You all have been a really tough crowd this week. Lots of “those are both awful” and “I’m sitting this one out” comments. And yeah, I’ve hit you with some problematic vehicles: undesirable specs, questionable titles, unrepaired damage. But not today! Today’s cars are so squeaky-clean they’ll make you sick.
First, let’s see how our Ohio players did:
Looks like the Saturn wins it handily. Park that in your garage, and it becomes a room with a Vue.
Anyway. Today’s contestants are both from a rust-free part of the country, both are six-cylinder Toyotas known for mechanical immortality, and neither has any damage beyond normal wear and tear. You wanted “good” cars? You got’em. Be careful what you wish for.
2000 Toyota Camry Solara SLE – $2,750
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0 liter overhead cam V6, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Puyallup, WA
Odometer reading: 231,000 miles
Runs/drives? Of course
How do you make a Toyota Camry more interesting? Trick question: You don’t. But taking away two doors and giving it some swoopy styling makes it at least more palatable. Make it the fancy SLE model with a V6 and leather, and you’ve got a reasonable Japanese facsimile of an American personal luxury coupe like a Monte Carlo, only more reliable.
This Solara has covered 231,000 miles, but it wears them well. Apart from a small seatbelt-rub hole in the side bolster, it’s just about flawless. Toyota’s 1MZ-FE six-cylinder, driving the front wheels through an overdrive automatic, is about as indestructible as drivetrains get; I’ve seen them with way more miles than this. And outside, it looks practically new. Too bad it’s appliance-white.
I have seen Solaras with manual transmissions, but I believe it was only available with the four-cylinder engine. But manual Camrys of this era aren’t exactly sporting machines anyway. Might as well just settle for the automatic; it suits the car’s character better.
1996 Toyota Avalon XLS – $3,800
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0 liter overhead cam V6, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Seattle, WA
Odometer reading: 91,000 miles
Runs/drives? What do you think?
Two-door coupe too exciting for you? Fear not; here we have the fabled “Japanese Buick,” a car as gentle and soothing as the Roxy Music song for which it is not named. The Toyota Avalon is a nap in car form, a Snuggie capable of highway travel. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? It is.
This first-generation Avalon has the same V6 powertrain as the Solara above – smooth, reliable, and almost completely characterless. Perfect for a car like this. Even better, it only has 91,000 miles on its clock, which is practically new for one of these. The seller says it has been carefully maintained, the necessary timing belt and water pump replacement has been taken care of, and all is well.
It’s not perfect; there is some minor damage to the back bumper, but it’s superficial. The rest of the car’s paint looks a little dull, but maybe it’s just the photos. But at least it’s a real color.
Well, there they are: two shining examples of perfectly good used cars at reasonable prices. You’ve got your choice of two flavors: Vanilla and Plain. Choose carefully, but don’t worry – it’s February 2nd. If you get it wrong, we’ll just repeat today until you get it right.
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
This post made me miss my white Solara. It gave me 10 wonderful years of ownership. I moved up from a Tempo and I felt like kind of the world in my Solara. If only the Solara could have been a liftback, then it would have been a true swiss army knife, but as much as I might miss it, that Avalon comes in red, and therefore will be faster and better driving.
The timing belt has even been done on the Avalon. That is a great buy for someone that needs reliable transportation. With basic maintenance that thing will go another 100k.
Having owned a Solara when I was in my early 30s I can say the hip point on those is crap even for someone whose joints haven’t even atrophied yet. It was a nice, solid, well-handling car, but the MPG was meh and for some reason it kept having problem with the AC relay. Still, you could do a lot worse.
Now, having said that, and also having owned many Buicks in my day, my understanding is that the Avalon is the Japanese Buick. In particular, these first gen Avalons remind me of a Japanese LeSabre, which is definitely a good thing. Look at that mileage, now look at the interior, now the exterior, so much red.
Avalon.
What? Huh? Sorry, these put me to sleep. Isn’t this supposed to be shitbox showdown? More like here’s some nice , reasonably priced used cars.
I’m a fan of boring Asian cars. Especially ones that tend not to offer unwanted surprises and are bring to my wallet as well. Give me the Camry Solara.
Now if someone were to make a “bulletproof” fun car built from the ground up for hoonage, that is very inexpensive to buy, low maintenance, more efficient on energy consumption by today’s standards than anything else, and is perfectly reliable as a daily to the extent that the boring Asian cars the subject of this article are, it would be totally awesome. Doable, but no one wants to make it because their sacred cash cows would get gored.
I was ready to make the decision based on just the seats in the Solara, but 91K???
