2006 Toyota Corolla CE from North America - Comments

The car had rattling noise at 3000 miles caused by bolt that came loose in door panel. Air fuel sensor seized into exhaust manifold at 5397 miles. Air fuel sensor seized into exhaust manifold at 5419 miles. During test drive check engine light re-lit again for another malfunctioning sensor.

This was an OK car until recently. But it seems as though it was poorly built as things are beginning to fall apart and malfunction on it. Since everything is still under warranty, it hasn't cost me anything extra yet. Beyond that it still does get excellent gas mileage and the dealer has definitely tried to get the car back working again. However, after I got my first check engine light at 5397 miles, it hasn't gone off. Everytime they fix something, something else breaks. So, it has been in the shop for the past week as new things break or break again. This is definitely something that I didn't expect from Toyota as my old Ford never had any of these issues.

Isn't brand perception powerful?

Had these problems occurred on a Chevy, the title would read:

"GM cars are junk. I'm going back to Toyota/Honda."

But since we all perceive Toyotas/Hondas to be perfect, when these problems occur on a Toyota, we just assume it's a fluke.

Yes, why judge GM on forty years of horrible cars when you can judge the ones that are made now or in the future. After all, that elusive quality must be there somewhere, sometime, right?

Please. There is a reason Toyota is soon to become the #1 automaker on the planet.

Until Toyota returns the Corolla and Camry to Japan, you will continue to see blemishes to a formerly spotless reliability record. When they started letting American workers build them, that's when the trouble truly started. That's why I like my '98 Corolla. It was one of the last of the Japanese Corollas. The Korean cars are catching up in a big way because they're not being built over here yet.

I agree that Toyota quality is a myth. My 85yr old father in law bought an 06 Corolla because he swears by these things. However, the power steering failed while he was driving and almost caused an accident. When drying the car with a chamois, the windows move on their tracks. Drive over a dime and you can feel it. The gas mileage is great but when resting on the front fender, my bum caused it to dent in (yes, I know - either a fat arse or thin metal!). I think that in an accident, this thing would fold like a pop can - I hate my family riding in it. A mid-size car is a much better compromise between safety and mileage. If this piece of junk had been made by G.M, they would have said "typical". For some reason, Toyota gets a free ride.