The light for the gear shifter didn't work so I had no idea what gear I was selecting at night. New bulb cost less than a pound, but it took quite a while to change once I had dismantled what felt like half the dash to get to it!
Car makes a squealing noise around 2000rpm, but it gets quieter as it warms up. The noise is coming from around the water and power steering pumps, but the belts seem tight and I can't work out exactly what is causing the noise. Does anyone have any ideas? I have heard other similar Corollas and a Carina making the same noise.
I bought the car for the reliability - my old one from New Zealand had old car faults, but none you couldn't live with.
Lots of electrics on the Executive model which worries me a bit if it goes wrong, but all seems OK so far.
Interior is brilliant - clear and easy to use, great ergonomics, comfy too. Very blue though - dark blue paint and dark blue interior a bit heavy. It would be much nicer if it had a Grey interior to break it up a bit!
Engine is a honey, would work better with manual box as it prefers high revs.
Handling is great for the real world - its no sports car, but I don't drive it like a nut case any more so that's not an issue. Nice comfy ride, stable and smooth on the motorway. Nice and roomy too, and the lift-back has a huge boot.
Both my Toyota's have been good cars, I will definitely be buying Toyota's again.
As a follow up to my previous review, I managed to resolve the annoying noise. One hefty dose of WD40 onto the alternator, water pump spindle and fan belt, and the noise vanished. I suspect it was the rubber on the fan belt getting hard and not gripping properly which was making the squeaking noise.
For anyone interested, I finally changed the fan belt this weekend (20 months after first noticing the noise, I'm not known to being a fast worker) and this stopped the problem. The old belt was hardened and cracked thus losing its grip on the pulleys. Be careful to tighten the lock nuts on the adjusters properly though.
Hey, guess what, the squeaking is back! Must be the damp weather affecting the fan belt so that needs tightening again. But the old car is off to a new owner. My wife bought a Kia so the Toyota is now surplus to requirements and will enjoy its retirement in the hands of my Dad who is looking for a cheap runaround.
Despite this defection to Korean vehicles, it is still my intention to get another Toyota as soon as I need another vehicle.
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The car has experienced a near failure, the tailgate struts are getting too weak to hold up the tailgate! Not bad after 14 years. Other than that, still faultless, all the electrics are working fine and MOT's are sailed through with no advisories. Could do with a service though (brake fluid, coolant) as that hasn't been done for a while, but all in all, great car.
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