What can you guys tell me about any main issues with an 04 Solara V6?
 

My Nissan Altima died again tonight while we were out looking at Christmas lights.

There is an 04 Solara V6 in my area with under 100k miles that I was thinking about buying.

Now, before I bought the 06 Altima I "thought" Nissan was still a good name in the big three of imports [ie Toyota, Honda, Nissan]. I was WRONG! Nissans quality/reliability has been slipping for some time now.

So being a pretty good mechanic I pretty much restored the Nissan. Most cars, even good brand name cars like Toyota usually have a weak point/points on the cars.

For example the Nissan Altimas 02-06 had issues with the pre cats on both engines, also problems with the timing chain guides, and transmission issues with both transmissions [with the exception being the manual trans].

I would like to hear the most common issues with an 04 Solara with a V6/auto BEFORE I buy it then find out something like transmission issues [98-03 Honda Accords had auto trans issues], or engine problems, electrical problems, etc.

On Christmas morning tomorrow I've got to take my trailer, and pick up my Nissan.

Oh, and I did do a net search first, but I trust what real Toyota owners have to say vs some magazine writer's review.

The Solara is a 2-door version of Camry, as in Camry Solara. It has the larger V-6 engine.

The Solara would suffer the same issues as the Camry.

Toyota quality started to drop in the mid 2000's due to many factors. One being trying to be No 1 in vehicle sales. Thinking quality was so embedded in the corporation it didn't need to be kept on top of. Failing to understand more complex cars needed more oversight.

However, this year of car satisfaction ranks very high.

Camry's had issues of cracking dash boards.

This car avoided a good deal of engine issues by having a V-6 not 4-cylinder.

Check car for an issue of steering pull to one side or the other.

Turn steering wheel and listen for any clunks from the steering shaft u-joints.

There was a recall on some 2004's for the V-6 harmonic balancer. The glue used to hold the rubber between the two rings being insufficient. A dealer can use the VIN to tell if the recall applied and if so if the car was taken in for inspection.

Find out when the timing belt was replaced this being every 90K miles. Ditto for the last trans oil change. Check condition of trans oil.

There have been some issues with the door lock ECU. Make sure door locks work as they should.

Make sure to get the master keys! Toyota also had valet keys which have limited capabilities.

Ok thanks.