old, 138,000 kilometer Toyota Camry was too old for highway driving. She kept at me until we bought her a new car. People at the office lined up to buy it for top dollar. I sob uncontrollably every time I think about it.
This is the kind of car I’m currently looking for, almost to a “T”
I would keep the car and spend maybe $5K to fix it up and give it more soul. Upgrade the shocks AND springs to something more sporty, give it an intake/header/exhaust to give it some more throat, and maybe look into some stiffer motor mounts to make shifts crisper + the motor less springy. If you like the car its def worth keeping + investing in, and go fast parts are generally a good transformation.
That wouldn’t give it anymore “soul” as much as it would shatter your back and deffen your ears on long trips.
A better investment would be maintenance.
I have to agree; I put a Stillen exhaust on my G35 and it was awful. Rather than pay for a new stock exhaust system, I traded it for a new car.
I suggest you dump the Solara for something newer. If you are asking, that means it’s time for it to go…JMO.
“So my advice is to buy a go kart.”
+100. I was in the same situation last year – ’03 Accord V6 6MT with 200k miles, great car with a fantastic motor that will probably outlive me – but just flat out bored with it and tired of looking at it. Obviously it was also worth far more to me than anyone else. I wanted a G37, I wanted a TL, I wanted a 3-series, I just wanted something different.
So I bought an ’03 S2000 with 70k miles for less than a brand new Nissan Versa with a CD player would run. Aside from fluids, $170/yr registration, $70/mo in insurance 8 months a year when it’s not jacked up under a car cover, and annual sets of $200 rear tires (Dear God: I love 16″ wheels), it’s actually not a bad ‘bad investment’ – S2000’s even at high mileage have ridiculous residual values once they drop close to $10k because the parts alone are worth $7k+ in good condition.
Your wife already has a perfect family car. You don’t need two. If you have the garage/yard space and a willing wife, get a weekend toy. Now I get in my Accord with a smile on my face, because a tiny uncomfortable car makes me appreciate its relative roominess and comfort. For even greater effect, refuse to drive with the top up. You don’t need a ZR1 or a Boss 302 to have fun – grab a broken in S2000, Boxster, 350Z, Miata, a foxbody Mustang, whatever tickles your fancy. Just make sure it doesn’t have any overlap with your Solara – little comfort, loud, cramped. Beat the hell out of it on the weekends and occaisonally on the way to work. For a car enthusiast, it makes the commuter car so much more tolerable and interesting.
I just did the same thing, picked up a ’00 this spring to replace my aging RSX. yes, the S2k is older, but it’s lower mileage and in great condition.
I have about 2-3 years of DD duty to go before it gets covered full time. And do I agree wholeheartedly on the 16″ wheels. The best part is, I can buy a full set of autocross-grip street tires for less than $500. and the fronts last me 2 sets of rears. Where is the downside there?
It would be a complete knucklehead move (i.e. ’emotionally driven’) to ditch the Solara, which with probably closer to $1,000 in a modest rehab (change belts, hoses, flush/fill coolant, inspect radiator, swap transmission oil, replace struts-shocks if needed, replace air filter, check CAT, replace spark plugs, maybe do a seafoam/decarb), will easily go another 100k to 150k miles.
This is a reliable car, with good paint and no rust (apparently), a bulletproof motor, and it still looks good and will age well for the foreseeable future.
Ditching it due to an emotional and spur of the moment ‘boredom’ feeling is the move that absolutely destroys the ability to build wealth, as the cost of transitioning into a newer car is far, far more expensive than investing a very modest sum in a comprehensive tuneup in the Solara, which is a good car with many years of dependable service left to give.
To be more clear than my above rambling, I’m completely and unequivocally advocating keeping the Solara and buying a second car for fun (I still have my Accord and drive it 80-90% of the time). Selling a perfectly good and trustworthy car just to have something newer is financially destructive and insane – I might as well have a finance degree: Zero money when I was 18, and now at 25 $70k in student loans for an engineering degree, a mortgage on a beautiful house and 3 glorious used cars. It’s a fine balancing act that requires several massive Excel spreadsheets to keep track of, and one that a $20k new car lease or purchase would absolutely destroy. This is why we choose Hondas and not Audis – at least with high mileage used cars, the stereotype is absolutely true. Hondas do fail parts just like any other car, but when they do it’s usually pretty cheap to DIY and doesn’t leave you stranded.
duffman13: Good luck with DD duties in the S. I just can’t do it. I’m very picky about when I drive it, since I both refuse to drive it with the top up and I’m a p*ssy. If it’s below 50 in the morning when I leave for work, or it’ll be above 85 during the day, it stays in the garage. But how glorious those 50-85 degree days are!
