Corolla Bad Points

Hey, GREAT news! I found 2 K&N stickers! Question: If I put them under the hood of my Crayolla, will I get an extra 10hp?

Won't work.

 

Put one on the trunk lid.

That may produced a better roar out of the exhaust pipe.

going back to the forum topic...

I have been waiting for a thread like this. Now I can get a few things off my chest.

1. BRAKES: way too sloppy to smoothly maintain speed. Have no feeling whatsoever, are quite soft and sloppy. I don't think there is a defect, it has been serviced twice and road tested twice and the mechanics couldn't fault it. Heaven help the guy w/o ABS trying to emergency brake on a dark wet night with out locking the thing up and spinning the bugger. Threshold braking is possible on my brother's 2001 mazda 323 but not on my '05 rolla.

2. Steering lacks feel, feedback. Its all smooth enough, but you have no idea what is going on grip wise. Same goes for handling in general.

3. Stereo is crap

If theese were rectified it'd be perfect.

You are all a bunch of whiners. Just drive the car and enjoy it!!

Hey, GREAT news! I found 2 K&N stickers! Question: If I put them under the hood of my Crayolla, will I get an extra 10hp?

Won't work.

 

Put one on the trunk lid.

That may produced a better roar out of the exhaust pipe.

ROFLMAO

 

That's pretty good. I'll have to give that advice on some of the other boards I frequent - people there believe in just about anything.

Do bumper stickers also help? Is that why I see cars with so many on them that I almost crash trying to read them all??

 

 

My early build 03 Corolla has been to the dealership no less than 10 times to fix small issues with build quality. Rattles here and there, weatherstripping falling off 4 times, oil leak, belt squeaking, the door below the heater controls warping so bad the door refused to shut.

Fun fun, I wonder what else is going to break down next? At least everything was free to fix, but now no more bumper-bumper warranty. My cheque book hurts thinking about the things that could go wrong.

It's a love hate sorta thing I have with my car. It's great on gas, comfortable to drive, lots of room, conservative looks, decent performance, low cost of ownership. But why oh why does it feel so cheaply put together? Lexus quality? LOL, yeah right. Maybe the Cambridge plant didn't get the memo until after mine was built.

My early build 03 Corolla has been to the dealership no less than 10 times to fix small issues with build quality. Rattles here and there, weatherstripping falling off 4 times, oil leak, belt squeaking, the door below the heater controls warping so bad the door refused to shut.

Fun fun, I wonder what else is going to break down next? At least everything was free to fix, but now no more bumper-bumper warranty. My cheque book hurts thinking about the things that could go wrong.

It's a love sorta thing I have with my car. It's great on gas, comfortable to drive, lots of room, conservative looks, decent performance, low cost of ownership. But why oh why does it feel so cheaply put together? Lexus quality? LOL, yeah right. Maybe the Cambridge plant didn't get the memo until after mine was built.

Hey buddy - don't sweat the small stuff. Remember that there is no perfect car. Sure cars do fall apart and require constant maintenance and upkeep. You will find that to be true of almost every vehicle. Don't give the Corolla a "bad rap" just because you are no longer on warranty. Some people can take care of the small things and fix them themselves. You might give that a try. Enjoy your Corolla and realize another car may be worse!

 

 

Hey buddy - don't sweat the small stuff. Remember that there is no perfect car. Sure cars do fall apart and require constant maintenance and upkeep. You will find that to be true of almost every vehicle. Don't give the Corolla a "bad rap" just because you are no longer on warranty. Some people can take care of the small things and fix them themselves. You might give that a try. Enjoy your Corolla and realize another car may be worse!

LOL, I do a lot of my own work. The labour is not what's making my chequebook worry, it's the insane cost of interior parts at the dealership that is. Hopefully there will be some 9th gens showing up at the wreckers so I can save on parts. Weatherstipping and interior trim panels are not cheap and hard to get from other sources other than Toyota (and no I don't shop at Ebay).

I'm used to things going wrong and having to replace parts and working on cars. Sure on 15 year old cars that I used own, but a 4 year old modern Toyota that was bought brandnew? Pretty sad IMO. Guess I needed to lower my expecatations and not let the Toyota's marketing and reputation influence me as much as it did.

Don't get me wrong, I still love the car and not giving it a "bad rap". Just protraying the bad points I have experienced with my personal car.

As I see other Corolla's on the road, my first thoughts are this is a logical person especialy an older Corolla. I would actualy date a Corolla lady as compared to an SUV lady because she has common sense and money in the bank) and most likely a down to earth person.

