QUESTION: I read your review of the Solara (on the web site) and was pleased by the positive remarks regarding the 5-speed manual. This is the car I'm intending to purchase, but I recently read another review (Michelle Krebs from the New York Times News Service - who "usually favors a manual shift" that stated "The stick shift was notchy and imprecise, and the clutch was not smooth." Not having any luck finding a stick shift Solara at any local dealership to test drive, I'm unable to decide for myself about this criticism.
ANSWER: Today I met with the Toyota Zone manager and he had arranged for a five-speed Solara. It had 3500 miles on the speedo, and was not the smoothest transmission that I've driven, but solid and easy to shift. I drove a BMW 328 to and from the Zone, and found the transmission feel quite similar. Bottom line -- I think it's a fine transmission, and if my friend Michelle had problems, I can only conclude it was an abused or mis-adjusted car that she drove.
READER RESPONSE: Thanks once again for your response and advice. It makes me more comfortable with my decision to go for the manual trans. I've been driving an older Celica for about 4 years now (it's got over 200,000 miles on the odo) and I've been very satisfied with its manual trans. If the Solara's trans is as good as the Celica, I won't have any complaints.
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