1971 Toyota Corolla review from North America
"A simple but unreliable car"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Cylinder head machining was coarse resulting in anti-freeze leaking into the oil and oil to the outside of the motor. This was corrected with a large file.
An engine valve spring broke resulting in a burned valve.
The front suspension ball joints wore out; were replaced.
The teeth on the side gears in the differential sheared off resulting in no forward or reverse motion.
The hydraulic clutch slave cylinder leaked; was replaced.
About once per week the starter gears would occasionally not engage before the starter motor ran, resulting in an awful clashing noise. This could not be corrected in spite of attempts to adjust the starter to prevent this. To be fair, no apparent damage was done to the starter.
General comments?
The car was noisy at highway speeds, being geared geared too low. At 70 mph the car sounded like it would disintegrate before long.
The ride in the rear seat was very rough. The car rode better in the front seat.
The car was easy to work on and parts were cheap a the time that I owned it.
I don't know how Toyota managed to stay in business in the US after producing a troublesome car as this one was for me.
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| The cutest car I will ever own |
|
| Incredible. Buy one if you can find one in good shape. |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Model year | 1971 |
| Year of manufacture | 1971 |
| First year of ownership | 1976 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 1978 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.6 Manual |
| Performance marks | 6 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 3 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 3 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 6 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 50000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 96000 miles |
| Previous car | Chevrolet Nova |
| Date of Entry | 11th November, 2004 |