Faults:

(i) The car has interior build quality problems and the following rattles have appeared:

(1) Dashboard rattles in the region of radio-CD/vents, where the assembly is obviously very unstable. It is very sensitive to differential thermal expansion-contraction and the plastic board bows over the radio when heated during the summer day. The dealers may try to cure it by inserting sponges etc.

(2) Rattles at front door windows over bumps when not fully closed. The glass window appears not tight within its plastic frame.

(3) Occasionally rattles from the window when fully closed.

(4) Rattles from the driver's seat.

(ii) It does not have Double-locks in my country.

General Comments:

Excellent performance of the engine and 6-speed gearbox. Good acceleration over the entire range of engine's operation.

The steering wheel is very "light".

The suspension could be tighter, without loosing the car's comfortable character.

The absence of reach movement for the wheel steering makes the driving position very inconvenient for tall drivers.

Very noisy engine when rotated above 4000rpm.

Nice look when front and back spoilers of Toyota Team Europe (TTE) are installed, but they are not standard.

Nice look of the interior materials-decoration.

Faults:

Nothing went wrong in 8 yrs of ownership (and 125000 kms). I mean nothing. It had the original exhaust pipe and clutch when I sold it. Just routine servicing (spark plugs, tyres and brake pads once, oil changes). Oh and I had changed the shock-absorbers mainly to obtain more feedback from that tail... All in all the most reliable car we have ever had in the family- and we did have some German "fine pieces of machinery" (Mercedes, BMW) at the time...

General Comments:

Oh that "twitchy tail", as CAR magazine put it at the time... The steering was not that precise (and I'm being polite there), it leaned a bit around corners, but that tail... Around B-roads I could almost forget to use the steering wheel, throttle (over) steer was laughably easy to provoke (and control once you expected it). Well I know, this doesn't make up for what we'd call "refined or composed handling" but it was fun and I was 18 at the time... The engine badly lacked low down torque, but it revved freely from 4000 rpm to the red line, where it could stay all day.

Then I had to move abroad so I sold it- I bought a Fiat Tipo (see review_3053) which I never came to like (let alone love) as much as my Corolla.

Faults:

Mechanic parts - NOTHING.

The problems I have had in five years were the electric windows. Both of them. If the mechanism breaks down, you need a new one, but if you know some things, you can fix it by yourself (I did).

Oh, the alarm too. It began to sound for no reason. But I found out that these two parts, and the A/C, were not installed at the factory, but here in Greece.

General Comments:

As known, Toyotas are some of the most reliable cars worldwide. I haven't done a service for 30.000km, and it was still running without any problems at all.