1987 Toyota Corolla SE review from Australia and New Zealand

I worked at MSS Patrol Services, a national security company back in the 1980's, and they had a national fleet of base model manual Toyota Corolla SE sedans 1.6 lt, and Wormald Security had a national fleet of SE hatchbacks 1.3 lt.

On a typical night patrol zone, we would clock up between 250 to 300kms of hard and fast driving with hundreds of gear changes, clutch and brake engagements as we worked a 10 hour night shift, and had to complete the patrol within this tight and critical time frame in a professional and ethical manner, so you had to drive fast, and we would have those motors revving hard through out most of the shift.

All I can truly say is those vehicles were totally reliable and bullet proof, and as tough as nails with only brake pads being replaced approximately every 6 weeks, because of the frequent stop start driving nature of this work and the high mileage in a very short time ie. 2,000 kms per week or 100,000 kms per year, as we also conducted daylight patrols on weekends and long weekends. We ran dual fuel LPG gas and petrol. The mechanical gear was always maintained with regular book service by a major Toyota dealership.

At one point we had base model Nissan Pulsar hatch backs, and they were also very reliable, however the Corolla was the winner in my books.

I know people who have got 500,000kms out of those old model Corollas in recent times before the motor needs reconditioning. So yeah if you want a very reliable, tough, durable, rugged no thrills 4 cylinder car, go and buy a Toyota Corolla.

The Corolla was comfortable, it handled well, suspension and ride were good, motor was quiet.

Overall quality and build 10/10, great value for money, they are a mechanics curse because if everyone drove a Corolla there would be a lot of mechanics out of business, as you don't see many in workshops, and most owners tend to hang on to them for a long time, because of their history and record of reliability.