Not sure if this has been brought up before, but did anyone on this forum get hooked on the first generation of corollas and just keep on buying them over the years? I would be interested to hear from someone who has owned each generation of Corolla. Thoughts on the evolution of the car, as well as how the car has evolved from a reliability/repair costs standpoint. Was the original more reliable, or higher mileage engine than the newer ones? Finding yourself spending more $$ on repairs nowadays? Less or more body rust on newer versions? This might be a far-fetched post, but there's got to be a few people who have owned most, if not all of them!
I've owned a 96 and a 2000.... same kinda car.
Owned 86, now 98.
Big gap to compare.
86 was bought used and for 4 years of ownership I had replaced pretty much everything under the hood except engine and tranny.
Had a great gas millage though with 3 speed AT
Sorry I can't be much help. I owned a 2001 LE 5-speed, owned it for 2 years and 21,000 miles. Got tired of shifting and the horrendously stiff clutch, so I traded it for a 2003 LE automatic. I've had it for just over 3 years and just over 34,000 miles. All I've done to it is change the oil approx. every 3,000 mi., drain/replace ATF one time, and drain/fill the coolant one time. Oh, replaced the air filter and the wiper blades. Gave it a new set of Goodyear Assurance TripleTreds about a year ago. That's it. It's been totally reliable, consistantly getting EPA mileage figures, but a bit higher on highway trips since I rarely drive over 70.
Sorry I can't be much help. I owned a 2001 LE 5-speed, owned it for 2 years and 21,000 miles. Got tired of shifting and the horrendously stiff clutch, so I traded it for a 2003 LE automatic. I've had it for just over 3 years and just over 34,000 miles. All I've done to it is change the oil approx. every 3,000 mi., drain/replace ATF one time, and drain/fill the coolant one time. Oh, replaced the air filter and the wiper blades. Gave it a new set of Goodyear Assurance TripleTreds about a year ago. That's it. It's been totally reliable, consistantly getting EPA mileage figures, but a bit higher on highway trips since I rarely drive over 70.
Within my immediate family, we still own 1990, 1999 & 2005 Corollas. Also, have a bare-bones 1983 Toyota pickup.
My family has always had a Corolla clone (two '87 Chevy Novas, a '94 Geo Prizm, '95 Geo Prizm) and a '04 Corolla CE now that there's no GM clone except for the Pontiac Vibe.
They have all been really reliable and over the years I've noticed they really put effort into improving them all around. The current one is a major improvement over the '93-'97 (I have no experience with the '98-'02) with more power, more standard features, more refinement, and better fuel mileage (by a lot).
I have to say though I'm slightly disappointed with the current Corolla for two reasons. One is it is much too tall. While it's a bit roomier, it is much more pitch and roll sensitive. You brake and the nose dives, you turn and the thing rolls more so than the same maneuver in previous versions. It's uncomfortable. The tires have worn faster as a result too. The other thing is that the quality of the materials doesn't seem as high as that of the previous models.
On the plus side they sure kept the price reasonable. It was $14k out the door, which is only $1k more than ten years ago. Overall they've done a really good job and I'm sure there will be several more Toyotas in our family down the line. IMO Toyota is the big manufacturer that has it most right - and it seems like they will become the biggest manufacturer and surpass GM overall within a couple of years.
My dad owned a '85 and I've got a '98. The '85 never went in the shop for anything but regular maintenance, while mine has already been in more than I would like. The engine in the '85 was more reliable, although the body was rusted out by the time it was sold at 230,000 miles. The '85's carbureted engine had less power, but the car was light and speed was not a problem for me. Toyota still makes great cars, but I think that quality has slowly declined some in the last 8-10 years.
My parents bought an '81 new that I inherited and now I have an '03.
The only things that were ever replaced in the '81 were the water pump, wiper linkages, clutch, tires, brakes, and the normal fluids. everything else stayed original up until '99 when I decided to retire it because it was horrifically slow and scary to drive next to semi's.
I know someone who had an '85 sedan out of the NUMMI plant. It was a real turd. I test drove an '85 GT-S, which seemed like a faster version of my '81 and was probably very reliable as well.
I know someone who still has his '89. Excellent car. I know someone with a '96. Excellent car. My brother has a '98. Again, excellent.
Basically, all the generations of Corolla were good, except for when Toyota first moved manufacturing over to NUMMI. After they worked all the kinks out of production there, it's been smooth sailing.
i've owned a 76 corolla.
Thank god they got rid of those underpowered and
carbeurated engines. The carbeurator was a constant source of
problems.
I have owned a 1991 and a 1992 Toyota Corolla. Both have recently been sold. Now I have a 1993 and two 1994's. My wife is driving the 1993, I drive one of the 1994's and the other is in the garage where I plan on doing an engine change in the summer. I used to really like the body style and of course the super reliability of the 91 and 92, but I needed to move on to the newer versions. Now I really like the body style and features of the 1993-1997 year models. I might eventually move on to the newer models, but not right now. I am definitely not liking the 2005 or 2006 body styles. Maybe the look will grow on me as they become more prevalent. For now I am enjoying the 1993 and 1994.
Bikeman- I liked the 93-97 body styles very much, too. Maybe you'll like the 08 redesign. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do, especially in light of this year's brand new Civic. We'll probably start seeing those in a little over a year. I've owned a 97 and my 03, which is the same body style as the as the 05 and 06 you mentioned, and of course 04, too. If I put together all my family members who've owned Corollas, we've had two 84s, a 91, and again, my 97 and my 03.