As a father, I have to say the two-door will give you fits. Get rid of it. Inserting a hot, squirmy toddler into a coupe backseat is torture unles you’re in decent physical shape. Also, after baking in a big coupe greenhouse in the summer, hot baby whining matches the resonance frequency of your ear bones.
In the winter, you’ll be planting one big sloppy salted shoe on the rear floor every time you work this kind into the baby seat.
Get something, ANYTHING with four doors.
+1000
And, just because your wife has a “family car” doesn’t mean you’ll never need to use yours as a family truckster. Mom’s car will be in the shop, she’ll want you to spend the day with the little one while she goes to see Mad Mike with her friends, etc. And you do not want a two-door for any of that. Just installing a car seat correctly would be a monumental pain in the arse.
“Inserting a hot, squirmy toddler into a coupe backseat is torture unles you’re in decent physical shape.”
Would getting in “decent physical shape” perhaps be a better solution to this problem than buying a different car?
Additionally, having parents who take care of their health and stay in decent shape would probably be a good example for a kid.
Short answer: no, getting in shape wouldn’t make this any less of a hassle. There are numerous hassles in the life of a new dad. Repeat: numerous. Eliminating them one by one is the only way to avoid going out for a pack of cigarettes and never coming back.
I was thinking the same about the unnatural movement of extending 20+ lbs away from you at an angle twisting in this coupe.
$3000 is $300 annually just for maintenance, not including repairs if any. That’s more than I pay for liability on a new car annually.
It has a lot more to do with flexibility than strength. My toddler weighs about 35 pounds. I can carry him sleeping, with his head on my shoulder, on one arm and a bunch of grocery bags in the other. No problem. Getting him into the back seat of a two-door coupe with a low roof line? No thanks. Especially in a parking lot where you can’t open the longer coupe doors all the way (incidentally, the massive rear doors are probably a good portion of the reason the Mercedes R-class was a flop)
“Short answer: no, getting in shape wouldn’t make this any less of a hassle. ”
The way you called out the caveat of “unless you’re in decent physical shape” I figured that it would make a difference.
If it sucks either way then sure, buy a 4-door.
I interpreted your original comment as a recommendation to buy a new vehicle as an alternative to becoming healthy; which seems like a poor plan both short-term and long-term.
The two door is a problem. I have a few new surgical scars from a sports hernia and back issues as a present for trying to stuff my precious girl’s backwards-facing infant seat into the back of my old, beloved coupe.
Four doors are a must for your health. You may think you are in shape. I was, and still am in very good shape. But the weight you’re lifting at an awkward angle squirms and moves; it’s a whole lot different than lifting static weights. It’s not so good for the Dad.
Besides, you used the word “nominally fun” to describe the Solara. [snark coming] Compared to what, a bris? C’mon! Just because it has a third pedal does not make it fun!
Take the money you saved by not doing repairs on the old car, call it a down-payment on a good new (or slightly-used) car and keep it another 10 years. Your logical fallacy is thinking that these are the only repairs you will have to make on the old car. There will be the water pump. Then the steering will rattle. Then, then, then…
Plus, the newer cars are SO much safer for your new cargo. You wouldn’t want to test the rear-impact capabilities of a tin can, would you?
I am a 135lb weekling, yet I managed with a 2-door through 2 children. If you have a bad back, get a four door.
DItto. You’ll soo be a dad, and as that shite christmas song alludes to, it changes everything. Do one simple thing before you make any decisions: Go get a big, rear-facing, convertible carseat and try putting it in your Solara. Then try putting it in your Outback Sport.
Then go car shopping.
There are few things worse than the combination of toddlers and carseats. Once of them is adding a 2-door coupe to the mix. Everyone advocating for you to buy a sports-car clearly didn’t read all the way to the bottom of your post where you say you’ve given up the need for speed. I agree on the gently-used buy, especially from a good private seller, and the TSX would be swell.
