2003 Corolla Ce Advice - Toyota Corolla, Chevy Prizm (1998-2008)

Hello all. I'm a former Corolla owner (1995), and looking at another.

I am looking at a 2003 CE 5 speed with 127k miles. Got some questions.

This car is a 2 owner, this owner has had it for 3.5 years.

Are there any things that are problematic or to look out for? I've read about some manual transmission failures in these models.

What kind of highway mileage can I expect?

BIGGY: Can I add cruise to the CE? I've read that it's not offered, but also read that southeast region does (I'm in GA). If so, any idea on cost or where to get?

Any other information would be greatly appreciated.

Hello all. I'm a former Corolla owner (1995), and looking at another.

I am looking at a 2003 CE 5 speed with 127k miles. Got some questions.
This car is a 2 owner, this owner has had it for 3.5 years.
Are there any things that are problematic or to look out for? I've read about some manual transmission failures in these models.
What kind of highway mileage can I expect?
BIGGY: Can I add cruise to the CE? I've read that it's not offered, but also read that southeast region does (I'm in GA). If so, any idea on cost or where to get?
Any other information would be greatly appreciated.

OK, looked at car. Car has some bad paint on one place on the hood, but no big deal.

MAJOR question: The front end/ steering shakes when starting out but smooths out before 15mph. The tires are worn bad and need replacing. The front end also pulls to the right pretty bad when going down the road. PO says that a front end alignment would fix it. Haven't experienced the shaking before, O know the pulling will be fixed by alignment. Car has never been in an accident.

Any words of wisdom? Picking car up tomorrow.

Could be a combination of excessive tire wear and alignment issue - but definitely something to check out with the front wheels in the air. Look at how the tires are worn. On the side of the tread (feathering) or does it look like scalloping (could be a sign of worn struts). See if the shaking gets worse or better as you load the engine - could be bad mounts or worn belt tensioner.

OEM cruise can be retrofitted to that model - just need to get the parts. There was a transaxle syncro redesign between the 2003 and 2004 model years. If you get any grinding in the gears as you shift - could be looking at some transaxle work. Transaxle can be picky about replacement fluid - some heated debate between GL4 or GL5 fluids. Probably a good idea to get as much maintenance information from the PO.

As for fuel economy - depends on how you drive, conditions of the road, condition of the car. There are some 5-speed 9th gen Corollas that average high 40's at highway speed. Some even touching 50MPG, but don't count on that being the norm. Most have reported between mid to high 30s to lower 40s for cruise MPG.

ever_green

I think 40+ mpg is over-rated. don't expect anything more than 30mpg combined max specially for a 120k milage corolla. If I were you I would stay away from this one... unless your getting a really good deal. I dunno the problems sound sketchy might have had an accident. you could get an LE model with cruise and power windows and better set of wheels. with so many corollas out there you could get a good deal on let's say 80-100,000 miles LE model In mint condition. just have to look for it.

I bought it yesterday.

It needs tires and alignment, but the driving issue has gotten better with driving it. He said it sit for a couple of months with minimal driving. I've put about 120 miles on it so far.

No accidents. Only other issue is there's about a 1"X4" spot on hood where paint has come off to primer. Will most likely get the hood repainted.

Got a really good deal after haggling. Cars around here are still fetching quite a premium.

What fluid should I use for tranny? I've read that Redline MT-90 is a good choice. I've added Auto-Rx to engine for a 1500 mile round.

Any other advice is appreciated!!

Congrats on the purchase - sounds like it was a deal too good to pass up. Did the owner make any mention of the clutch? Seems to engage pretty smoothly?

Redline MT-90 75W90 is a synthetic GL4 fluid and one of my personal favorites. Good mix of noise reduction and smooth shifting, even at colder temperatures. Pretty popular choice for oil. Castrol SYNTEC, AMSOIL Severe Gear, Motul, Valvoline SynPower, are Royal Purple - are others that seem to be popular with many as well. As long as you drain and replace the fluid at regular intervals - should not have any issues with any of those.