We’re all (probably) gonna be old people someday, so go ahead and get yourself an old person car that will last until you’re old enough for your kids to take your keys away and give your well maintained old person car to one of their ungrateful, snot nosed brats.
Get the Avalon.
People who haven’t experienced late 90’s Camry ownership just don’t get it. Both the Camry and Avalon were boring, but the quality of these cars are unmatched and scratch my car enthusiasm itch in a different, unexpected way from things that are fast and fun.
My family replaced a ’96 Dodge Stratus with a ’99 Camry back in the day. The experience with the craptacular (though admittedly pretty cool looking 90’s plum-colored) Stratus made my parents swear off Chrysler and American manufacturers entirely. That thing blew headgaskets more frequently than a whole dealership of used 00’s Subarus. Tons of weird electrical gremlins. Interior felt like you were sitting in a rolling baby rattle after two years.
Then there was a Camry. So quiet inside you’d forget you were speeding. An interior that looked brand new after 250k miles. Not a single mechanical failure in it’s tenure between multiple family members. Not a rattle after years of taking a beating in the northeast. That car completely changed what our expectations for a car should be. And I think that’s pretty cool.
Oh and I’d totally take the Avalon in this case. Lower miles. I could probably get 10 years out of that thing.
I’ll be the dissenting voice and express my support for the Solara.
I prefer coupes, so its body style appeals to me. It’s 25% less expensive than the competition today. And while it has driven to the moon, a Camry will run forever, so who cares. It’s probably not the best objective choice, but I like it better, and I select my cars with my heart just as much as my mind.
That said, I am very impressed with the Avalon. That is a very comfortable car. I got one as an Uber once, and the rear seats were nice and soft (and heated!), the ride was silky smooth, and it was super quiet. It was the best experience I’ve ever had in the back seat of a car… well… top 5 😉
The Avalon wins today.
Even though the Solara is sporty, the extra doors on the Avalon are more useful, and red is a cooler color than white 🙂
My parents had a 96 Avalon that we sold just last year, after my dad passed,that car was un-killable. Did about 15 round trips from NH to Florida, and rarely ever had a problem and rode like a dream. The Avalon all the way!
I always liked the Solara’s looks. It is a sharp car. I just cannot ignore the huge mileage differential and boring white paint, though. I’ll take the uber-low mileage, well-maintained Avalon.
Avalon for the easy win. It is a perfect transportation module.
I actually prefer the “In every dream car a heartache” listings for more entertainment value, than something I’d actually buy if I needed a no fuss shuttle.
You could indeed get the manual with the V6 on the Solara. I worked with a woman who had one, so they exist in the wild and not just the order books. Wonder how much more common it actually is compared to the Camry V6/5MT of the time.
I want to say Solara, my vanity appreciates that the exterior seems to be in better shape between the two. But, without knowing the timing belt replacement and having all that other history listed on the Avalon, the Avalon is the better choice.
Yeah I believe the confusion lies in the fact that you could not get a convertible so equipped.
Avalon because of the low mileage. The Solara is a better looking appliance though
I’ve never been a fan of the Solara styling. It feels like the progenitor of the next 20 years where Toyota added more and more creases until we ended up in the current mess that is finally being (hopefully) alleviated by the new Prius.
The Avalon is an unfussy rounded 3-box that has aged much more gracefully.
The Avalon wins this one for me easily. In a battle of the comfortable but boring cars, you go for the one that has the most service life left and offers the most practicality.
When seeing one on the road I inevitably sang out the name ala Bryan Ferry, so Avalon it is
Going with actual color today. Red for the win.
Avalon, not just for the odo but also because it’s a ’96 and is therefore exempt from my local emissions testing requirement.
But really, either one of these is a good choice.
I’m taking the ones with 140k less miles. Yes, that will cost me an extra $1,200, but I think it’s well worth it. Let’s go get some groceries and pick up the kids from practice.
Yeah as I am in the market for a cheap beater to last until I can get my main car back on the road, if that Avalon was local I would be calling on it like now. Up to date maintenance and it will outlast the cockroaches! Solara would be good as well, but the higher miles make the extra $1k a no brainer to me.
Avalon, if only for the very low miles. The Solara is the better looking car but I prefer immortality to begin from less use.
Interesting – it appears that the Solara variant is exempt from the Camry bumper dent requirement.
I would choose the Avalon. It’s an appliance, but with only 91K miles it’s an appliance with a lot of life left in it.
Gonna be another runaway vote. Same basic car, but one is 200K+ miles Vs sub-100K? White car Vs Red?
No contest
If I needed a vehicle to affordably get me to 2050 the Avalon is the car to buy.