1996 Toyota Corolla Base model 1.6 from North America

Summary:

Best car ever produced

Faults:

Nothing, just maintenance.

- Front brakes pads @ 50K.

- Rear brakes drums @ 80K.

- Brake line @ 133K, this is the Northeast, salt eats away the metal, this is normal up here.

- Radiator, @ 90K, my fault, never changed the coolant.

- Rotor and brake pad @ 100K.

- Timing belt @ 88K.

All these are just regular maintenance.

Best car ever produced.

General Comments:

Best car ever produced. No wonder they are the number 1 car manufacturer in the world.

They make a good car.

Reliable, you can count it on all the time.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th August, 2008

1996 Toyota Corolla 1.6 4 cylinder from North America

Summary:

Lasts forever and a day

Faults:

It's my wife's car. Very few bad things. It does burn about a quart of oil for every other fill up (about every 600 miles).

Had a cracked exhaust header last year, but I easily found on in the junkyard for $25.

The red paint is horribly faded.

General Comments:

I am amazed how easy it is to work on this car. Toyota really thought of how a mechanic would have to work around the engine compartment.

It is an economy car, so it is a dog as far as performance goes, but it always gets 30-32 mpg and it is still going strong at 311,000 miles.

There is no sign that this car is going to die anytime soon.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 21st April, 2008

12th Sep 2012, 00:27

Good review. My old 82 Toyota truck has 380,000. Shows no signs of stopping. Passed emissions testing every time.

The only thing that kills a Toyota is rust!

1996 Toyota Corolla Seca 1.6 petrol from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Very reliable, fun and comfortable to drive

Faults:

* Most of theses are due to general misuse from previous owner *

Cracked radiator @ 207000km; leaked coolant and overheated once.

Interior light didn't work, solder had come un-attached. Fixed this myself.

Power steering belt slips, does not affect performance in any way, just a noise.

Boot release failed @ 203000km.

Blown fuse @ 205000km, fuse belonging to stereo and cigarette lighter.

General Comments:

Very reliable, well made Toyota. Only serious things that have gone wrong are from previous owner's mistreatment. The rest of the problems are superficial.

Sits at 80-110 very nicely, comfortable seats with lots of headroom for a small car. Punchy, quick for a 1.6L engine and handles well. Has a very small turning circle, which makes it easy to park. Smooth to drive!

Only negative is it doesn't handle a full car (people) up any sort of hill very well. Starts to lack power.

But other than that, very highly recommended!

Crashed my 94 Corolla in an accident that wasn't my fault.

Got another Corolla, until I can buy a 4wd.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 4th April, 2008

1996 Toyota Corolla 1.6 from North America

Summary:

Bit twice by Toyota, never again

Faults:

It just stopped running one day and has never run well ever since.

General Comments:

I bought the car because my Topaz was well over 200k and lost compression in 2 cylinders. The Corolla for 4000 miles was everything everyone ever said about Toyota's. It was economical, reliable, did everything a go to work car was supposed to, then it died.

Once the Corolla died it started a long process of garage visits, I replaced everything under the hood, the fuel pump, all fuses, all sensors, the distributor, catalytic converter, the cam was checked for slippage, and a compression test to see if it was mechanical.

I took it to the dealer who scanned its computer and gave me a list of things to replace, I did that and the car was still dead. I then took it to an independent garage that was recommended to me, after months the car still sits there in pieces. I wound up giving the car to the garage and they still believe they can fix it.

My previous car to the Topaz was an 86 Toyota MR2, please read my review on that car, it did the same thing my Corolla did.

Car Survey is the greatest site, it has helped me avoid some lemons and find some true gems, thank you.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 26th September, 2007

28th Sep 2007, 02:23

With that amount of miles, you cannot guarantee the drivability of the car.

19th Sep 2011, 02:52

I get very upset when people say "with that many miles, you should have known better". 130k miles?... are you serious? That's really nothing.

I also get very upset when people post reviews that are so absurdly non-specific. So, it died, for no reason, then you replaced "some parts" that "some people" told you to. Then it still didn't work.

Can you be a little more specific? And if you're not going to explain what went wrong with the car, at least go get the mechanics receipts and read what they say.

19th Sep 2011, 19:21

My best friend's 2-tear-old Corolla is literally ready for the junkyard. I have never seen a more poorly built car.

14th Jan 2013, 18:23

The garage did not know what they were doing. They took you for a ride. Sounds like they replaced everything under the hood.