(NOTE: When I was recently in the market for a car, I brought the carseat right along with me. When salesmen were bragging about how roomy cars were, I’d respond with “well, let’s see, shall we?” That right there nixed the Mazda3 for me: Physically impossible for me and the carseat to be in that car. )
As Steve Lang says, this car is just getting broken in as most cars of the vintage or your car will easily go to at least 180 – if not 200K or more with good maintenance, provided it doesn’t get totaled first in an accident, which is possible for any of us who drive regularly.
But that aside, this sounds like a nice car though it could be a bit more entertaining to drive (and look a bit more entertaining too) but look at it this way, it’s worth more than you were thinking it seems and thus is worth getting what it needs now to keep it in the condition its in currently, which is in clean, good running condition.
Just drive it for a few more years and when really need to do something about it, replace it then.
I had to replace my car back in January, but I had a legitimate reason, my previous vehicle, an aging early 90’s Ford Ranger with almost 237K miles was dying and even if it wasn’t, I knew that eventually I’d have to anyway due to its mileage, age and size I was going to have to downsize into something more fuel efficient as gas prices (then) were going up. They will again so don’t think gas prices where they are today to last much beyond the summer.
But it was the timing that hurt, I had to replace said truck unexpectedly in January so had to buy sooner than planned and ended up with something that will fit me more than the truck ever did, a little 2003 Mazda Protege5, MUCH more city friendly and a bit easier on the gas too and it’s loads of fun, but it’s not super fast but quick enough and plenty sporty too with great driving dynamics. Otherwise, I’d still be driving the old truck even now but would’ve had to replace it eventually anyway and you are not there yet so get the work done by your mechanic and keep driving your Solara for a while longer and as Steven says, upgrade the stereo, perhaps parts of the interior with fresh panels and upholstery if you desire and it’ll seem fresher to you than it does now so enjoy it some more!
I agree with bryanska. Get rid of it. You won’t want a two door, but just as important, you need to feel like you matter. I had a 2001 Volvo S60 from new, through 110,000. I could have kept it on the road, but I was tired of driving it. It is a valid feeling that the Kool Aid crowd here doesn’t understand. Car buying is not marriage, it isn’t for life. As you noted, you’ve gotten more than your money’s worth from the car, it is time to move on.
I think it’s valid to criticize those who change cars every 2-3 years for an uneconomical habit. When you’ve had your car for 9-10 years that criticism no longer applies. Avoiding the mere likelihood of a breakdown with your new child in back is worth more than keeping any car on the road longer than that.
Guess what, Pops? Driving IS boring. Just get a new radio with an AUX jack for your ipod. Boredom solved.
Guys, educate me here. Am I the only one who thinks that a “slight grind going into second” is a syncro and not the clutch?
If I was you, I would fix it up and drive it even longer. But I’m NOT you. If you’re truly bored do a little bit of repair, sell it and get something to fall in love with again.
And on a side note, what happened to have Mehta pitch in on these answers? Too many Panther recomendations? :P
@EducatorDan: I forgot about that in my initial comment. You’re right, grinding is more indicative of worn synchros or a failing clutch hydraulic cylinder (or stretched/out of adjustment cable if it’s cable-actuated).
For first kid, you’re good with what you have. Whoever has the kiddo takes the Subaru, although with a rear-facing baby seat, whoever sits in front of the baby is going to need to be 5’7″ or shorter (or like chewing on their knees). BTDT in a borrowed 04 WRX wagon.
One thing to think about, the Solara probably does NOT have the LATCH things for the baby seat in the back, and I have no idea how ANYBODY gets modern car seats properly in place in older cars. My three-year-old desperately wants to be four so he can get a booster and ride in the back of my XR4Ti. I sort of made the child seat work once, but I’ll deal with the whining before I attempt to install the seat again.
The Solara isn’t even broken in yet, if you’re using it strictly as a commuter-mobile if you do the maintenance you should have another relatively trouble-free 100k in it. Put some Bilsteins on it, fresh bushings, decent tires, and go.
If you go for kiddo number two, you’re going to be trading that Impreza-based Outback Sport for something larger, or you’ll be hauled before child services for not bringing 100 cubic feet of plastic stuff around for the children everywhere you go. ;)
Good luck!
I say ditch the Solara. You’re bored with it and must have a little bit of cash if you’re looking at the 3.6 Outback and TSX Wagon. I say find yourself a TSX Wagon and get a fresh start.
