Toyota President Admits Quality Decline Began In 2003

I buy them at auction, but I've had 2 97s. They do get better gas mileage, but there's the timing belt to deal with. I know I can buy a 97 with cash, but the 2003 might be out of my cash range, so there's that! Having said both concerns I do like the 2003's body better, but I use them for the courier business.

He was probably referring to some other model ...

I'd buy another 7th gen in a heartbeat. I don't need more than one though ...

My only experience with the 9th gen was the time I rented one for a week while my car was getting a new paint job. I had to rent from a dealer.

That is hard to say - as there are quite a few owners that I know personally that haven't had any issues with their newer Toyotas. My own 2003 Matrix XRS is running strong with over 115K miles on the clock.

 

Quality control dropping starting in 2003 - that exact date is pretty hard to believe, as there is no ON/OFF for quality control across the Toyota lineup. Personally, I feel it is not any specific date, but geared on certain generations and models. Some older Toyota products had known issue that were addressed in newer generations of that same model line. In those cases, the newer models were superior to their older counterparts, quality wise. In the same sense, in other product lines, some of the older models were superior in quality compared to their newer replacements.

I'd say it depends on your budget, what you want from the car, and how it will be driven. Just test drive them back to back and see which catches your fancy. In my case - I couldn't get comfortable in the 2003+ Corollas, no matter how I adjusted the wheel and seat. Just felt like not enough seat travel, even though the car was significantly larger than my 2002. Matrix was a different story - its like driving a truck - one that was big on the inside and small on the outside.

fish, did you have any wheel bearing problems with the 2003 ??

 

 

bhp02 - I've hadn't had any problems with wheel bearings so far with either car. If I had to guess which one would fail - I'd say my 2002 Corolla would give out before my Matrix - since I've been pretty hard on the Corolla, towing, heavy hauling, rough roads, potholes that were deep enough to bend a steel wheel, etc.

 

Doesn't mean that I go easy on the Matrix either - suspension on it is nearly identical to the 9th gen Corolla - rear struts located by a beam + anti-roll bar. I've loaded the car down enough to come within an inch of the bumpstops on more than a few occasions.

what do you or can you tow with a corolla ??

I'd imagine you driving a standard ??