1984 Toyota Corolla LE review from North America

I have had to replace the front brake pads and the rear brake shoes and wheel cylinders once.

Replaced the intermediate exhaust pipe and the rear muffler assembly.

About a year and a half after we had owned the car, the motor would force engine coolant into the radiator overflow bottle and not suck it back into the radiator is it should when the rad cooled. This indicated a blown head gasket, and sure enough when I removed the head the gasket had blown out between two cylinders.

Another new head gasket and we were mobile again.

The car was down on power and after looking into it the mechanical advance in the distributor was found to be seized. The distributor had to be removed from the engine, taken apart and lubed up, problem solved.

I also had to replace the distributor vacuum advance diaphragm and unless you are able to find a good used one at an auto wrecker the cost for a new one at the dealer is about $180.00.

I have given the car one tune up and replaced the air filter twice.

Replaced the battery.

I had to replace the ignition coil.

Replaced the front ball joints and has had two, four wheel alignments.

Had to replace all the tires during the first year of ownership.

Replaced the timing belt, the water pump and recently the original radiator.

The front struts need replacing and the body is rusting around the rear wheels and also into the trunk. We will be parking this car in a few months for good because of the rust problem.

We bought the car for $1000.00 and have owned it four years.

The car has almost 400,000kms on it, we have driven it about 60,000kms.

I would consider much we have had to replace on the car regular maintenance.

The car is easy to work on and have done all the repairs (except alignments) myself.

This car has comfortable seats and rides very well. In fact it is a more comfortable riding car than some larger North American sedans I have driven in.

Once the engine is in its rpm power band there is no stopping it. The car cruises easily at 120kms with the five of us in it. Yes, there is engine noise, but it is a four cylinder motor and the transmission does not have an overdrive.

Has manual rack and pinion steering and I don't miss power steering at all.