Thanks to Steven and Sajeev, and all the Best and Brightest, for discussion threads just like this. Every once in a while I’ll look at my reliably boring / boringly reliable Accord a little cross-eyed, but these conversations remind me to stay the course. Thanks everybody.
+1 Threads like this are what keep me making my 81 mile round trip commute in a 2001 Corolla with 196,000 miles!
Off topic, but does your year Corolla have a timing belt or chain? I only ask because gf’s dad kept this beat Neon around and it finally ate a timing belt at 154K and I think its been junked. Funny thing was the brother’s beat 01 Sunfire (2200 I4) actually has a chain as have all of my GM V6 products over the years. Just surprises me when I learn which engines do have chains and which don’t.
New cars are nice, but the improvement going from a Solara to a TSX, Outback, or Escape isn’t that huge. Save your money, and drive a car you don’t have to worry about keeping looking new and making payments on. There’s something freeing about driving a paid-off older car.
Maybe buy a used Miata for fun.
Ditch the Solara. I hate to say that, especially because it’s basically a fine, reliable car for you.
But when your new child arrives, it’s going to be a Royal Pain to put your that infant in any car seat deep the back of that Solara, not to mention stowing away all of the sundry kit that goes with transporting your new baby out of the house. I can assure you it’ll only take you a couple of weeks of buckling your little bundle of joy deep in the back seat of your Solara coupe to either cripple you or convince you to trade that car in. Or burn it.
Find yourself a sporty sedan/five-door hatchback with more room so you can easily access the child seat. Your back will thank you for it.
I agree with your sentiment but as a coupe fan, whatever two door special I have at the time if a child comes along is keeping put. Children would be for the wife’s car not mine, better suited for hers because I prefer used cars of sometimes questionable quality for cash and seems most wives want to spend their husband’s money on something new and ‘safe’ for the family. If I am going to inevitably dole out my cash for the better of the family, the price of admission is going to be whatever used car is already in my stable, be it Vette or Yaris hatch.
Do you have kids? How do you manage to keep the appearance of equality when the wife has 100% daycare dropoff/pickup duties?
I would plus size the rims an inch or two while keeping the tire diameter the same.
You will be amazed at how this will improve the driving characteristics of the car. It will also improve the look.
It’s like a different car!
When you replace the shocks keep them stock as the new wheel/tire combination will make it ride a little harsher.
Upgrade the audio, perform the maintenance, and enjoy the next 7 years.
With the savings buy a project car!
With a kid on the way you should go buy a wagon or a sedan, something a bit easier and safer for your kid.
I may be in the minority but I think that Solara is a pretty neat looking car, but then again I like simple styling.
If you upgrade the sound system have a pro do it, do it wrong and you’ll cause more problems in the long run.
I’m in that minority about the Solara styling, too. This first generation was a good looking car inside and out. We had one in the family and even with the 4spd auto it was a great car.
Shame they turned it into a beached whale for the next iteration.
Keep the car. Get it fixed. With child on the way, why would you want to spend money on a car? You are expecting one child. I had an Accord Coupe -’00, and sure the seat was a pain with having to crawl in and put our son in a infant seat, but 10.5 years of service had the car costing me next to nothing. Save the cash for the kid. You will need it. I still miss the simplicity of that car.
Even a used Acura is going to eat your nest egg and cost you hundreds a month in payments, not to mention higher insurance.
You’ve got a kid coming and the OB Sport won’t be enough on long trips, even our 07 OB gets right with 2 of them and especially with a rear facing seat. This week I have a Sonata as a rental, free week-long from Hertz and decided to use it for a trip to SF Bay (wife’s grandparents) and north to San Juan Islands (my grandparents). The room in a modern mid size is phenomenal and mileage has averaged 36mpg on the overall trip (from Boise). Even the trunk was impressive, fit everything including a packnplay and larger umbrella stroller, without trying to slam the trunk to get it shut.
My point is get a new midsizer, sedan or wagon, but get it for your wife as she’ll (I assume) be hauling the kiddo around. It’s what we’ll be doing, but dumping our 98 TL and the 13 Fusion is top of my list. The Sonata is a great car and I’d consider it except it does tend to wander a little.
It isn’t having what you like, it’s liking what you have.
New shocks often transform a car. But the point with the baby seat
is a good one.
No better time to sell than now. But it is cheap to keep two cars
insurance wise. Maybe get a nice beater fourdoor.
haven’t been much help I suppose. Good luck.
