Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEATS - FRONT ASSEMBLY - HEAD RESTRAINT | |||
| 07/01/2005 | 1 | 06/19/2005 | |
| Dt: about 4 weeks ago, the consumer noticed the seat head rest were clearly in the way, which left the consumer not being able to see . the only visibility when looking back was by looking between the head rests. the head rests were so big they obstructed the consumers view. the manufacturer stated there were no other seats and it wasn't possible to remove the headrests. the owner noticed that there were new headrests available on 2006 solara, but since toyota did not publish this information there was nothing they can do about this. owner would like to locate alternate head rests for vehicle. *jb | |||
| 01/07/2005 | 1200 | 1 | 11/13/2004 |
| This vehicle has convertible seats, both front seats and head rests are too large. this causes poor visibility, consumer unable to see properly. consumer tool vehicle to the dealer, and mechanic claimed that the vehicle was operating as designed. *ak....toyota refused to do anything to lower rear seat head rests. they restricted visibility by 1/2 through rear window. *ak | |||
| 10/23/2004 | 2 | 10/23/2004 | |
| I recently purchased a 2005 toyota solara convertible. when i purchased the car, it was great weather, so i had the top down the would time i test drove vehicle. . it was only after i purchased it and put the top up that i realized that the visibility out the rear mirror of the car was awful. i've had 2 other toyota convertible previously, and recognize that visibility is not the best through the rear-view mirror due to the smallish convertible windows. however, with the 2005 solara, toyota has put very large head rests on the rear seats that make the visibility significantly worse than my two toyota celicas. with those head rests (which surprisingly are not removable or adjustable), the visibility out the rear mirror is effectively limited to a 1 foot by 1 foot square. this means that lane changes must be performed almost exclusively by looking out side mirrors in order to avoid blind spots. parallel parking is absolutely out of the question because you can't see the right rear of the car at all. i talked to toyota, and was told that others who had driven the car had also expressed the same concern, but that the rear head rests were not removable or adjustable. that was as far as they were willing to go with the discussion. i believe the head rests should be made at least a few inches shorter and slightly narrower. this would improve the visibility significantly. please let me know what can be done to improve this visibility issue.*ak | |||
| 11/05/2004 | 3 | 1 | |
| Consumer claims that the head restraint obstructs the driver's rear view. it is hard to back up or change lanes.*ak | |||
| SEATS - MID/REAR ASSEMBLY | |||
| 07/02/2005 | |||
| This complaint is in regard to the design, rather than a manufacturing defect. the 2006 toyota solara convertible has a smallish rear window built into the convertible top (as most convertibles do). however, toyota takes this to the extreme by having two large headrests on the rear seat that blocks over half of the visibility to the rear window. these headrests are fixed, and so the driver has no choice but to live with a very narrow view out the rear window. it is my understanding that these headrests contain rollbars to protect passengers, but the design could easily have been more open so as to allow visibility. there were reports in the press that the 2006 model was going to switch to a 'hoop-style' headrest, but my vehicle is evidence that they did not. i do not know that there are government regulations with regard to rear visibility. it surprises me that a manufacturer is allowed to produce a car with such poor visibility. but i do know that it is virtually inevitable that there will be numerous vehicle collisions or worse - personal injuries caused by a driver backing up the toyota solara without an adequate view of what lies behind him. i believe this issues should be addressed. | |||