Bikeman- I liked the 93-97 body styles very much, too. Maybe you'll like the 08 redesign. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do, especially in light of this year's brand new Civic. We'll probably start seeing those in a little over a year. I've owned a 97 and my 03, which is the same body style as the as the 05 and 06 you mentioned, and of course 04, too. If I put together all my family members who've owned Corollas, we've had two 84s, a 91, and again, my 97 and my 03.
I don't think I will like the '08 design. They seem to be going to the smaller, more compact versions and they are less appealing to me.
Maybe they just look smaller? The high, narrow stance does give it a compact look. My 03 is actaully much larger than my 97, in every dimension.
I had an 89 Corolla that was in the family for 15 years before I inherited it, and drove it my college years...,but now I own a 99...I have also been in my friend's 05.
The DX was interiorly a very very very basic car...
Now that I have a 99 LE, I feel luxurious...and the luxiurious feel continues in my friend's loaded 05 LE...
I feel cozy in my 99...I am getting used to, but still feel a bit clumsy in my friend's taller and slightly wider 05...(I keep scraping my leg on the side when I try to get out of the car)... but I admit, the first "new" (at the time car that really caught my eye and I "fell in love with" was a white 03 LE my parent's former neighbor owned...since then, be it a 03 or 05 (they're pretty much the same, right?) my eye always wanders when I see a white one pass by...,but I really like the slightly "sporty" look my 99 has (in a cute sense??? Possibly??)
I must admit I do like the look of the 04 Civic...especially the rear...
I've owned two 90 corollas in the past and presently have an 00. To me the 90's cars were much better built even though they were quite sparten inside
[less toys] When you hit a bump these cars didn't feel like they were going to split in two. The only thing major i replaced was an exhaust manifold.In my area there are still a lot of these cars still on the road.The enemy to these cars was body rust .The 00 does get better mileage even with an automatic and has a bit more power. It is still reliable but i think toyota quality is slipping to keep costs down.
Andrew
I've owned two 90 corollas in the past and presently have an 00. To me the 90's cars were much better built even though they were quite sparten inside[less toys] When you hit a bump these cars didn't feel like they were going to split in two. The only thing major i replaced was an exhaust manifold.In my area there are still a lot of these cars still on the road.The enemy to these cars was body rust .The 00 does get better mileage even with an automatic and has a bit more power. It is still reliable but i think toyota quality is slipping to keep costs down.
Andrew
So you buy a new one every ten years and you will get a new one in 2010? Just kidding. I liked the old ones too, but unfortunately it is getting more and more difficult for them to meet the stringent exhaust and emission requirements for the state of California. I finally sold my 1991 after replacing numerous components to get it to pass the smog check and I also sold my 1992 because it was the oldest Corolla I had. I now have a 1993, two 1994's and my daughter has a 1995. I think I stay about 10-13 years behind the times, since that is all I can afford. I have not had a car payment since 1990 when I bought a new Aerostar for the family vehicle. Since I sold it in 1997 I have only bought used cars. I don't know how people can afford the high prices of newer vehicles. I think Toyota (as well as others) keep the prices going up all the time and the cars depreciate fast enough for better deals on used ones to come around to me. As far as quality - I don't know any manufacturer that I travel around in that has a totally flawless quality available (unless you spend the real big bucks). That's my thoughts on this subject. Hope this helps.
I had a 1999 Corolla CE (5 spd) which I bought in August of 1998. Had the car for 6 years until it 'died a tragic death' (in August of 2004), when a driver ran a red light here in Toronto. The car had 322,000 + kilometers (197,238 miles) as I used to commute 47 miles (one way) to and from work. I travelled to Ottawa once a year, and took it on vacation a few times to Northern Ontario. I now have a 2005 Corolla CE. I used the insurance settlement from the writeoff of my old Corolla to buy this present one.
My parents had a '80 wagon AT, '85 sedan AT, '90 sedan AT, 92' Prism sedan AT, 99' sedan AT, and I owned a '03 CE 5 speed. 5 generations represented.
There was a steady improvement in refinement and performance. The Corolla 25 years ago was a real tin box. Very simple, almost no sound deadening. The mid 80's saw the first FWD models. We had transmission problems on both of those and the '92 Prism, but they were both bought used. A GM dealer improperly serviced the '92 tranny and caused that problem. They paid for 50% of the repair, but never admitted to the mistake.
The '80 was a great car, and made it to 180,000 miles including towing a small pop-up camper occasionally. Only failure was on the odometer.
Me and my sister shared a 2002 Toyota Corolla Ce Plus which she now owns and I drive a 2005 Corolla Ce Special edition. Both are great cars I love the 2005 it is more comfy and has a nicer ride
I currently have a 2000, had a 1980, and have worked on many others. The most fun one was a friend's 1974 SR-5 (the one with the tacked on fender flares) that he road raced in SCCA's Improved Touring C class.
We learned to go racing with that car (he's now running a professional series, I run a Spec Miata), and learned and used every class-legal trick in the book on that little car to make it go faster. The lessons I learned on that car I'm still using to this day!
Almost forgot - every year we used to tear the car compleatly down in preparation for the next season. As new bits got added, older bits came off and went on his wife's street car. Eventually we ended up with a full race suspension and a JDM 3AGE twin cam in the wife's car with dual 45 DCOE Weber side drafts. That thing howled to nearly 8000 RPM. We were convinced that it was the world's first 15 MPG Corolla, and man was it scary fast.