If you are still reading now, my advice is that your entire world and every priority will change when the new one arrives. You will need an unbelievable amount of money for junior and the car thing will fade into the background for awhile. Wait until then. You have a unique car-5 speed manuals are very rare this car has value beyond the normal Solara world. I would recommend keeping it forever. Buy something new when you wake up from new fatherhood if you still want to. Or put it into their college fund, we might still have colleges in 18 years.
Totally agree.
I agree – after 5 years splitting family truckster duties between a 90’s Mustang GT convertible & Jeep Cherokee, my complaints are minor and the luxury of not having a car payment has been immeasurable. We’re at the point of renting a car for family vacations, but even that is less than one payment on a new(er) car. If you can in any way stand your current car, I say hang onto it until it’s dead.
That said, when/if we have another child, the Mustang has to go. No way would two kids (one rear-facing) be comfortable in that little back seat.
You’re a new dad with a car that is not great for hauling kids and is lacking safety features. Treat yourself to something that you can drive for another 10 years with room for the wee ones and safe as well. You’ll get good money for the camry, why not buy A4 Avant / 3 series wagon? Your mileage is well under 10k a year, so maintenance costs could be very low. Good luck! Congratulations on fatherhood!
One small aside that I forgot to mention.
I dealt with this issue with a very similar vehicle. When we had our first child I was driving a 1994 Toyota Camry 2 door coupe. It was not that big of a deal to put a child seat in the middle. But that was rarely done… if ever.
After our second child came in 2003, we may have used the back seats maybe once for both kids between then and 2006. The wife’s car was always the family vehicle.
I sold the Camry in 2006 with 239k. As of 2012 the vehicle is closing in on 300k. Since my current driver is only a two seater, we have pretty much stuck by the commuter/family car combo.
Well, it is an older car and the repair cost is close to the car’s value.
If you decide to sell it, look for a Tahoe or Suburban, with a kid it will be very useful, not to mention they run forever like tanks.
Beautiful highway cruisers and space galore, but these are overkill for one kid. That gas mileage will really hurt, too, when stacked atop a car payment.
Grinding of gears and with original clutch, is about 2K in repairs, 4 new struts plus alignment, another K if you are lucky, plus AC repair in the future for sure. I say buy a good used car like you did 12 years ago, use this as a trade. You also need to think about safety for your family. You don’t want to be stranded a hundred miles from home with a new born. I know you are a cheap bastard, but you cannot chance a breakdown with your family. Buy a 2 year old used car, it will be a lot safer in collisions, i.e. air bags, be better in gas mileage and chances of it breaking down will be a lot less as well.
Clutch sets are less than $200 on Ebay. I would be shocked if the labor cost to install one was more than $500.
This thing only has 100K miles on it. And it might have side airbags.
Get the TSX wagon. You may have to buy new though. They might be ‘nigh impossible to find used. Acura tends to give better lease subsidies than purchase subsidies. Every now and then there is an exception to the rule that it is better to buy than lease. (You can always buy the car at the end of the lease.)
I’m in full agreement with the parents who have told you that it’s a pain to install car seats and insert kid in a 2-door car. If you don’t buy the TSX now, you might be pressured by you-know-who into getting a minivan later. Word-up.
By the way, the new Ford C-Max looks really interesting. If you can’t have fun driving for speed, you can have fun driving for MPG.
Life is too short too drive a boring car. It might not make the most economic sense, but if you’re a car guy, sacrificing the bottom line just a bit is worth the smile on your face every time you drive. Sometimes you just have to do what makes life worth living.
Beat me to it, just what I was going to say.
get the brakes, waterpump and timing belt done (better safe than sorry and it will make the car marketable)… put it up on autotrader while you are still driving it… (you’ll get nothing as a trade in, but somewhere in the US, someone is abosolutely searching for an unmolested clean, 100k 2DR V6 w/MT, who will be willing to pay retail for it..
When you get a nibble, start looking for a MT 2004-2008 Acura TL with similar mileage… it will be a good handling 4DR with comfortable ride on the expansion joints of SoCal, and you’ll have a car that has another 100k+…. plus its turned into a classic after Acura botched the lastest generation TL
I am in a bit of a different but similiar situation. Wife has an 04 Taurus wagon, Duratec V6 and third rear seat and we’ve got a Focus sedan. I’m tired of the wagon, but my wife is still in love with it after 120K. My advice, keep the Solara!
