Faults:

It needed a new battery when we bought it.

Chrome trim piece on the front grille didn't fit right, so we replaced that.

Bad rear passenger side rim caused the car to shake/vibrate excessively above 60 mph.

General Comments:

This is my first car, and I'm not complaning to loudly. Sure, I'd like something sportier such as an Eclipse or a Camaro, but I prefer my Corolla over those cars sportiness because this car doesn't break my bank account. It's very inexpensive to insure, about 700 dollars a year. And it averages 31 miles to a gallon. And it's Toyota with it's legendary reliability.

I think I got a really good deal on this car... a Toyota with 30k miles on it for 5,000 dollars!

I'm 5"7, and this car fits me comfortably. There's enough room in the back seat to fit 2 people with lots of space. 3 people gets a little tight.

I'm pretty impressed with the way this car sips gas regardless of how I drive it. I can get around 34 mpg if I drive like a grandma, and it drops to about 28 when I drive like most teenage guy drivers drive.

I'm also impressed with the power this car has. Passing power is impressive for a small 4 cylinder sedan. Off-the-line power is another story. I've timed it before; 0-60 in 11.2 seconds.

Handling from this car is strictly average. It bounces up and down on undulating roads, and it rolls quite a bit in turns. The skinny tires tend to slip around more than I'd like, especially on muddy roads. But hey, it's a Corolla, not a Porsche.

The stereo system is also impressive. I listen to my iPod through a cassette transmitter. At moderate volume levels, the sound it puts out resembles what my parents Mazda Tribute (with the premium 7 speaker 6 CD changer) but the Corolla's starts to get distorted much sooner than the Mazda, which isn't suprising.

Overall, I think this is a car that I'm going to keep for at least 10 years. Corollas have been known to run to 300,000 miles. I plan on keeping it until it falls apart.

Faults:

Nothing so far.

General Comments:

I love this car, even though I am a 17 year old guy and this car isn't exactly REEKING with testosterone... but it gets me from Point A to Point B while being easy on gas.

It has more acceleration that I expected. If you're going 55 m.p.h. and you floor it, you're almost instantly going 70. A nice surprise. I would like a tach, but I have to remind myself I got the base model.

I'm pretty sure I got a steal on this Corolla, for a 2001 with only 31,000 miles on it, for $5,300!

The interior is very comfortable. Even though this is the base CE model, I think it should have a tilting wheel. I'm 5"4 and the driving position is a little awkward, but I'm getting used to it.

This Corolla has the same stereo head unit as my previous Tacoma, but this car sounds 500 percent better when compared to my Tacoma. Nice clear sound, with above average bass for a 4 speaker set-up.

I would recommend this car to anyone that wants a gas sipping, reliable, comfortable car.

Faults:

Replaced rear struts at 56000. Needed replacing again by the time I sold it.

Oil pan seal leaked. Shop said it was a poorly done repair under previous owner. This only reduced the oil loss problem.

Sludge problem starting at 60000.

General Comments:

This little car handles poorly in weather. It tends to slip in rain and snow on standard tires. It's stable for its weight in crosswinds, though. Cornering is excellent.

Initial pick-up is decent. However, it struggles at high speeds. Overtaking at speeds over 45 mph is strictly for the brave. Even after I figured out that it has a very long fourth and started downshifting a lot, uphill power was still very poor. Oddly, its performance under cruise control was decent.

The dashboard illumination in the "sport" trim is reddish and not very good on the eyes. The external thermometer was a nice little toy but just about the only thing apart from the tach that set it apart from the standard trims.

The interior is quite adequate for a small car and I never had complaints about room from my passengers, though a baby seat was a tight fit. The seats were about what you'd expect for a cheap car and scored extra poorly on lumbar support.

I'm thankful that I kept my old Corolla and eventually went back to it. This model year was enough to put me off Toyotas for the future.