With the age and mileage of the car - check the usual suspects. Look for signs of damage and corrosion, and address them before they get worse or cause you headaches down the road. Good idea to replace all the fluids and normal maintenance items, unless you know they were taken care of recently - basically a comprehensive "tune-up":

- drain and refil coolant (Toyota Red, don't forget the overflow tank)

- drain and refill oil and oil filter

- drain and refill transaxle oil

- drain and refill power steering fluid (can be done over a period of time, just siphon out the reservoir - refill and repeat after driving around a bit)

- drain and replace brake/clutch fluid

- bleed the brake lines and the clutch release cylinder and lines

- replace the PCV

- check the condition of the soft rubber hoses and vacuum lines

- replace the sparkplugs

- clean the throttle body

- replace air filter

- replace cabin air filter (behind the glovebox)

- check chassis nuts and bolts

- replace serpentine belt (highly recommend the Goodyear Gatorback Poly-V belt)

- check suspension and steering (rack, tierod, lower ball joint, sway bar)

- check all rubber bushings

- check axle and hub assembly (check for worn wheel bearings, sloppy hubs, worn/torn CV joint/boots)

- check all lamp and bulbs, replace the ones that are visibly dim or dead.

Congrats on the purchase - sounds like it was a deal too good to pass up. Did the owner make any mention of the clutch? Seems to engage pretty smoothly?

Redline MT-90 75W90 is a synthetic GL4 fluid and one of my personal favorites. Good mix of noise reduction and smooth shifting, even at colder temperatures. Pretty popular choice for oil. Castrol SYNTEC, AMSOIL Severe Gear, Motul, Valvoline SynPower, are Royal Purple - are others that seem to be popular with many as well. As long as you drain and replace the fluid at regular intervals - should not have any issues with any of those.
With the age and mileage of the car - check the usual suspects. Look for signs of damage and corrosion, and address them before they get worse or cause you headaches down the road. Good idea to replace all the fluids and normal maintenance items, unless you know they were taken care of recently - basically a comprehensive "tune-up":
- drain and refil coolant (Toyota Red, don't forget the overflow tank)
- drain and refill oil and oil filter
- drain and refill transaxle oil
- drain and refill power steering fluid (can be done over a period of time, just siphon out the reservoir - refill and repeat after driving around a bit)
- drain and replace brake/clutch fluid
- bleed the brake lines and the clutch release cylinder and lines
- replace the PCV
- check the condition of the soft rubber hoses and vacuum lines
- replace the sparkplugs
- clean the throttle body
- replace air filter
- replace cabin air filter (behind the glovebox)
- check chassis nuts and bolts
- replace serpentine belt (highly recommend the Goodyear Gatorback Poly-V belt)
- check suspension and steering (rack, tierod, lower ball joint, sway bar)
- check all rubber bushings
- check axle and hub assembly (check for worn wheel bearings, sloppy hubs, worn/torn CV joint/boots)
- check all lamp and bulbs, replace the ones that are visibly dim or dead.

Thanks for the advice.

The clutch is smooth, just have to push it ALL the way to the floor to engage...any ideas??

The PO had some sort of K&N intake system. He included all the OEM parts and I put that on last night.

Ordered the Redline last night and will replace that.

After 1500 miles with Auto-Rx I will refill with Mobil 1.

He said he just replaced the plugs with some sort of "performance plugs". Gonna replace thos with factory plugs

Had new tires and alignment done yesterday...drives like a brand new one.

Other maintenance stuff will be done as time and budget allows.

Sounds great so far. Good idea to move everything to OEM, very fortunate that the previous owner held onto the OEM parts. Nothing against aftermarket stuff - but unless I put it on myself and have good reason to, I'd rather have all OEM parts to start off with.

The issue with having to bury the clutch pedal to engage the clutch-start switch is pretty common on the 9th gen Corollas. If you take a peek under the dash, by the clutch pedal - there is a bracket on the pedal arm about 1/2 way up with a threaded "pad" - that engages a switch on the firewall. Over time, that bracket (usually on the pedal, but check out the switch and make sure it is not fouled with dirt and junk) bends in way that more and more clutch travel is needed to hit the switch. I believe there was a fairly recent post that touched on this very issue on this forum, if you need more info.