Now would be a good time to sell the Solara. Used car prices are high and crash test performance has improved in the last decade. I think it would be much easier for potential buyers to get a low interest loan with the mileage <100k even if the Solara is capable of many more miles.
I was in a similar situation recently. I had a 1996 200SX SE-R that owed me nothing, had about 140k on it, but had some work coming up. My daughter is 18 months old and I’d been thinking 4-door for quite awhile. My wife’s car is an ’06 CR-V but with schedules, etc. I end up taking my daughter in my car at least several times per week. As she got bigger, I dreaded more and more getting her in and out of that backseat.
My solution was to dig around until I found a 2005 Sentra SE-R Spec V with 109k for under 6 grand, which I jumped on and sold the ’96 to my younger brother. Sure I took out a loan from the Credit Union for the Sentra, but it’s only a little one. And taking my daughter for a ride is now a pleasure compared to what it was.
Keep it and get the Acura. It is not worth anything to sell even privately and it will be useful. The Acura is a super choice IMO
Two doors plus children do not equal a healthy back.
I was just in a similar situation last month: I have a 2004 Acura TSX, milano red w/Nav. I’ve always thought highly of the car, but had kind of written it off as it got older: I wasn’t proud of it any longer. So I started test driving new cars: the Infiniti G37 coupe, the Audi A5 and A6, among others.
Curiously, I found that I kept reaching the annoying conclusion that I preferred driving my old car. Meanwhile, my mechanic was telling me that I’d easily get another 100k miles out of it (I have 85K now), and that it’s in great shape.
So, I bit the bullet and am presently having the car totally redone! I’m replacing everything on the outside: grills, headlights, exhaust tips, getting a fairly-high-end paint job (done at a place that services BMWs and Maseratis, so I think I’m safe), then putting in a CAI and performance chip, and replacing any scuffed interior pieces. It’s almost done — and will cost about $7K in total.
Some people think I’m crazy (after all, why put almost $7K into a car that I could probably only sell for $9K?), but I think it’s the best alternative. And it seems likely to net me a new-looking car that I can be proud of, for at least the next five years.
What does everybody here think? Was this a foolish decision?
Maybe a bit more than I would have spent but I agree with the concept. Where could you find something you enjoyed that much for another 100K for that money.
One of my cars is a year old. The other (a truck) is 21. Another is is 55 but it stays parked because of fuel economy. Buying new doesn’t impress me at all.
If you are going to carry the kid in the Solara, even a little bit, you’ll prob want a new ride. A coupe will be miserable for that duty, and isnt likely to have enough clearance behind the front seats to correctly install a rear facing convertible car seat (the way your kid will ride in from ages 6 months to 2 years).
Then again, a lot of cars dont have enough space for the rear facing convertibles.
But wresting with that stuff in a coupe – not fun.
I’m usually a guy who advises people to keep their cars but in this case I will have to side with the chorus of “sell it as 2 doors and infants to not mix”. The TSX wagon would be my choice unless you need the AWD for snow.
Boy, do I have the car for you: MY 2004 Impala for only $5K! A perfect family car!
Seriously, your Solara is not a “bar of soap”, it actually has character and you can’t beat that snazzy roofline – it reminds me of the 1965/66 Impala sports coupes. Another plus is that it has a nice, long hood.
The tranny worries me, though. It may be time to let it go and get something newer and more family-friendly.
Thanks everybody for your thoughts and insights. I entered all the pros and cons of your comments into the TTAC-a-Tron 2000, and it came out about even. It has been a while since I wrote to Steve and Sajeev, and since I didn’t ask for a speedy reply, I had to go at it on my own. Last week, I had the mechanic replace the water pump/timing belt, new front brakes (but the cheapskate in me wanted to get another 10,000 miles out of them, just for kicks), new plugs, and new front struts. The rear struts are being done today. Clutch was fine, but I’m still worried about that grinding syncro–could it need an adjustment of the shift linkage or something?
Total cost: about $2700, which makes me sick. But as some of you pointed out, I have bigger expenses to plan for. It’s a boy, by the way.
After I get a year or two (and a sore back) out of my Solara, I’ll still be shopping for that next car–actually, I’m always shopping. I really value your opinions, B&B.
Make a $500/month car payment to your self to amortize the $2700, then continue making the car payment to yourself until you have enough money for a downpayment on the new vehicle. If you can’t save enough to keep up the regular car payment to yourself, you already have your answer to the question of whether you should buy a new car.
