2002 Toyota Corolla Rotor Problem - Toyota Corolla, Chevy Prizm (1998-2008)

Guest John5916

OK I've got a problem, and I live in belgium which makes getting the problem resolved harder.

I bought a 2002 Toyota Corolla and shipped it to Europe when we moved here from the states. The brakes on the right side wore down extremly fast and grooved the rotor badly.

I Took it to my local mechanic and he tried to find North American spec parts in belgium and Germany. Couldn't find any. I ordered them directly from Autozone and received the parts. The brake pads were the right parts but the Rotors were of a larger Diameter. They didn't try to put them on the car to even see if they would fit and I haven't sat out front and tried to check them yet.

What I noticed on Autozone's website was that the 2001 Toyota Corolla had a different Part number for the Front Brake Rotor's than the 2002 Toyota Corolla. Took some work to figure that out because the site doesn't really let you go back and change your options for cars. Had to wipe out the "registered car" and then do it again.

They shipped me for my 2002 Part #31270 (Duralast) and for the 2001 they show a part # 31056 (Duralast as well)

Anyone have any insight. The mechanic made it sound like it wasn't more than 2 cm added all the way around. Is it possible my 2002 has the old style brake rotors? was there a recall? Wrong parts were put on at some point? HELP.

Being in Belgium I can't just run down and ask the Toyota Dealer, or the guys at Autozone. I can't call and talk to anyone at Autozone's Customer Support desk but I don't think they'd be able to help me aside from shipping me another set of parts

Probably not - some sites confuse the 2002 Corolla (8th generation) with the 2003 Corolla (9th generation). The 9th generation Corollas have slightly larger brake rotors to cope with a slight increase it weight and complaints of poor braking performance on the two earlier generations. Lots of aftermarket places actually group the 2002 with the 2004+ Corollas - and to make matters worse, European spec'd Corollas in 2002 were the new models (vs 2003 here in the states).

You should be able to find Brembo blanks there for your Corolla - they were the OEM rotors. Try other sites like Tirerack, and brakewarehouse - never gave me trouble there.

Good Luck.

Guest John5916

Which is interesting cause more searching has found that my Rotor's that they shipped me for my 2002 are the same one's they ship for a 2003.