Some peeves I have with the 8th generation is the style. I'd like to see the 2008 with the sleek streamlined look of the 2007 Civics or G-6's.

The hood (edges), grill and the top edge of roof by the windshield are susceptible to gravel chips and prone to rust. I sand the chips and touch up the chips often.

I like the "S' model standard options except the black interior. Very hard to keep clean but love the steering wheel and red instrument panel lighting.

Engine is kind of noisy but I can live with it if it's not causing harm to the engine.

Otherwise, I think it's a great buy and would highly recommend it from students to Seniors.

i fixed a couple squeaks in my doors by taking them off and replacing the foam with strips of bubblewrap and doublesided tape. I had a real PITA near my left ear, right at the top of the door panel, and another in the passenger door near the speaker. a little bubblewrap and it 'fits much more snug'

I have squeaks and rattles in my '05, and have had so since 1200km. Provided that everything works, I don't care...

My early build 03 Corolla has been to the dealership no less than 10 times to fix small issues with build quality. Rattles here and there, weatherstripping falling off 4 times, oil leak, belt squeaking, the door below the heater controls warping so bad the door refused to shut.

.

That's why I never buy the first year of a new model change...even Japanese companies.

First year models usually have many more problems.

My '03 Corolla LE -- the first year of the 9th generation Corolla, has been quite acceptably trouble-free. The only real problem I've had with it is the cold weather lights on problem. I also have the "gap" around the radio, but it doesn't really bother me enough to risk having the knuckle-draggers at the dealer try to fix it. Everything else about my Corolla has been perfectly fine. The only maintenance I've performed is normal fluid replacements and tire rotation. Of course, it only has 36,200 miles in almost 3.5 years of ownership -- it's not racking up the mileage nearly as fast as other Corollas.

That's why I never buy the first year of a new model change...even Japanese companies.First year models usually have many more problems.

Yeah I know. Stupid me believed that somehow Toyota was different. The 1ZZ-FE engine has been around for a while and figured that Toyota would be able to build a quality car. http://www.toyota.ca/cgi-bin/WebObjects/WW...v300000e%2ehtml made me think that they cared about quality. Ah well, lesson learned.

 

That's why I never buy the first year of a new model change...even Japanese companies.

First year models usually have many more problems.

Yeah I know. Stupid me believed that somehow Toyota was different. The 1ZZ-FE engine has been around for a while and figured that Toyota would be able to build a quality car. http://www.toyota.ca/cgi-bin/WebObjects/WW...v300000e%2ehtml made me think that they cared about quality. Ah well, lesson learned.

 

If I was in the market for a new car then,I may have done the same thing because it's a Toyota.

But won't for any company now.

My 03 has been completely trouble free. There was once some talk that the Cali-built cars were less reliable than the Canadian version (which mine is). The Cali builts had a recall for wheel assembly, for example.

I have always bought used cars and I usually inherit the cars after the bugs have been worked out and I am left with just normal wear and tears.

One of the complaints I have with my current Corolla are the rear headrests blocking the rear view, especially the right rear. I removed it to get a better view of the blind spot while changing lanes to the right hand side.

Another is the positioning of the radio, being a bit high. Unlike my previous Corolla (1999), where it was placed lower, I find this higher positioning a bit more uncomfortable to reach the controls.

One complaint I have with my car is the wind noise. It gets loud when I reach cruising speed and I can't hear my radio without turning it up louder. It seems like it is coming from between the driver's door and the rear door on the driver's side. Maybe it is the seal that is not providing enough wind blocking. I will have to investigate it further.

Not just Toyota, but other makers as well. I wish I had intermittent wipers like my old Buick or Dodge, where you could adjust the timing interval better.

Not just Toyota, but other makers as well. I wish I had intermittent wipers like my old Buick or Dodge, where you could adjust the timing interval better.

I only have three settings on my wipers. One is real slow, the other is normal, and the third is really fast. I constantly switch depending on the rain amount.

 

 

I also wish the wiper timing could be varied. I have seen some cars with a knob that lets you decide what the interval is.

It doesn't seem like it would be too complicated to put in a variable speed wiper control. Let's all write to Toyota and they might get the message!

ahh, another example of toyota australia value-adding. We get variable speed control on the intermittent setting, and have had so since at least 1999.

ahh, another example of toyota australia value-adding. We get variable speed control on the intermittent setting, and have had so since at least 1999.

The U.S. models are sadly lacking in that feature.