I would much rather have a small payment on a car that I am enthusiastic about driving/looking-at/being-seen-in than have the warm fuzzy responsible feeling of driving a car that’s paid off. I have a history of getting bored with cars and tend to cycle through them quickly.
In the end, the heart wants what it wants, and emotion wins out over rationality. If you’re bored with the car, you will replace it. I can almost guarantee it.
One thing for sure. Opinions. Everybody has them just like ….armpits. The truth is that having narrowed down the options to two, you probably couldn’t have made a bad decision.
BTW, four doors does not equal lack of fun. I quit worrying what others think about my style several years ago. That’s why I drive a Nissan Cube and a 91S10. The 57 chevy with the drinking problem remains parked. You would need to drive any of them to realize the haters that badmouth these two are full of ____. I hope that if you ask me five years from now I will still have the same vehicles.
Congratulations on your forthcoming parenthood. Wish you well.
There are some practical reasons to sell the car, but it seems like boredom is the primary reason right now. It probably shouldn’t be. When the kid comes money, time, and attention will be in short supply. You might find that boredom with your car is a luxury you won’t have. So don’t sell it for that reason.
I sold my 96 Camry 2 years ago, with 130K miles. It was in great shape, but needed about $2000 in service and after 8 yrs of ownership I was bored. We have kids on the way now. I kind of wish I had ponied up on the maintenance and kept it. Priorities change in a big hurry!
I say get another car.
You won’t have much free time, so no point renting cool cars or trying to go-kart every week. Your commute might be your only “me” time, so make it good.
We looked at all of the wagon-esque options when our baby was on the way. My wife ended up with a new 2011 Venza, the V6 one. We liked it a lot better than the TSX wagon, or the Subie. It’s got gobs of power, is quiet and smooth, and really a pleasure to drive. You’ve had good luck with your Solara, stick with Toyotas.
I will insert my usual comment on this subject – Dear God, why on Earth do you need so much space for ONE kid?? Someone suggested getting a SUBURBAN for God’s sake! What do the Europeans do? They have JUST as many kids as we do, even more nanny-laws, and drive MUCH smaller cars on average. How hard can this be? Kids can take a remarkable amount of abuse and come sailing right through too – much more than Mom and Dad can in an accident so arguements about ‘safety’ don’t mean much to me.
So ultimately, it comes down to 1. Do you want a new one? 2. Can you comfortable afford to change cars AND have a kid? If yes, go get whatever floats your boat. My Mom managed to transport me and my 9 years younger infant brother around in the back of a 70’s 911 – compared to that a Camry Coupe is a stretch limo.
1. This isn’t Europe. Europeans drive small cars because of, among other reasons, taxes and fuel prices. I coach a kids’ soccer team in my well-to-do town south of Boston. Guess what the two ex-pat European families drive? Ding ding ding – a Tahoe and a Honda Pilot.
2. The “My parents shuffled me, my brother, my three cousins, a dog and a parrot in a two door Plymouth Arrow back in 1979” comments have to stop. It’s 2012. There are laws requiring rear facing child seats. Cars built after 2002 or thereabouts don’t have the ISOFIX/LATCH systems, making proper fitment of car seats in older vehicles problematic.
3. If you’re a parent, and “safety” doesn’t mean much to you, you should have your head examined. A child’s ability to take a “remarkable amount of abuse” (whatever the he11 that means) won’t really matter when they’re t-boned while sitting in the back of a tin-box crapwagon with decades-old safety systems.
1 – Europeans dont have JUST as many kids as we do, many Euro states have fertility below replacement.
2 – If gas were 8-10 a gallon, as it in in EU,then people would sacrifice the convenience and drive smaller cars. It isnt so we dont.
2 – What you mom did in 1970 is irrelevant. This is 2012. Times change
3 – “Kids can take a remarkable amount of abuse and come sailing right through too – much more than Mom and Dad can in an accident so arguements about ‘safety’ don’t mean much to me” is a pretty vapid statement, since the reason kids come thru accidents so well is kid car seats. Unrestrained kids become projectiles, and fare quite poorly. If you mom had a 25 mph head on back ih the 70s, you likely wouldn’t be here to write these ignorant posts.
70s 911? Your mom was cool.
TRD sells a supercharger kit for that engine. They claim 75 more hp.