2004 Toyota Corolla T2 review from UK and Ireland

Just after I got the car one of the front door speakers started to distort slightly. Even though the local Toyota dealer couldn't hear anything wrong, they agreed to replace it under warranty (great service)

Front passenger seatbelt warning buzzer sounded... not a fault, but due to my wife placing her handbag on the seat. Fooled me and the dealer for a bit.

I bought it as a pre-registered model with just 9 miles on the clock. At nearly £1500 less than list price I thought this was reasonable. It regularly returns 40mpg on country roads and will do 50mpg at a constant 60mph on the motorway. The mpg drops rapidly at higher speeds due to the low gearing (see below). The post September 2004 T2 has curtain airbags and air con, which is effective. Servicing is reasonable and the local dealer has improved from incompetent to OK in the last 3 years (previous Yaris delivered with dangerously mis-aligned headlights). Road-holding is good, though the Michelin energy XV1 tyres aren't that great in the wet.

On the negative side it's the 4-door saloon, which will make private re-sale difficult and will probably result in a low part exchange price when we come to sell (no time soon). It does however have a huge boot (more than 400 litres) and have split folding rear seats. I find the seats a little narrow and uncomfortable after a couple of hours. The biggest negative for me is the noise at anything above about 65mph. It's very low geared, which makes for spirited performance, but lots of noise. It's really not a long distance motorway car.

The bumpers mark easily and could really do with the optional protectors. It's not easy to park as it's hard to tell where the back ends (and it's not me I've owned 7 saloons and not had this problem before).