2003 Toyota Corolla T3 from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing has gone wrong.

The first thing I noticed about this car was how quiet it is, I mean seriously quiet, you can barely hear the engine and there is no wind or road noise to speak of.

The dashboard is very well designed and made of very high quality materials, if I had one gripe I think the seats are a touch too firm, but they are superbly supportive and have an infinitely adjustable ratchet system to get super comfy.

ABS with EBD, numerous airbags plus a very high quality CD player come as standard as do electric windows, mirrors, air con, fuel computer etc...

Another surprise was the ride and handling, which are simply superb, especially in bad weather it is unflustered by strong winds, heavy rain and shrugs off flooded motorways as though there is no water at all. You can chuck it into corners and the steering weights up nicely and the car offers loads of grip, it really is a sorted chassis. I can take bends at a much higher speed than I could in my 200SX, it really inspires confidence.

Performance wise its not going to set your world alight, but you get used to it, I guess it has 0-60 of about 11secs, but a lot of usable power through the rev range. The fuel consumption is nothing short of spectacular, around town I get around 36-56mpg and on the open road anything from 48-60mpg, it makes me wonder why buy a diesel Corolla, aside from the extra torque it isn't that much better on fuel plus it sounds like a tractor at idle.

I have read a few reviews mentioning niggles with UK built Corolla's, mine is Japanese built and really is perfect, I think its worth stipulating a Japanese built one when you go to the dealer, they usually have a selection in stock.

All in all I can't recommend this car enough.

Update on original review. Over time I became very unhappy with the engine characteristics, one of them being when you take your foot off the accelerator to change gear the engine revs rise and then slowly fall, making you look like a novice every time you do a gear change, this is amplified when the engine is cold, so you drive down the road with the engine revving like a swine in between changes for quite a bit until it is warmed up. You have to learn a completely different style of super slow gear changes to accommodate for this flaw, I drove several others and they all do it, in fact I was told it is a common customer complaint.

Toyota say it is designed to do that, an emissions thing. I don't believe that, no manufacturer would design a car that is a pain in the bottom to drive because of a desire to reduce emissions, I think it is quite simply bad engineering.

The engines total lack of torque, noisy grinding brakes and the fact I kept scraping my right shoe under the dash and never finding a comfy driving position has totally taken the shine off my original feelings for the car hence glowing first review. I have since bought a Seat TDi, it may not have the interior build of the Toyota, but it's miles better in every other department. Never thought I would leave Toyota, but I am so much happier with my present car which I've had for nearly a year and not a hint of a problem.

Sorry to hear about your complaints about the creature comforts with your Corolla, but rest assured, you will have a lot more mechanical issues with your VolksWagen as time goes by. My wife has a 1997 Golf K2 that ran flawlessly up until the 150,000KM mark, and now it has hesitation, stalling, Catalytic converter failure, (replaced, with no difference in performance)...We have spent $2000 on this piece of German crap with no improvements. We have taken it to 3 mechanics, and they have advised us to trade it in "while it looks good." IMO, I will take reliabilty over Prussian (in) efficiency every time. I am German by birth, so I am not biased in any way. NO WONDER WE LOST THE WAR!!! I will only buy Toyota, and thank god, my wife now thinks the same way....a little late, but hope for the future!

<<We have spent $2000 on this piece of German crap with no improvements. We have taken it to 3 mechanics, and they have advised us to trade it in "while it looks good." IMO, I will take reliabilty over Prussian (in) efficiency every time. I am German by birth, so I am not biased in any way. NO WONDER WE LOST THE WAR!!! I will only buy Toyota, and thank god, my wife now thinks the same way... a little late, but hope for the future!>>

Don't confuse issues, please. VW does not represent the entire German auto industry, even if it is its biggest player. I've owned 5 BMWs and they were all reliable. In fact, my 5 series was more reliable than some Hondas I owned.

What I've found with German cars is that it's pick and choose. BMW 3 and 5 series seem to have good reliabilty. Mercedes C and (now) E class have decent reliability (something that wasn't true recently). Audi is questionable.

VW can't make a reliable car and I don't know why. I would love to have the new GTI, but really don't want to be at the dealer every week. Things wouldn't be as bad if they were as cheap as the equally unreliable American cars, but VW wants a premium for its vehicles, and that's insane - bad exchange rate or not.

Todays Toyotas are plagued by problems, most notably the VVTi engines burning huge amounts of oil usually resulting in a total engine rebuild or replacement short motor. Have a look on the UK Toyota forums at all the problems. Its not like the old Carina/Corolla/Starlet days of the 80's/90's, having owned lots of Japanese cars in that era I can testify to their reliability. That is no longer the case.

I have not had a single issue with my Seat so far, and that's 2 years so very happy with VW/Audi bits in this particular car thanks very much.

I had toyota vvti t3 1.4, 03 for nearly 3 years now, and I can say nothing went wrong. Serviced it regularly, it's is not the best on the fuel, but I guess it's because the car is quite heavy, and quality built. It's built very well, and I would recommend it to anyone.

People always tell you their car is the best thing ever when they have it, then as soon as they change it for a different one it's suddenly become a heap, wouldn't recommend it etc. You have to take these reviews with a shovel of salt.

Happy with the car would recommend.A+++++++++++++++++++++++++