1979 Toyota Corolla CS review from Australia and New Zealand

I wrote the review below this one when I first got the car. After a glowing review I have a few harsh things to say about this little heap of Japanese crap.

It's only done 120,000kms and this is what has happened, in approximate order:

Won't start because the contacts are rooted.

Battery goes almost dead flat over-night.

Gear box squeaks to the idle of the engine and the thrust bearing is all but non-existent.

Front left wheel is about to fall off.

Engine consumes more super thick grade oil than it does petrol.

Rust is getting out of hand.

Speedo never shows an accurate measurement, you have to look at it and get an average as it goes up and down.

Lumpy idle because the 4th piston is low on compression.

Dash charge light comes on if you turn on the heater, rear demister and lights and drive around.

That's all I can remember off the top of my head. But there are heaps more.

Now that I've fixed the overfueling problem, it's as slow as a wet week. Can't keep up with buses without planting your foot and revving to about 5000rpm.

I can't fit in it without reclining the seat to a 60 degree angle. But I'm 6"4' so that's sort of OK.

Still uses 10L per hundred (23.5mpg) which is pitiful considering how slow it goes. And I always keep the best tuning on it.

Took out the starter to get see if I could fix the starting problems. Turns out it's already been reconditioned in its life, which means this is the second failure in 120,000 kms. Very poor.

Doesn't handle quite as good as I one thought. The body roll as atrocious.

This is pitiful from a car maker that is supposed to have a great reputation as a quality builder. Toyota's are way overrated.